The Journey of Parenthood…

Britt is 18 Months Old!

Britt turned 18 months old on June 6th.

toddler girl - what to expect: milestones and development at 18 months old

She may only be 18 months old, but she seems so much older to me!

Maybe it’s the whole second child thing?

She likes to keep up with her brother for sure! This month Britt has started making the craziest facial expressions.

She probably gets it from me as I can’t hide my emotions at all. My face always gives me away! I thought I’d include some of her faces for this months post!

As usual I’m using What to Expect the Toddler Years to see where Britt is in comparison to the “norm” for her age!

At 18 months old Britt is able to do all of the things a toddler her age should be able to do including:

  • use 3 words
  • point to a desired object

She can also do everything that an 18 month old will probably be able to do including:

  • run
  • use a spoon/fork but not exclusively
  • point to 1 body part when asked

Britt can also do all of the things a toddler her age may possibly be able to do including:

  • kick a ball forward
  • follow a 2-step command without gestures

And she can also do all the things an 18 month old may even be able to do including:

  • identify 1 picture by naming
  • use 50+ single words

It talks about where children this age are in their emotional and intellectual development and at this age I really can see Britt’s growth in those areas.

She is demonstrating a variety of emotions and behavior now…which isn’t always so fun for us haha!

I know people joke about women being a roller coaster of emotions, but now that I have both a son and daughter….I believe it’s true.

One second she will be MAD or SUPER upset then BAM! she’ll start cracking up and be totally happy. I understand how rough our poor husbands have it now 🙂

This chapter talks about age spacing between children.

Um, I can’t IMAGINE having a newborn right now or even being pregnant. Britt is a bit of a handful on her own haha.

Of course the book talks about how it’s a personal choice of how far to space children but I found this interesting:

“The experts aren’t unanimous, but most suggest that less than 18 months between pregnancies is stressful to the mother’s body and may rob the older child or the chance to be the baby of the family for a sufficient period.

Others believe that a two-and-a-half to three-year gap between children is ideal because it is long enough to allow adequate time for number one child to be number one but not so long that the parents feel out of the baby “loop” when number two arrives.” 

A lot of this chapter talks about things we don’t have issues with.

Sleep problems, behavior problems etc.

When we do face issues with Britt we already have strategies in place to handle them and get her back on track.

It does talk about dropping down to one nap a day and that is something we did soon after she turned 18 months old (post to come!)

I did appreciate the section of the chapter that discusses “early tantrums” though. Kye didn’t hit the “trying twos” until he was much older.

I’m so thankful he was older because it was easier to handle. He was able to communicate better and understand better.

And I was already pregnant with Britt so I couldn’t turn back haha.

Britt being in this stage at this younger age makes me nervous to get pregnant again!

Re-reading this post I wrote about Kye at this stage (here) really helps me get in the mindset I need to be in to handle her better.

It’s not easy. Kye would pitch LONG fits (like 45 min) and Britt’s are much, much shorter.

I mentioned the roller coaster of emotions remember? Her little fits last only a few min but her scream is horrible, she flails her body violently, and she pitches the fits pretty often.

I know it’s a phase and it’s one we will all have to work through together. I do LOVE this age and there are so many wonderful things about it, but the “oh Britt” portions I could do without 🙂

Had to end on the funniest face EVER 🙂

You can see Britt’s 17 Month Old post here and Kye’s 18th month one here! I love the pics of my cute little man!

Look at how precious! It’s neat to me how different they both look from each other. 

Kye 18 months

Britt 18 Months

Emily Parker
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