My poor baby. She didn’t even make it to her second year without breaking something, although the good news is it doesn’t seem to be slowing her down. I had to pin her to my chest with both arms during gymnastics on Wednesday because all she wanted to do was jump off of everything, hang off of everything and throw herself into the big pit of foam blocks. She is 99% affected already and it hasn’t even been a week. There’s a rather large bump on her collar bone that I am hoping disappears on its own, otherwise she’ll never be a collar bone model and obviously that would be tragic.

Things are on hold a little bit while she heals, but we’re keeping busy with quiet play dates – although the aforementioned insistence on jumping/climbing/running is making them a little less quiet. So far at least we’ve managed to avoid playgrounds. Caroline doesn’t seem to mind, especially since one of our play dates brought purple sparkle play dough and she is OBSESSED. (Well, technically she bought white, pink and blue sparkle play dough, but it is currently one big lovely lump of lavender.)

Let’s talk about how the accident clearly hasn’t affected her smarts. Caroline has the very best memory of any baby I have ever seen. She regularly (as in, every 5 minutes) asks about her friends James and Owen who we went to Sesame Place with a month ago. She can identify all of her grandparents by their photos even though we don’t see them very often. On Sunday I told her we could go to the zoo on Monday and she said “Aoudads?????” What kind of one year old remembers aoudads instead of giraffes or elephants? Although to be fair she remembers those too. I kept her awake for the entire hour car ride home from the zoo naming animals we had seen.

She is still small – most of her 18 month stuff is still big and she’s swimming in 2T. It means she has more clothes than any child could ever possible need (and today I found a full box of 18 month stuff in the attic I have literally no memory of receiving and/or putting up there). Bless all of you lovely people who sent us hand-me-downs. You won’t even believe the cuteness of the little red swing coat Harper sent us and it’s only made EVEN CUTER because Caroline loves to say “Arper! Arper!” She has a plethora of shoes as well, but insists on ONLY wearing her pink sparkle shoes because, duh, sparkles.

Caroline’s favorite things include cheese, strawberries, cereal, eggs, bacon, stealing my eggs and bacon, dogs, animals, play dough, coloring (on herself), children’s pain relievers, talking like a pirate, watching Disney shows on my phone, friends, dancing, Yo Gabba Gabba, fruit snacks, pointing at things, trying to drink my coffee, books* and her brother.

Least favorite things include CAT scans, being really really tired, Lara Bars, not being allowed to jump off of high things, not being allowed to watch shows on my phone, not getting her way immediately, having her hair brushed, and being pushed off of playground equipment.

Today you get 21 photos because she in 21 months and also because I couldn’t narrow it down to any less because I love her so much I think they are all the very cutest picture of her ever. No THAT one’s the cutest. No THAT one. HERE JUST LOOK AT ALL OF THEM.

*pictures feature all of Caroline’s current favorites: Where The Wild Things Are, The Sailor Dog, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel and Baby Beluga.

21 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usual)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Can walk up stairs – Don’t even THINK about trying to help her.
Able to set simple goals (e.g., deciding to put a toy in a certain place) – The goals Caroline sets are more like “see how many times I can make my mom button and unbutton my shirt today before she loses her mind” or “pretend my shoulder hurts so I get another popsicle but then jump up and down on the couch with it laughing”. I’m just hoping none of her goals involve selling her brother for more play-dough.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Throws a ball overhand – Only if she’s aiming at someone’s face.
Kicks ball forward – Only if she’s aiming at someone’s face. Or crotch.
Stacks six blocks – No comment. But also, yes.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Names simple picture in a book – She can name all the animals in Baby Beluga, including “harbor seal”, “narwhal”, and “puffin”.
Can walk down stairs – Don’t you even THINK about trying to help her. Although really you have to a little because she’s so short her legs aren’t really long enough for stairs.

Tags: 21 months, books, Caroline, fun, home, life, milestones, pictures