18 Months Old

Caitrin Says:

1. Daddy
2. Mama
3. Kitty (was “key” at first but is now definitely “kitty”)
4. Baby
5. Hi
6. Me
7. What’s that? (most of the time it’s “us za” or “us da,” but sometimes it’s really “what’s that”)
8. You
9. Bye
10. Shoe
11. Yeah
12. Eye
13. Wow
14. Okay
15. Queaky (the name she gave the seahorse toy she carries everywhere)
16. Circle (and she really does pronounce it correctly – I was stunned)
17. Turtle (again, pronunciation is correct…unbelievable)
18. Monkey (one of her myriad nicknames)
19. Uh-oh
20. Go
21. Oh, baby
22. Good girl
23. Oh, man
24. Silly kitty (“see kitty”)
25. Silly baby (“see baby”)
26. Okay, baby
27. All done
28. Oh, no
30. Amen

Caitrin Recognizes (will point to pictures and/or the actual item):

1. Daddy
2. Mama
3. Baby
4. Kitty
5. Drum
6. Guitar
7. Ball
8. Monkey
9. Lion
10. Elephant
11. Butterfly
12. Caterpillar
13. Ladybug
14. Birdie
15. Mouse
16. Flower
17. Fish
18. Octopus
19. Lobster
20. Starfish
21. Crab
22. Turtle
23. Seahorse
24. Squirrel
25. Teddy bear
26. Head
27. Ear
28. Eye
29. Nose
30. Mouth
31. Belly
32. Hand
33. Knee
34. Foot
35. Shoes
36. Socks
37. Books
38. Big plane
39. Lipstick
40. Dog
41. Calendar
42. Light
43. Table
44. Rooster
45. Diaper

Fun Idiosyncrasies:
Caitrin clearly knows who her own Mama and Daddy are, but right now she thinks that all adult women are “mama” and adult men are “daddy.” This makes for interesting shopping trips and appointments, as she’ll point to a random man and scream out “DADDY” at the top of her lungs.

She is beginning to respond when I ask her questions. If I ask, “Are you all done?” she’ll often reply with “yeah” or “okay.” Sometimes follows directions when I ask her to help me put toys away.

She knows that you brush your hair with a hairbrush and sometimes does pretty well brushing hers. She knows socks and shoes go on your feet and will often attempt to put hers on.

Somehow she understands that you dip chicken nuggets in mustard or ketchup. One night I handed her a whole plate at dinner instead of giving her bites at a time, and on the plate I had squirted some mustard, just to see what would happen. She picked up a nugget, dunked it, and put it in her mouth, and kept doing so until they were gone.

She does understand how to feed herself from a spoon but won’t really do it, and won’t allow us to feed her from a spoon anymore. As such, her diet consists of all the things we eat that don’t require silverware in order to be eaten.

She will not hold her own sippy cup. She just refuses. Won’t even try. She is such a diva.