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@Mrs. Pen: Yikes! The tantrum stage is something I am totally not ready for. I have a while, but would happily skip it. Sadie already tells me no, so I think we're in for it good.

I don't know if Sadie is considered a toddler...? She's walking, but isn't quite one yet! I don't want to intrude where I don't belong.

@photojane: We're in exactly the opposite situation - M is almost 16 months old but not walking much yet. I keep feeling like we're stuck between baby and toddler!

@Mrs. Pen: Sounds like the toddler stage has its high-highs and low-lows. We're enjoying watching M's vocabulary grow every day (she's definitely an early talker / late walker) and it's so much fun watching her personality emerge! I wouldn't say that we're seeing full-blown tantrums yet, but she's testing boundaries every day and loves to yell "no, no NO!". Ugh. I ended up taking her dinner away earlier than I wanted tonight because she was staring right into my eyes and dropping food down to the dog and then laugh. I figure I can only tell her no so many times without actually following through

@MrsF: I can relate! Sadie does this every night! And when I tell her, "No, that's your food, you eat it, don't give it to Charlie," she stops, shakes her head at me, then feeds him anyway. I think she eats 1/4 of her meal and the dog eats the other 3/4. Ahhh!

@Mrs. Pen: Glad to see your post. Missed seeing you around!

And my son is 21 months and I'd like to say I'm loving this stage, but it's been tough lately. He's gone from the most social, happy child ever, to suddenly being terrified of everyone and everything, including his father. He's actually gotten kind of mean where he shuts doors in people's faces or tells them to go away. He also gets increasingly frustrated if he can't physically do something and has taken up hitting himself again.

That said, I know it's all a phase, and other than that, his speech has gotten so much better and he's talking up a storm. I'm also surprised daily about how clever he can be. It's amazing to see how much he understands and how quickly he can learn something new. He's still as active as ever and loves to get rowdy. He's also still a terrible eater, but his sleep is still great (knock on wood).

This is my favorite age so far. E is 21 months and so much fun. She's pretty independent but still loves her morning snuggles. We will often stay in bed for 45 mins in the morning just talking and snuggling She is talking NON STOP! In the car she wants to tell me everything she's seeing. Her favorite toys are her doctor kit to give me "check ups" and her kitchen to cook me "toast and ice cream". Whenever she sees a baby she says "baby! I'm a big sister!" I think she's definitely aware there is a baby on the way. Tantrums are definitely our biggest struggle but now that we have been dealing with them for a bit, I can easily ignore them and we move on quickly. I can't wait to see her interact with the new baby

@Mrs. Pen: I have had a few days now where the whining makes me just wait and wait for bedtime... I feel guilty about that too. But I know it's just a phase. It's not like we love them any less! In fact my mom says that is why we love them so much..we have so much time invested in them.

@BananaPancakes: My daughter went from being a daddy's girl to suddenly having a mommy preference lately. I don't know why. Usually she will go to daddy and loves being with him. But today before he left for work (he works nights) she wouldn't give him a hug even though she kept hugging my leg. I said, "Give daddy hug," and she even said, "No." Then she came back to me and said "hug" and hugged my leg again. I felt so sad for dh!

As for our general update, C is 16 months now and seems less "babylike" all the time. She loves animals, especially dog, cat, giraffe, and elephant. She calls monkeys "dum" because of the book "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb" where the monkeys are playing drums and it says "dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum." That's her current fave along with Brown Bear.. She has become a lot less shy around people (yay!) but has many non-people fears. She's afraid of vacuum cleaners, showers (only when they are on and only sometimes), sand, and this big fan. She loves making messes, dumping out drawers, etc. She figured out "drawing" and took a pen cap off and drew on our wooden coffee table. She's a good eater but we are struggling with sleep, especially nights. I am loving the toddler stage overall because things just seem to make more "sense" to me and the interactions are so much more awesome. Also, dd is very affectionate which is cute.

C is 21, nearly 22, months now. She'll be 2 the first week of April.

I have to say I love and hate this age. We've been in the tantrums since 18 months. It comes in waves where she is great for a a days and then really terrible for a couple. I think a lot of it stems from the fact that she is currently refusing to nap.... at all.... for going on 2 months now. Hopefully that passes soon because it's driving me crazy!

She's learning new words all the time, but still babbles a lot. Her comprehension is really high though and she can follow pretty much any directions we give her, so I'm not too worried. I know she'll talk more when she's ready to. She's always been the type to delay a bit and then bust out into full mastery.

I do love watching her personality emerge. She is so spunky and a total ham. She cuddles more now than she ever did as an infant, which DH and I love. She makes us laugh all the time being a goofball. I love watching her imagination at work when she's playing with her toys or drawing and chattering to herself or her doll. I think she's going to be a very passionate, independent, creative woman when she grows up and I'm excited to see it.

Overall, things are great. Life is headed for a big upset soon with our huge move back the States. I'm hoping she doesn't get too messed up from all that. She's showing lots of signs of potty training readiness, but we're waiting until we get home to do that.

DD will be 19 months old in just a few days. She's getting more and more independant and curious, as opposed to just making a mess, although she loves to do that too.

She's become my professional onion and garlic peeler Whenever I cook, she loves rummaging through the pots and pans. That's where I keep all the onions, garlic, and potatoes - they've been her new favorite toys! It started with potatoes: they were all over the house! Then she discovered the magic of peeling onions. I'm surprised by how completely enthralled she is by the simple act of peeling an onion! She's moved on to garlic now. I have peeled garlic cloves all over the house!

She'll be starting daycare soon and I'm happy for the change, but at the same time it's a big adjustment. I feel like she's off to college! Haha!

@Mrs. Pen: It's great hearing from you!

Duplicate post

DS is almost 16 months old. He gets so excited to see our cats and dog. He isn't much for "real" words yet but I am not worried. He loves to run around and dance. N is so in love with music, which just warms my heart because DH and I are both avid music lovers. We are hoping that he continues to enjoy and love music the way he does now. I really wish we could drop the tantrums all together. We are pretty lucky that he doesn't throw them often; mostly when he is tired.

The one thing that is cute but a little annoying that he is doing right now is putting everything "away" in the garbage cans. Regardless where the garbage can is..... He also learned to flip into the bath tub.

@Mrs. Pen: I remembered seeing this thread but have yet to post an update.

P is almost 21 months old. She talks NON-STOP and is so funny. She loves to sing songs and make up her own songs (especially adding it people's names/things to the "Elmo's World" song). Sleep has been really tough for the last month because of teething and a sleep regression. But, I think we are finally coming to the end of it. She is speaking in many 4+ word sentences ("I want some more _____", "I don't like that", "Look at me Daddy", Listen to me Mommy"). She has started reporting about things she does at daycare "I hit ___, naughty girl!". haha. She is giant and wearing at least 3T clothes, with all of her jackets and sweatshirts being 4T. She is becoming really picky with food and will only eat what she wants and often requests spaghetti and meatballs for breakfast. She loves watching Sofia the First, Bubble Guppies, Little Einsteins, and Brave. All in all, she is such a joy and turning into such a little girl. Very rarely do I feel like she is still my little baby and it is so bittersweet!!