Carly May: 21 Months

 Carly turned 21 months on the 24th.  In three short months our sweet rainbow girl will be two. 

 At 21 months, she absolutely loves being outside.  Especially swinging, going down the slide and jumping on the trampoline with her brothers. (I love how the static makes her hair stand on end. Ha!)

 She looks up to her brothers so much, mimicking them and watching their every move.  

When they swing, she wants to swing. 

When they brush, she wants to brush.

When they scooter, she wants to scooter.

 When they do homework at the table, she wants to do homework at the table.

When they play transformers, she wants to play transformers.

When they do tablets, she wants to do tablets.

 She is 100% adventurous. And fearless.

 And 100% independent.

 Her brothers adore her, care for her, watch over her and are just awesome with her.  She brings out the best in all three of them, and watching that relationship is a gift I didn't anticipate when I was pregnant with her.

 But the relationship she has with Wyatt is the most special of all.  Those two go together like peas & carrots.  He is patient and kind, always teaching; and she is silly & sweet, always learning.  It's like magic. They never fight, and he never gets frustrated with her. The most upset he gets is when she's into his stuff and all he says is, "Carrr-los!" in his fake angry voice.  It's pretty hilarious!

 For Halloween she's a Seahawks cheerleader, and it's basically the most fun thing ever to see her shake her pom poms!

 She is a mess maker, and I swear I spend half my day at home with her cleaning up after the messes she has made while I've been attempting to get other things done.

Josh was tickled pink when we found the WSU (Washington State University- where we both got our undergraduate degrees) track suit that all three of the other boys wore when they were this age.  She looked adorable in it and we had fun comparing pictures. 

Logan & Jack :: 21 months

Wyatt :: 17 months 

Her hair is so pretty and getting thicker.  She lets me do it everyday, no problem, and only sometimes pulls out her "hair pretties".

 When she's looking for something or someone, this is what she does with her hands. It's pretty much the cutest.

   She is like a celebrity at the boys' school.  During morning drop off and afternoon pick up, she walks around like she owns the joint, or she has crowds of first and fourth graders gathered around the stroller trying to get her to say their names or share her goldfish.  It's a hoot!

She can often be found "reading" to herself, sitting or laying down, and every time I see it, I think I take a picture because it just makes me so happy.  She loves to be read to, especially by Josh. 

 After naps is beginning to be my favorite time with her because it's just the two of us, and she's still so snuggly.  She loves to nurse more, or sit with me and pet the kitties.  That sweet, quiet time is just the best. 

You can just see it peeking out here, her feather taggie (a piece of cloth with ribbons that my mom made), and that's her favorite of the six taggies she has.  I wish I knew why she likes it best, but I'm not sure.  Wyatt had three when he was her age, and he had a favorite too.  Now Carly has his six, plus two of her own. (She had three, but I lost one. #fourthchildproblems)

 It is COLD in the mornings here now, but I am determined to continue walking to school as many days as possible.  (It's so good for my mental health, and for my kids!)  So Carly has quite the collection of coats, but these all-in-one zip-over-everything fuzzy fleece onesies with hoods are my hands-down favorite.  My mom bought Carly this one, and she loves it.  I love that she sticks her hands in the pockets. I mean, how cute is that?!?

 For the most part, her schedule is pretty consistent.  She goes to bed between 6:30 & 7:00 and sleeps through the night. She wakes up between 5:30 & 6:30am, and naps at 11:30am.  But when she gets off her schedule, then she tends to fall asleep in the car, which is the worst!  (Although the boys think she's pretty cute sleeping in her carseat!) 

 She is getting "so big", and that includes a growing vocabulary.  She talks and talks and talks, all the time.  I love it so much.  Most words she struggles with, she uses a "g" at the beginning.  

Phone = gone 

Milk = Gilk

Logan = Gogan

It's adorable.

 She offers me kisses whenever she feels shy, is meeting someone new, or is feeling especially affectionate.  It's my favorite.

  When she sleeps, I can still see the tiny baby she once was. 

I just love those lashes resting on her sweet cheeks.

 Before bedtime, she always gets a little crazy. I'm not sure why. 

She loves when I use the flashlight on my phone to do shadow puppets.

Now when we go to bed every night, she screams, "Quack! Quack!" cause she wants to make a duck shadow. Haha!

She follows me everywhere, which means she is with me in the kitchen, in the bathroom, and in my craft room.  She signs "potty" when I go potty, and loves to play with the toys in the bathtub.  When we're in my room, she asks to wear my bracelets or goes through my bedside table drawers.  In the kitchen, she sits on the bar stools and "cooks" with me. I think if she were my first, her constant messes and our constant togetherness might drive me nuts, but since she's my fourth and my last, I am enjoying all of it.

 Randomly, Carly will touch my face softly and say, "sweet".  She will also say, "I Lauuuu", which is her way of saying "I love you".  While she's nursing she will often pull off to hug or kiss me, or do snuggle nose or "big squeeze" where she hugs me extra tight.  

She gets really upset if someone is crying and wants to help.  She also gets upset if she makes a mess.  I often have to tell her it's okay. We can do teamwork to clean it up.  

I can't wait to see more of her personality develop.

Carly, you are such a blessing to this family.  

We are so grateful for everyday we get to spend with you.

We love you so much.

Big squeeze,

Momma