Nineteen Months

E is 19 months. Currently she:

Is a happy, analytical kid.

Goes to sleep at 10pm and gets up around 5 (ugh). She naps anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours depending on they day. Usually once per week she'll skip the nap altogether.

Sleeps in my bed with two teddy bears. My sisters were hopelessly attached to their teddy bears growing up, and it was a huge problem if one of them got lost. I thought I'd plan ahead and make sure I had two different bears E liked so that we were covered if one got lost. Somehow that turned into needing both at night, thus creating more opportunity for drama should either one go missing. I tried.

Loves to climb.  Onto tables, benches, sofas, beds, people, and any/everything else.

Loves to walk. Serious, all over the city, walks. She can go tirelessly and rarely asks to be carried.

Likes to use the sidewalk curb, retaining walls, and steps as balance beams as she goes. This is extra special because I can remember doing this as a kid and loving it.

Loves to smell flowers. The other day she was smelling tons of lilies on our walk and had a completely orange face by the time we got to our destination.

Is completely potty trained. She still has an accident here or there, but she's doing wonderfully. She's boycotted naptime diapers and removes them as soon as a leave the room. Nine times out of ten she'll wake up and call me if she needs to go during a nap.

Loves shoes! She likes to pick which ones to wear and always pulls a matching pair out of her massive pile of shoes.

Has started wiping the dogs' paws when they come inside, and occasionally when they're innocently lounging around the house.

Has started getting upset when I try to help her out.

Picks out her own outfits, but I'm not encouraging this for my own sanity. She'll empty an entire drawer searching for just the right outfit (um... I still do that!) I can tell her to pick something out and she will go upstairs, find an outfit or two, and bring them down to me.

Would live outside if I let her.

Still loves music and dancing. She can keep a beat and notices immediately when music starts playing.

Likes to boss the dogs around. Her chatty little toddler voice gets super deep and serious. She means business! Usually the dogs comply with her demands and I try to make sure E feeds them treats proportionate to the amount of patience needed on their part.

Can say just about anything, but rarely does. I didn't talk until the age of three, so I guess she gets it honestly.

Still eats pretty much anything. Currently she's loving all berries, tomatoes, and whatever I'm eating.

Can put dishes away!!! All that time spent emptying my kitchen cabinets has paid off. I can hand her anything that belongs in the lower cabinets and she will open the correct door and put it away.

Still doesn't like milk or most beverages. She drinks water with the occasional cup of kombucha or sip of unsweetened coffee if she's lucky enough to get her hands on it.

Loves chairs that are her size. She has an Adirondack lounger on my parents' deck that she adores, and a beach chair she uses daily in my living room... in PA. This morning when she smashed her banana into the beach chair and all I had to do was hose it off, I felt slightly less silly for letting her use it daily.