A year and a half gone by...

Darci turned eighteen months old on Saturday! She got a new pair of fairy wings, petal skirt and a firefighter helmet to play dress up, and a flip book with photos of all of her family and friends.

We always like to keep one eye on the developmental milestones that Darci should be reaching as she grows. Kids all develop at different rates, we know several others born within weeks of Darci and they have different strengths. Here’s a rundown of the 18th month milestones, with notes about where Darci is right now:

Most toddlers should be able to . . .

Draw and scribble well
This is going great! Some of you have already benefited from her amazing crayon skills and those who haven’t can expect a crayon picture on their next birthday. She likes to have one in each hand, and so far we decide which colors and control the box, otherwise the selection seems too much for her. She has learned a good grip but she can’t hold them correctly quite yet. She is getting better at manipulating the crayons and understands which end to write with. She leans way down close to the paper when she colors, very intense!

Run well
She runs extremely well, you must be ready to chase when you set her down.

Become picky about certain foods
Not so much, thankfully. She will decide when she’s done with a food, and will sometimes turn down an item, but she pretty much eats what we offer her. She doesn’t seem to have favorites, either, although yogurt is pretty high on her list.

Say at least 15 or 20 words
I don’t think she has this many words yet. Maybe more like 10. But she has been starting to repeat things occasionally and it sounds like she’s trying to say what we said even if it doesn’t sound very close at all.

Feed self with spoon
Yes and no. She always has her own spoon in hand when it’s time to eat. If she is very hungry or if the food is something she particularly enjoys she will feed herself. She scoops food with her spoon at every meal but will usually just bang it on her tray or fling it around or try to use it to smear food on Mommy’s hand. I’m not sure how to help her with this skill since I can’t handle leaving her a bowl of food to make an insane mess with.

Some toddlers will probably be able to . . .

String more words together to make phrases or put together pairs of words
Her most complete verbal communication is “please, ok,” which usually means take this from me, or feed this to me, or read this to me, or play this toy with me. She says ok instead of yes, and she never says no, just shakes her head. “What’s that” is still a favorite phrase.

Talk more clearly
Although her vocabulary is limited, she talks a lot. She tells us things, gestures, and sings. She understand the labels for a lot of things but won’t say them herself yet.

Brush teeth with help
Brushing a toddler’s teeth is not easy. I’ve had to use several tricks to keep her interested and I haven’t found a great method yet. Darci has her own Elmo toothbrush and she always brushes her own teeth (a couple of swipes is all) and I get in there and scrub away as quick as I can while she’ll let me. My goal is to get her teeth relatively clean but most importantly to get her to like brushing.

Take off an article of clothing alone
She seems capable of doing this but has not yet undressed. She can certainly take off socks and her bib. She loves hats and is getting more successful at putting them on by herself. She will help you when you're dressing and undressing her.

Jump around
We have seen more jumping and bouncy dancing lately. She will also walk backwards and walk around with her eyes closed, both of which she thinks are hilarious. She does pretty good backwards but you can imagine how eyes closed walking works out. She doesn’t get too upset when she hurts herself unless it’s a hard hit.

Some toddlers could possibly be able to . . .

Take apart toys and sometimes puts them back together
Darci can take toys apart, that’s for sure. Doug got her a Mr. Potato Head recently and she has no trouble taking all of his body parts off, and working the trap door on his behind where they all get stashed. She is able to put the pieces back on him but sometimes needs help to keep from getting frustrated. She’s also good at stacking her big legos.

Show signs of potty training
Not yet, although it is getting easier to picture training her. She will have dry periods sometimes for a couple of hours, but she does not indicate to us when she goes or show any desire to be changed.

Climb out of crib and high chair
So far she’s only climbed out of the crib once, and hasn’t attempted to climb out of the high chair. She’s always belted in so probably couldn’t do that anyway. She may have been as surprised as I was the night she got out of the crib, she had a long, tough day with tooth pain and fussiness and did not want to settle down and sleep. That was more than a week ago and she hasn’t done it since, thankfully! Next time she climbs out we will have to convert her to the big girl bed and that opens a whole new world of self control for her. Hopefully it will be a little while.

Draw circles
Not yet.

Understand two part directions
She does well with directions, but not two part directions yet. She does surprise me often, though. I can ask her to put something away and she understands that means to put it back where she got it from. She can envision a series of events, and she never lets you skip a step in a process. If she got to turn off the light after her bath last night, you are supposed to stop and let her do it again tonight. If you miss something like this it might take a minute to figure out why she is getting squirmy and mad, but she usually gets her point across and reminds you.

There’s nothing better than the sunny smile I get every morning when I get Darci up. She goes to bed at 7 PM and sleeps straight through to 7 AM. She’s the sweetest little girl with just the right mix of wanting to cuddle and wanting to be independent.