It’s been over a month since my last post. I involuntarily took a break because this was honestly a really rough month physically and mentally and I didn’t get much of anything accomplished. This post is about her, not me, so I’ll leave the details for another day. I did at least get these photos done, even if they sat on the memory card for the past 3 weeks.
This month CC and I went to the Byodo-In Temple in the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park near Kaneohe for her photos. This is a buddhist temple that is a smaller-scale replica of the Byodo-in Temple in Japan. It is open to the public daily for a small fee. The temple and gardens are a beautiful and peaceful place to spend some time.
The last time we were here, CC was only 6 months old! What a difference a year and half makes! I had no idea at that time that her head would erupt in a mound of curls!
At 23 months old, CC is still wearing size 4 diapers, mostly size 2T clothing (some smaller), and size 6 shoes. Being summer year round here, we really get a lot of use out of her clothes since she can wear them until she outgrows them instead of just until the season changes. There are some things she has been wearing for over a year now! She still has a few 12 and 18 month shorts and skirts that still fit. It depends on the brand, not all sizes are created equal.
CC still follows the same eating and sleeping schedule. She has been eating 4 times a day and sleeping 12 hours a night since she was 5 months old. She started coming into this schedule on her own around 4 months and I just made sure she stuck with it. Consistency was key and it still is. If we want a happy toddler, then she needs to stick to her schedule (within reason).
There is a small gift shop on the temple grounds where you can purchase a small bag of fish food. If you are military, you get a bag of food for free! CC had a great time feeding the fish and birds. She threw out one pellet at a time… thankfully we weren’t in any hurry!
CC still loves her pacifiers. They are definitely a comfort item now and an addiction. I’m not going to make her quit them cold turkey yet but we are limiting them to only the crib and the car for longer rides. There have been a few times in the past month when CC really wanted her paci. When I tell her she could only have the paci if she’s in her crib, then she wants in her crib so she can suck it! She sits quietly in her crib for about 20 minutes, gets her sucking fix, and then wants out to play again.
CC is still primarily babbling when she speaks but she is constantly learning and adding new words to her vocabulary. Most notable for month 23 was that she started saying yes and no instead yeah and uh-uh. She also started saying please (“eese”) consistently and unprompted. She introduces Johnnie and I to everyone who pays attention to her as mama and daddy. She knows her name but has not said it yet.
CC loves her babies (baby dolls and stuffed animals) and loves seeing real babies when we’re out somewhere. She still loves Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and watches an episode of that almost every day. She loves to “write” with pens, markers, crayons, and colored pencils. She also loves to brush her teeth and would brush them all day long if I let her!
Soon CC will be 2 years old! We are having a small casual cookout with a few friends to celebrate. Johnnie’s parents will also be here for a visit.
For the past year, I’ve been referring to CC by number of months instead of simply saying “She’s 1.” I know this annoys some people (usually those who don’t have children) but there is such a HUGE difference between a 13 month old and a 23 month old despite both technically being “1”. This has been such an incredible year for change, in both her looks and her abilities. Once she turns two, I will stop counting by months.
I will also be stopping the monthly photos when she turns two and consider this project complete. I’ll still take random photos as often as I always do but I’ll leave the official photo shoots to once a year. This was actually an extremely difficult project and I’m honestly glad it’s about over. CC is not a cooperative photo subject (notice how few photos in this post actually show her face?) so these photo shoots were quite stressful to accomplish. I’m glad I have these monthly photos and I hope she appreciates them someday. I also hope that she will eventually cooperate for photos, or at least look at the camera 🙂
Nice post!
Loved reading your update! I think I've mentioned to you before that I have a daughter just a couple of months younger than yours, and it's so fun to read how they are experiencing a lot of the same things. I hope you will continue to post updates sometimes on how your little one is doing! 🙂 I think from 1-2 years is the absolute hardest age to photograph! I mostly only have candid (and often blurry) photos of my two older boys at that age. They were either smiling or looking at the camera, but rarely both, and I learned to love capturing the back of their little heads. 🙂 But that's what that age is like–constant motion and too busy to stop for pictures–so it's fun to look back on those pictures now that they are old enough pose or smile when I ask them to. I'm sure your daughter will be forever thankful for all you have done to capture her life in pictures and words! I'm sorry this has been a rough month for you, and I hope things will be looking up soon! 🙂
Your photographs are always so beautiful and your daughter is just gorgeous! I agree with you on counting their ages by months when they're young, the spectrum on being "1" is vast!