18 months

So, what's going on with our little K-K? Although she is not saying much that we can understand, we are seeing her try out some new words. In addition to Dada, Mama, a-oh (uh-oh), and hi, we think she says the following, but are not 100% sure that this is really what she is saying. Me-me(short e sound): Milk,ba-po:book, ap-po:apple, Ba-ba: banana, Wa-wa: cup, da-die : Addie, and.... that's about it. So, the experts say that there might be a problem if a child doesn't have 15 words by this age, but we aren't really worried. We comment on it often enough between the two of us, but more with a laugh because we know that K doesn't do anything unless she wants to do it, and is ready for it. In fact, a couple of times we thought she said stuff, and asked her to repeat it, and the little stinker just looked at us with a glint in her eye, and refused to say a peep. I think that she will soon get frustrated that we are not correctly interpreting her grunts, squeals, and pointing and just start adding words like mad. So, that will come, I am confident.

Right now she is enamored with her shoes, and everyone else's. She points to her shoes each morning, and prefers to put them on, even while she is still wearing her pajamas. If we tell her that she can put them on after breakfast, she will remember and go up to her room when she is done, stand on her tippy-toes, reach to the top of her dresser and select a pair. They always match, and then she brings them to us, holds them out, and turns around to seat herself in our lap so that we can put them on for her. More recently, she has also gotten into taking off her shoes. She will take them off, then try to put them on, then bring them to me for help. This can happen 20 times in a day, so after a few rounds of this, I just take them away. She will then try on big sis' shoes and shuffle around in them. She also likes to bring people their shoes, if she finds them lying discarded on the floor. Yes, the girl likes shoes!!

Another thing K loves is the bathroom sink. Anytime anyone is washing their hands, or occupied at the sink, she climbs up onto the stool and watches, or puts her own hands under the running water. Many mornings you will find her wedged between Ed and the sink as he shaves.

As for eating, she has her favorites, and then, well, nothing else. She always has the same breakfast- cheerios with milk, that she feeds to herself, and lunch- PB&J. Snacktimes she goes to the cupboard and points, usually at the cookies, although I also give her things like string cheese, breakfast bars, apples, and bananas. Dinner is the real challenge. She absolutely refuses to let vegetables and meat cross her lips. I always give her whatever we are eating, and she will only eat the rice or noodles, and leave the chicken, ground beef, green beans, carrots, or brocolli, sometimes spitting them out if I have mixed it all together. The only exceptions are when I make spaghetti she will eat it all, even the beef. Also she likes peas and corn. It is a challenge. I know I would not have stood for this if she were my first child, but I am not so sure if it would have made much of a difference. She is a lot more strong-willed than her older sister, and does not give in so easily to my demands. I think if I pushed it, and did not let her eat anything until she ate the chicken, she would just not eat dinner. And, call me crazy, but I know this because I let it happen once. I made dinner, she refused to eat it, she went to bed and I gave it to her the next morning at breakfast. She was starving, but still would not eat. She just cried her head off, and then I gave in, and got her a bowl of cheerios. I guess I taught her, once again, that if she cries hard enough, I will give in. I am just hoping that she will grow out of it, because once she has the verbal skills, and the reasoning skills, I will enforce the "eat it" rule.

She is very affectionate, and will randomly come up to different people during the day and give a big kiss on the leg or whatever she can reach. She even does this to our dog Holly, who just looks at me with a long suffering look.

We love our K, even if she is a little imp!