18 Months

18 months. A year and a half. Little girl you are growing up too fast.  Some days I feel like I hardly remember you as a newborn.  You are so full of life, full of laughter, full of curiosity, full of energy. 

It’s hard for me to remember when you were still.

When you weren’t constantly on the go. 

When your days were filled with laying in the swing or cuddling with me on the couch.

These memories bring such a mix of emotions for me.  Oh how I miss the days when you were little and I could just hold you in my arms and you were happy as can be.  I was all you needed. 

But I wouldn’t trade these toddler days for the world.  I simply never get tired of watching you learn and explore.  I wish I knew what it is like to see the world through your eyes.  Your laughter is so pure. Your anger so short-lived. Your innocence so pure. Your smile so endearing.  

You truly light up my (and your daddy’s) day.  Often after we’ve eaten dinner the three of us end up playing in your room and you just love it.  You squeal with excitement, you run up and down the hallway holding as many blankets and stuffed animals as possible before throwing yourself onto your daddy’s lap.  You are such a daddy’s girl. 

At 18 months you are:

• A great sleeper!! Most nights when I start to lay you in your crib your body turns to jello.  I can’t set you down fast enough. You get all cuddled up with moo-cow and your blankets and we rarely hear a peep from you. The only exception to this is you’ve learned to place your feet in between the crib slats and enjoy kicking the wall for a few minutes. 
• A great eater!! Nothing has changed from when we first started introducing baby food. You eat just about anything we place in front of you. You can be a little picky about green vegetables but if you’re hungry enough you’ll eat them.
• Still tall like daddy! You had your 18-month checkup last week and continue to be in the 97^th percentile for height (34.25 in) and 75^th percentile for weight (26 lb.).  You are wearing 24 month clothes and size 6/7 shoes
• Learning new words!! You’ve taken your sweet time talking but I’m not too surprised.  You’ve always been a quiet observer.  Currently you say: mommy, daddy, hi, bye-bye, down, all done, more, I did it!! (sounds like didi), juice and dog. I love your little voice, it is so sweet to hear you talking!
• Developing an opinion! You want things done in a very particular way.  If something isn’t just right you let us know.
• Not a fan of bath time! Well, it really isn’t bath time you dislike.  It is having your hair washed.  Baths are all fun and games until we get a little water in your eyes.
• Feeding yourself. I am not allowed to feed you. at all. nothing. No yogurt, no spaghetti, no applesauce.  You are working on mastering using the spoon and want no help from me.  This makes for very messy meal time.
• Obsessed with shoes.  Your shoes, my shoes, even daddy’s shoes.  You want to try them all on and spend a lot of time trying on a variety of shoes. Daddy is seeing dollar signs and is quite worried J

You still love dogs and being outside. You want to help with anything. You seem to be right-handed. You have no idea your world is about to get flipped upside down in five months. You love buckles.

Life is never boring when you’re around.  You keep us on our toes and we love every minute of it. 

Love you to the moon and back,

Mommy