18 Months

Darling Girl,

Happy 18 Months! You have transformed into a little girl right before our eyes. These last few months you have changed so much and we have loved watching you grow and learn.

You are now 22 pounds and 33.5 inches long - long and lean as always. You are wearing all 18 month  and 2T size pants and all 18 month shirts and dresses. Your hair is so long that we have to have the front clipped back from your face, or piled on top of your head, Pebbles Flinstone style, to keep it out of your eyes. The back of your hair is curly (score!) and is a light brown with strawberry streaks. Your eyes are now a green hazel with blue specks.  You have 10 teeth and we taught you how to brush your teeth a few months ago. It is one of your favorite activities.

You weaned yourself from a bottle very suddenly right around 16 months. You used to drink one sippy cup of milk in the morning, and one with dinner, but you are down to just one cup a day. You eat three meals, plus two snacks and sometimes will eat half of my dinner (after you have already had your dinner) if I let you. I think you have a hollow leg! You have mastered eating with a fork and a spoon and also drinking out of a cup without spilling it all down your shirt. 

Your sleep patterns are still amazing (praise Jesus). You sleep 11-13 hours at night and take an afternoon nap for about 1.5 - 2 hours daily. You like to sleep in until about 8am and that makes your mommy a happy lady.

You have mastered running, can almost jump and also stand on one leg without falling over. I kept a list of all the words you learned between 15 and 18 months - mine, knee, ear, eye, mouth, nose, bottom, belly, hat, owl, balloon, sit, button, hot, cold, bug, dog, cat, cheese, bath, arm, leg, in, stool, up, snow, Elmo, yes, snack, water, outside, bus, hold, moon, hot dog, tall, mouse, milk, eyebrow, tiger, and blocks. That is a lot of words! You can also make lots of animal sounds - mooing, growling, meowing, quacking like a duck and the like. You have also started to say two and three word sentences like "Bye Daddy" or "Bye Kitty", "That's tall", "That's a bus", and "That's snow." You can also identify what is yours, mine or your daddy's and tell us so. You love to wash your hands, help me put laundry in the washing machine and push the "on" button, fake laugh when we laugh and dance and spin in circles. You also know the letter "S", and the colors red, yellow, blue and green.

For months you wanted nothing to do with cuddling, but you turned right back into a cuddle bug! Now you want to hug, pat backs, kiss cheeks and "owies", grasp your blankies in one hand and a stuffed animal in another and snuggle with us any chance you get. You want to be rocked to sleep now and I love it - I'll rock you to sleep until your 16 if you'll let me!

You are a typical toddler - one minute you are full of joy, the next you are full of fire. Your little mind is so hungry for knowledge and your little body is so full of energy. We found a wonderful half-day Christian preschool located just a few blocks from my office - you go two mornings a week and love it! You get to do art projects, learn songs, play outside and take buggy rides around uptown with your teachers. It has been so good for you and we can see how quickly you have learned new things.

Brighton Love, this stage has been so much fun to witness and your constant changes have taught us a lot about parenting too. You are so full of joy, and life and light - every day we fall in love with you a little more. It has been an honor being your parents and we can't wait to see what is next.

We love you!