Carly at 23 Months

On Christmas Eve Carly turned 23 months.  

We are in the last month of her being one.  

It's so very bittersweet. 

At 23 months, she is funny, sweet, and loving.

She makes us all laugh,

and is full of character.

She loves to play with her brothers' toys,

making vroom sounds with the cars,

and taking apart the legos.

She also loves being a mama to her baby dolls,

and toting stuffed animals with her everywhere.

She loves getting dressed and is so good when I do her hair.

When she looks especially cute, all the brothers will say so, and she copies them,

saying, "So cute!"

Her hair is getting longer, which is nice...

but she constantly has new hair growing as well, so it is pretty much always out of control. 

Ha!

She loves to say, "Nope!" especially if we tease her that it's time for night-night.

At the dinner table she loves to have all our attention,

and she often does.

She'll join our conversation, or just get our attention so she can point out all the things on her tray:

Fork, spoon, cup of water, rice, broccoli, plate...

She is a bossy little tyrant some of the time (I think she's practicing for when she's two). 

She's the most bossy to her big brothers.  

Here she is screaming "Wy-att!!!" 

wanting him to join her on the trampoline. 

Hah!

She hasn't had very good naps the last month

(I blame teething)

and it's made for some hard, hard afternoons!!!

If things don't go exactly how she wants them, 

or I can't understand exactly what she wants,

she can throw some epic tantrums. 

Mostly they consist of:

melting onto the floor

and loud screaming

 She loves to go get brothers from school,

wants to walk independently while we're there,

and seemingly can't wait to be a big kid!

 She loves snacks.

She is always asking for a bowl or baggie of something.

This day, she brought me a baggie and the chocolate chips and wanted them PLEASE!

 She loves to read,

and will bring us HUGE stacks of books to read.

Then she will sit and listen to all.of.them. 

It's amazing given her age.

She'll also read to herself, which I love.

 While we were gone in Spokane at the hospital,

Josh said she would say, "Mommy? Wyatt. Sick."

When they finally got to FaceTime each other, they were both overjoyed.

Wyatt's smile hadn't been so big since before he had left town,

and Carly was tickled to see her Wyatt Byatt.

 I'll often ask, "Who do you love, Carly?"

And she'll answer:

"Wyatt,

Jackie,

Logan Bogans,

Daddy,

Mommy,
Grandma,

Papa,

Nanny,

Milo

and Ari."

It's so so cute!

 Before she goes to bed, she likes to make her rounds, saying goodnight to everyone in the house, hugging them and telling them she loves them.

"I love you, Gackie"

"I love you, Gogan"

"I love you Wyatt Byatt"

"I love you, too, dad"

And before I leave the room after tucking her in,

she'll say sadly, "I love you, mom."

 She is still nursing.

We are down to once a day, before afternoon naps.

The plan is to drop that as well within the next few weeks. 

I'm ready to be done in so many ways,

but quitting is still bittersweet.

(I'm finding all of parenting to be quite bittersweet!)

 I love how the boys tolerate her. 

She will get in their business, steal their toys, yell at them, and they just smile and let her be, always including her where they can.

She LOVES bubbas.  

(That's what we call stuffed animals around here!)  

When she finds one, she stops whatever she's doing and hugs it, closing her eyes and sighing. 

It's so precious.

She especially loves her new Panda from Josh.

She LOVES looking out the front window and the back slider at our bunny (or bunnies... we aren't sure if it's one bunny we keep seeing in both yards, or if it's a few bunnies...).  The other day after she looked at the bunny, she ran and got her monkey bubba and held him up to see.  She said, "Look it, monkey! See the bunny?"

She is just the most fun at this age.

She's putting together all kinds of sentences;

("Mama do it." "Bunny go night night." "Play with me.")

she can play pretend with her toys or the boys;

and she loves to be tickled.

I am still tickled at her girl-ness.

I love dressing her in pink and purple,

I love doing her hair and picking her shoes,

and I love how maternal she is to her dolls.

Carly, you are so beloved.

I hope that you forever know it, baby girl.

The last 23 months with you have been pure magic.

***