The Quinns: 14 Months Old

Today Curran is 14 months old! 14 months sounds so much older to me than 13 did. Time is a flyin'! To me, C has changed so much in the last two months. She understands SO much more of what we say. I feel like she can understand most simple instructions I give her,and will usually comply if they are something like:

Let's put on your shoes {she grabs her shoes and sits down}.

Go get a book.

Put that book back on the shelf.

Drink your milk.

However, if the instructions go something like this:

It's time to go inside.

Curran, no.

Put that down.

...they are usually met with a different response. But to me, it's amazing that she can say so little but understand so much! It's fascinating to watch her little wheels turn.

In last month's post, I forgot to include two of her favorite words: uh oh and dat {that}. I think the only new word she has is hot. She has also learned to blow on her food when I tell her it's hot. It's pretty cute. But her main form of communication is pointing. She now points to anything and everything and makes you feel like she just HAS TO HAVE whatever it is.

She can identify a few body parts on herself and other people {nose, mouth, ears, bellybutton, and eyes}. She is also starting to be able to identify certain animals or items in books. It's funny to see her remembering things from books we read all the time. For example, in one of her books, there are two parts where I always kiss her, and a few weeks ago she started turning around towards me for the kiss literally right before I got to that sentence. It was so funny! And she has a new obsession with Pat the Bunny. John taught her to turn around and rub his face at the part where it says to feel Daddy's scratchy face. But she also does it to me now, too. I'm trying to get her to understand that hopefully mamas don't have scratchy faces. :)

I thought this month I would just list her likes and dislikes instead of getting so wordy like I normally do {although I'm not promising that I won't elaborate a time or two}.

Loves:

books

baths

music

dancing

playing outside

baby dolls

her wagon/wagon rides

bubbles

dogs

slides at the playground

shoes- hers and other people's

opening and closing doors/cabinets

trying to take off or put on lids/tops to containers {water bottles, sippy cups, etc)

copying everything we do, whether it be sounds, facial expressions, or movements-- She and John were playing outside the other night before dinner, and he was spinning a football on its end like a top. She went and picked it up and tried to make it spin herself. When she couldn't get it to spin, she just started shaking her head back and forth really fast, I guess so the ball would look like it was spinning. It was so funny!

Hates:

the vacuum and dustbuster- doesn't matter whether they're on or off. Although lately, when we walk past the dustbuster {that lives on the washing machine right outside of her bedroom}, she points and says something {incomprehensible}. So I always say "Curran, do you want to touch the vacuum?" And she reaches out and touches it, and I always respond with "Yay, Curran! Good job!" She gets so excited and proud of herself, and then we high five. So we are making tiny strides. :)

getting out of the bath

going inside

being told "no"

diaper changes are getting pretty rough

being fed with a spoon- she started crying hysterically when I tried to feed her her yogurt the other day. I learned a few weeks ago that I had to get out two spoons- one for me and one for her. She dips hers into the bowl/container while I try to feed her quickly with the other while she is distracted. I know she needs the practice of eating with a spoon, but it just gets SO messy and most of the food ends up on the floor/her hair/the high chair.

This has been such a fun, but challenging, couple of months. She is very strong-willed, which I love, but it also means that she can throw the mother of all tantrums at any given moment. I always wanted to be one of those moms who could discipline her child without having to raise her voice, but that hope is quickly fading. She throws her head back, kicking and screaming most of the time when I tell her no or won't let her have what she wants. She gets into everything which makes it really hard to run errands with her. I feel like I can't control her. I'm just really afraid that I'm going to be one of those mothers who other people judge for having a wild child. Maybe this is just a phase that she will grow out of?? I know her behavior is typical of a lot of one year olds {testing her limits and exploring her surroundings}, it's just hard when I can't reason with her. I just can't imagine the terrible twos being much worse, although I know she will be more vocal by then so that will be a challenge in and of itself.

She's also getting two top molars {bringing her teeth total to ten...and I think the two on the bottom aren't too far behind}, so I think that is causing some of her crankiness this week. I can see her feeling them with her tongue, she's drooling buckets, and has had bad diapers/diaper rash, so I know they are bothering her. Everyone says the cuspids are bad {she hasn't gotten those yet}, but these are no walk in the park either.

Here are some pictures of Miss C from this past weekend:

I thought she looked so cute in the dress Katharyn smocked and gave her for her bday. And she looked so grown up in her new shoes! :)

She loved playing on this little footstool.

Those fingers stay in her mouth.

She got mad when I took the camera away from her while she was having fun taking pictures! :)

I wanted to eat her up in this outfit!! {Here's a flashback to Chris and me wearing the same dress!}

This was right before she threw a major fit, and I had to carry her out of the country club while everyone else in the room was silent and staring at us. Well, I didn't look around to see who was watching because I was mortified, but I could feel all eyes on us!