Clara is more than 18 months old now, and that also means she has been breastfed for eighteen months (plus 11 days, if we’re getting technical). I’m insanely proud of all of us. Just like last year, we went to the Virginia Capitol to participate in a group breastfeeding event last month. Clara is much more distracted these days and didn’t want to nurse, which was totally fine. I still wanted to go since I figured this was our last year to do so. I try not to talk a lot about breastfeeding, other than with Eric and friends I know that understand, but the truth is I’m really proud of doing it this long. My goal before she was born was to make it to eighteen months, and we did it. She’s always weaned herself to less feedings without any help from me, so I’m letting her lead the way for now. I know a lot of people look down on breastfeeding in general, or doing so past the age of one, and I don’t care. I think it’s awesome, so humph to them.

At her checkup today, Clara was 31⅛ inches tall and 20 pounds, 1.5 ounces. Our little munchkin is still wearing 12-18 month clothes, and I recently ordered fall clothes for her in that size. She’s definitely gotten taller, but she’s still pretty petite. Lucky for us, she can keep wearing some of her current clothes into cooler weather. Of course, that didn’t stop me from buying her some adorable new things during Carter’s Labor Day sale. There were so many owl outfits. I couldn’t resist.

In mid-August, Clara cut her first canine. It was not pretty, and it’s still coming through. So far, I haven’t felt a second one, but I know it’s on its way. I know other kids that didn’t cut their canines until after age 2, but I guess Clara wants to get them out of the way now. Once her canines are in, she’ll only have her 2 year molars left.

Continuing with the past couple months, Clara is showing her affection in even more ways. She started blowing kisses last month and does it all the time now. It is unbelievably precious. Just this morning, Eric found her snuggling with a fox doll (her new favorite) when she woke up. She loves kissing her dolls, the animals, people, books, pictures of babies on our phones, etc.

One thing that’s really signified her entrance into toddlerhood is her clumsiness. She’s scraped a knee, her forehead and gotten some bruises. She’s no longer content with walking and does this almost run thing now, hence the scrapes and bruises. She’s not the most graceful, and we often have to remind her to look in front of her when she’s running around. Her language is coming along, and sometimes I feel like she’s thinking “Why don’t you guys understand what I’m saying to you?” because she speaks in such a conversational tone.

I bought some crayons and a big roll of paper for her recently, and she’s shown some interest in coloring for short amounts of time. She still loves reading and will now bring us a book and back into our laps if we’re sitting on the floor. I love it. She’s also tried to take books to Abby and sit on her, which obviously doesn’t work so well. We’re still doing story time every night before bed, and it’s still my favorite part of the day. Just the three of us enjoying time together every night. It’s magical.

Apparently summer is over, and our sweet girl is now 18 months old. Whoa. We’ve had a busy summer – a trip to Savannah, cookouts, a trip to Philadelphia and a food blogging retreat, birthday parties, an engagement party, a wedding, and a whole lot of cupcake baking.

A lot has been going on with Clara the past few months. The most notable thing about months fifteen and sixteen was that Clara started to really show affection. She willingly gives hugs and kisses when asked and has started to cuddle her stuffed animals more. It is so adorable, and she’s just so sweet I can hardly stand it. She loves petting the animals and is usually gentle with them. She loves Chloe because of all her fluff, and I’m so glad Chloe is finally getting used to squealing and toddling Clara. She’s also been really into waving at everyone lately, at the store or while we’re out walking, pretty much any time she sees other people.

We had a bit of a rough patch during month sixteen, and Clara stopped sleeping well, seemingly out of nowhere. It could have been a developmental growth spurt or a physical growth spurt, but I really have no idea. She did cut her first canine in August, so that very well could have had something to do with it, too. We made it through, though, just with a bit more coffee than usual.

She’s still very into “reorganizing,” and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I pretty much can’t find anything in the bathroom now because Clara has put it in another drawer or cabinet. It’s amusing, though, and doesn’t really bother us since she gets such a kick out of it. The desk drawers are another story, and I’m running out of places to put things like stamp pads and paint and glitter. It seems like Clara is going to enjoy crafting when she’s older.