Brooklyn turned 18 months old last Wednesday, but her checkup wasn’t until today (a week later), so that’s why this is a little late. I am loving Brooklyn at 18 months old! I think this is definitely her most fun age yet!!
Brooklyn is weighing in at 23 lbs 13.5 oz (70th percentile) and is 33 1/4 inches long (90th percentile). She’s gained about 1 pound and grown over 2 inches since her 15 month checkup!!! Long and lean…like her daddy! She is wearing size 4 diapers, size 4.5 to 5 shoes, and mostly 18-24 month clothes. Her dirty blond hair is curly in the back and somewhat straight on top, although the whole thing gets curly if she is outside in the humidity for very long. She now has 11 teeth, including all four 12-month molars, and tooth #12 looks like it’s just around the corner. Her mouth has exploded with teeth in the past 3 months…I think she only had 5 teeth at 15 months old!!
Speaking of her mouth, Brooklyn’s vocab has really expanded in the last month or two. I’m sure I’m forgetting some words, but these are the ones I can think of right now: kitty, cat, dog/doggie, woof woof, bye bye, Rae Rae, uh oh, no, yah (yes), cah (clock), tuk (truck), mama, da-da, Bo Bo, mou (mouth), toe, mmmmm, Toby, hat, ball, star, co (corn), haaa (hot), col (cold), key, bee bee (beep beep), tee (teeth), baby, ni-ni (night night), and baaa (roar!). She isn’t really saying many phrases (other than “bye bye Bo Bo”, but last week I asked her if she wanted more toast, and she said something that sounded JUST like “No, I don’t!”. It was really cute! Her favorite word, by far, is “uh oh”. I thought about trying to count the number of times she says it in one day, but that would be nearly impossible. I’m sure it’s in the hundreds! Brooklyn says a lot of other “words” that we can’t understand, but I’m sure we’ll catch on eventually :)
Brooklyn is such a smart cookie (I know I’m biased…)! She can identify pictures of objects in books by pointing to them when we ask her: “Where is the…clock, telephone, vacuum cleaner, watermelon, strawberries, bananas, spoon, plate, ball, truck, stroller, etc.?” She understands most commands and what we are telling her. I can tell her to go do something and she will usually do it (if she’s feeling agreeable…haha). We try to talk to her like she is a big girl because she really does understand most of what we say!
She can also point to several body parts when asked – eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, teeth, belly button, fingers, and toes. She loves to poke people in the eye when they ask, “Where are my eyes?” When you ask, “Where is my hair?”, she will pat you on the head…haha :)
Brooklyn is not only walking now, but is running short distances when she gets excited. She can walk up and down hills and even walked pretty well in the sand at the beach. She still falls down a good bit, but very rarely cries. If she cries after a fall, I know she’s REALLY hurt herself. Sometimes, she’ll fall and hit her head, and I’ll cringe…and then she gets up and keeps on playing. Tough girl for sure!
Brooklyn also loves to climb. I found her standing on top of the coffee table one day a few weeks ago, and I didn’t even know she could get up there. It definitely caught me off guard! She can also climb up into her rocker and sit in it correctly. I’m just waiting for the day she figures out how to climb out of her crib. I hope it’s not anytime soon for my sake!
Brooklyn loves to be outside and is obsessed with rocks, bugs, dirt, trash, “flowers” (weeds)…basically anything she can find on the ground. She doesn’t care if it’s hot, cold, wet, etc…she likes to play outside! She also loves to ride on her toy car and rock on her giraffe. She likes throwing balls and throwing things in general. (We’re working on that.) She is still very interested in Gabby and chases her frequently. She is really bad about pulling her tail and hitting her instead of petting her nicely. Brooklyn has gotten scratched several times, but that doesn’t seem to deter her. Maybe one day she will learn!
Brooklyn loves to imitate things that “big people” do. She loves to carry around shopping bags like they are purses on her shoulder. She is also very interested in playing with Tupperware, pots and pans, and brooms. She pretends to brush her hair with the hair brush and likes to put my shoes on her feet and walk around. She also likes to clap, wave, and give kisses and high fives. Basically, anything we do…she tries to do!
Brooklyn is not afraid of going to new places most of the time. She will sometimes take off and run away from me without a second thought (and even wave bye-bye to me like she’s a big girl and can go wherever she wants to!). She loves to wave to strangers at the grocery store. Really, she loves attention in general. She can be shy at times and cling to my legs, but I’d say for the most part she is very friendly and outgoing. Adventurous should be her middle name. She has started going to Bible class at church and has done well from the beginning. I think it’s been harder on me because that’s really the first activity she’s done without me! Brooklyn is Miss Independent; she wants to do everything herself, and sometimes refuses to follow directions. She can be stubborn at times, but I’d say she’s pretty well behaved for the most part. Her curiosity sometimes gets her into trouble, but I guess that’s typical for a toddler?
I’ve tried a couple of different times to get Brooklyn to transition down to 1 nap per day, but she still just doesn’t seem ready for it. So, she is still taking a late morning nap and a late afternoon nap. Her bedtime is usually around 8 to 8:30 PM, and she usually sleeps until 6:30 to 7 AM. She still sucks her left thumb when going to sleep and likes to sleep with Kitty Kitty (her stuffed animal cat) in the bed. She usually cries when she wakes up…it’s like it takes her a little while to really wake up and be happy that she’s awake (must have gotten that from Da-Da!).
As far as food goes, she has gotten much pickier in the past few months unfortunately. Things that she used to eat she now refuses (like squash and some other veggies). She loves scrambled eggs, fruit, PB&J sandwiches, raisins, Goldfish crackers, mini Nilla wafers, yogurt, apples and watermelon. She is starting to eat some meats now that she has molars to chew them up with, but I would say more often than not she refuses all meat. She does love spaghetti though and will eat the meat in it. She thinks all food is community food. She loves to eat YOUR food, but will share HER food with you very willingly. She really enjoys feeding others by putting her food in their mouth :) She is definitely much better at using a spoon and fork than she was 3 months ago, although she still makes a big mess when eating yogurt!
Likes: bath time, being tickled, being chased around the house, playing Peek-a-boo, pretending to hide behind pillows, playing with balls, anything animal related (she calls cats AND dogs “cat” or “kitty”, but they both say “woof woof” –one day, she’ll learn!), making messes, playing outside, looking at books and being read to (she loves books!), and dancing to music (we have some funny videos of that!).
Dislikes: Lying still for diaper changes or getting dressed, going to bed (sometimes), getting cleaned up after eating, getting scolded (she can definitely be a softy when she knows she’s in trouble), having to sit still for too long. Basically, if you let her run free…she’s good! :)
What a sweet girl! We love you, Brooklyn!! We are so amazed at how much you have grown and learned in the past few months :)
