19 Months

Chloë is very much a little girl at 19 months of age. I am amazed at how "girly" she can be at times, especially since we haven't really encouraged much of the stereotypical gender stuff. Yes, we gave her a plastic bead necklace for Christmas, because we saw how much she loved wearing Mama's necklaces. She also got Duplos, which she does like to play with. But that cheap plastic necklace is almost always around her neck. She gets sad when I tell her she has to take it off for naptime or bedtime, but she is willing to trade it for a binkie.

She still loves shoes, and really likes dresses and skirts, too. Her other favorite attire is to dig one of Mama's tank tops out of the laundry basket, and put her head through an arm hole, and wear it like a frontward cape. In fact, anything of Mama's she is eager to try on. She managed to put my slippers on the other day, and was quite pleased with herself.

She loves chocolate. Loves it. Apparently she once saw where the chocolate chips were kept at Grams and Pops' house. When no one is with her in their kitchen, she'll open the lazy susan, spin it until the container of chocolate chips appears, and then help herself to as much as she can eat before she is discovered. If I ever mention the word, she gets super excited, and says "choc-ate! Choc-ate!" over and over.

She absolutely loves her baby doll. We decided that Baby Doll needed a name, since Baby Sister will be here in no time, and it might be nice to distinguish between the two. So we randomly started calling the doll "Baby Sarah," and Chloë just loves giving "baby Sah-yah" hugs and kisses. Sometimes she delicately cradles the doll in her arms, bouncing her up and down, and rocking her side to side. Sometimes she holds her up to her shoulder, and firmly pats her back. Usually she just likes to wrap the doll up in anything that resembles a blanket (a kleenex, a burp rag, her own baby blanket), and carry her around. (Sometimes she gets frustrated with her less-than-perfect blanket wrapping job, and requests help.)

Besides carrying her around, Chloë has taken an interest in putting Sarah to sleep.

In this clip, she says Sarah ("Say-ah,") patting her doll. Then she puts her on the pillow and tells her "Baby, 'top it" (maybe she was fussing?) and then tells her "s'eepy s'eepy." What funny maternal instincts she has.

The things that she says catches us off guard and often gives us a good laugh. A couple of weeks ago, her daddy disappeared somewhere for a few minutes. She walked around the main floor calling out "Daddy! Aye AH you?!" During dinner the other day, she sat on her daddy's lap to eat, and we were in the middle of our "take-a-bite-of-this-and-you-can-have-a-bite-of-that" routine. Usually bread with butter is our main bargaining tool. Bryan and I were deep in conversation for 10 whole seconds, and looked down and she was happily munching on Bryan's bread that she had grabbed off his plate. "Hey!" we exclaimed, once we noticed, taking the bread away from her. She looked up at Bryan with squinty mischievous eyes and happily declared " 'neaky, 'neaky!" And then last week at Grams and Pops' house, two of the dogs were playing, jumping around the living room a little, gently gnawing at each other. She walked up to Gypsie, firmly hit her on the back and with great authority, said " 'top it!"

A new word that we find convenient for her to use is "again," which she says with perfect enunciation, and always as a request. Usually for a game, or a song, or a dance, or a story... sometimes once just isn't enough for her satisfaction.

And she's officially hit the "what's that?" phase. If there is anything new in our surroundings, she likes to point and ask "aht's dis?" or "aht's dat?" Sometimes this goes on for a very long time. Her little brain is so eager to learn. We've been half-heartedly working on colors and counting and the ABCs for a while, and I know one of these days it will all just click for her.


Her love for books has grown. She loves to bring book after book to me or her daddy, handing it to us asking " 'ead?" Then she throws her upper body onto the couch, pulls herself up, and positions herself right next to me, and happily sits cuddled up next to me (my lap just isn't ideal for holding a squirmy toddler these days). Her absolute favorite is Miss Suzy, and while I read, she points to every picture of the gray squirrel and says "Suzy!!"

She also like Curious George (again with the pointing and saying "Jowge!"), Mr. Dog, and the French translation for Madeline. My French is very basic, but if I do all of the sounds in the back of my throat, I think it sounds pretty good. Chloë usually waits until we're a page or two into the book, and then starts giggling a little, periodically looking at me with her squinty "you're silly" face. She must think I'm crazy. I think my favorite books to read are the one that I don't actually have to read. We just point to the pictures and name things.


She's started a finger-in-the-mouth thing recently, which is kind of funny to me, since she was never a thumb sucker. Sometime she just likes to have a finger (or two) in her mouth. I think especially if she feels nervous or put on the spot. It's kind of cute, but we gently tell her not to, since we don't really want it to become a big habit.

She's also taken a liking to spinning, hopping, and jumping. She can't quite get her feet off the ground when she attempts to jump, but it sure is cute the way she squats down, and then springs up and throws her arms into the air and says "dump!"


(Her classic morning bead head. Yeah, it's insane.)

Chloë is usually still awake when I'm brushing my teeth and washing my face. She decided she she should get in on some of the fun, and waits until I'm done and then sweetly requests "oh-shun" and "ap-tick." So I rub a tiny bit of lotion on her cheeks, and put a tiny bit of chapstick on her lips. She becomes very calm and still when I do this, and thinks it's pretty important that she gets to join in on Mama's bedtime routine.

When it's finally time for bed, we hold or cuddle her until she falls asleep. It's just so sweet that we can still do this. Sometimes she's so tired she passes right out, but sometimes we read or pray or sing. "P'ay?" she'll ask, and lays there, softly blinking, listening intently to the things we say to God. As soon as we say "amen," she asks "sing?" We usually sing Jesus Loves Me, and sometimes the Doxology or another song from church. And then her blinking usually gets very heavy, and she falls asleep holding on to all of the things she loves most; her blanket and bear and doll, and Mama and Daddy's hands. After a few minutes her daddy carries her off to her crib, and I usually find myself sighing in contentment at God's goodness.