18 months

ONE and a HALF! Our little girl is growing so much. She is walking like crazy, almost running. We rearranged the entryway because she is doing the steps now. She does them pretty well, but just in case this way she doesn't land on anything at the bottom.

We haven't used the monitor in a long time. I decided to see what she does when we put her down for a nap. I wish the monitor recorded. She was playing with the metal flowers on the wall, running circles in her crib, then at one point she had half her body over the railing. The crib is already at its lowest, next stage is toddler bed. We thought it better for her to fall out of the toddler bed than flipping over the top of the rail. We weren't able to get her to take a nap in it right away - she ended up taking it in our bed. She is great at getting in and out of it, and when she gets in she lays down and says "nigh nigh" but doesn't stay in the bed.

We tried the BabyCenter approach at nap time. We laid her down and said it was time for a nap. Shut the door. Jon stayed on the monitor while I stood next to the door. He would tell me "she's out of bed" and "she's at the door". Then I would walk her back to bed in silence and no eye contact. We did this about 8 times. She thought it was a game. So the last time I shut the door so it clicked (meaning she couldn't open it herself). She ended up falling asleep next to the door. I came in an hour later and had to gently keep opening the door little by little. Bedtime went a lot better. She gave us the cue when she laid down on the floor. We did our kisses for everyone (including Polly). Then I laid her down and left the room. She cried for a while next to the door. I sent Jon in this time. He put her in bed and she didn't get up. It has been this way for a week now. Once in bed and she pretty much gets it. She cries for a while, but she doesn't get out of bed.

Another milestone - potty training. We are taking it VERY slow. I have a potty chair. We started by having her investigate the whole thing. She took it all apart. Then we had her sit on it with her clothes on. I have her come in with me when I go and she sits on her chair (clothes on still). Before we get ready for bed and change her diaper one last time we sit on the chair naked. I let her run around the bathroom naked (easy cleanup if necessary). Every once in a while asking her if she has to go potty. When I ask she comes back to the chair and sits down. She took some toilet paper and I asked her what she does with it, she proceeded to wipe herself. I think she knows the concept, just not sure she knows about being wet vs. dry. When I have a weekend of no activities and not being sick, we will have to try the 3 day method.

(This is not the chair Jolynn has, but I thought it interesting when I Googled Potty Chair how many different styles there were and how they have evolved. I think this is the model I had when I was getting trained. Just a bucket under a chair with a hole. The bucket slid out and you dumped in the the toilet.)

New words: Uppee, Yummy, Potty, Baba (Grandpa Benson), mine, me