18 Months
It seems like you have been in our lives forever, but I also just can't believe my sweet little "baby" is already a year and a half! Time really does fly. You my little lady are so full of energy and personality! You keep my days interesting, that's for sure.. and are sassy with a capital S. You love to put your hands on your hips and prance around. Who knows where that comes from... haha!
I have to throw in that FINALLY around 14/15 months you gave in and let me do your hair! Around the time it actually got long enough to work with, you accepted the bows. Yay! I'm not really into the turbo bigger than your head bow look, so we stick with the smaller bows. I also throw in the occasional crazy pig tails on the top of your head (where the hair is long enough- ha!).
We had your 18 month check up this morning and everything went perfect. You are still our tiniest little peanut and weighed in at 19.1lbs. You now are under the 1% coming in at 0.6% ha! But you grew another inch and are now 31 1/2in which kept your height at 50%. You seem to just love to grow up, and not out. No worries over your size as you eat TONS and are one of the most active babies around. The doc says everything is moving along normal for you and you are just lucky to have a fast metabolism. You are starting to grow into most 18 month clothes, even though some still swallow you up. Why cant they make sizes consistent?! sheesh!
Some highlights from the past 3 months since your 15 month update:
You now have 12 teeth. All of the front 8 and your first set of the 4 molars. Knock on wood, but teething this go around has gone pretty smooth. By far the worst was the 2 week terror when your top 4 came in at once. The molars have actually gone pretty well. You can tell they bother you on some days as you are constantly chewing on something and shoving your hand back there. You did have one weekend with a mild fever that I am pretty sure came up when that last molar popped out. Other than that you have been our little champ. I did hear those "eye" teeth can be horrible, but fingers crossed they don't cause you too much pain.
Your vocabulary is picking up daily and you are learning more and more words. Right now your favorites to say are yellow, two (as you hold up 3 fingers lol), eat, and mommy hey! You say those alllllllllllllll day long. You say tons of words and have around 3-5 phrases. The doctor said your vocabulary seems to be above average and a little ahead for your age. You also have a ton of gibberish that you get really into! You are really good at repeating us and definitely are picking things up quickly now each and every day.
You have learned most body parts and as of now can point out: head, hair, eye, nose, mouth, teeth, ear, belly, knees, toes, feet, peepee, booty, and beard (on daddy). You can say just a few of them. You also now yell out "EW" every time you poop and sometimes when you pee. If we asked if you pooped, you start screaming ew and run in circles. It's so funny! And every time I change your diaper you switch from "ew" to "cooooold" during the whole process.
You do great with understanding what we are saying. Things like asking if you want to go outside where you'll run to the door and grab your shoes trying to put them on. Or when we ask if you want to go night night, you'll come give me a kiss and run back to your room to wait on daddy. You also know most of your toys and if we ask you to go get them, you know what to go grab. It's so amazing to see you learn so much and how you soak in everything around you.
Really you are the happiest little thing and love when we go out shopping so you can interact with everyone. Every time we go to the store you spend your time saying hey while waving and blowing kisses at everyone. You still are iffy if men try to actually hold you, but from a safe distance everyone is your best friend. I don't think I have ever gone to a store with you where at least 5 people don't stop us to come up and see you. This makes shopping go pretty smooth since I can take my time while the other customers are your distraction! haha You are just such a ham and eat up all the attention!!
We had a busy last few months with traveling and holidays. You made a few trips to VA to see daddy's family and luckily did very well on the 6 hour car drive.. thank goodness. We also made our trip back to MS to celebrate Thanksgiving. Of course you had your second Halloween before that, and now are about to celebrate Christmas #2! You had your 3rd cold ever this past month and sadly it turned into a sinus infection that required your second sick doctor visit (the first was your virus at 1 year) and got your first prescription of antibiotics. I will say you are a tough cookie and never let it drag you down. The only reason we took you in is because of how long it lasted and because it moved down into your chest. Only the first 2 nights where you were super snotty and had a nasty runny nose did you wake up and not want to sleep alone. Of course you ALWAYS give your sickness to me so since I was knocked out on Nyquil in our bed, Daddy made a pallet on the floor and slept with you in your room.
Speaking of sleep, you are still a rockstar here and I am SO thankful for that! We are starting to move your bedtime back from 6:30 to 7 and a typical night is 7-7/7:30. You nap most days 11-2, but sometimes wake up around 1. You have always been my little schedule baby and that makes your OCD mama so happy. I hear a schedule is definitely a challenge once you have baby #2, so I am enjoying it while I can. And no, no plans of baby #2 yet. Trust me.. when WE are ready, it will happen. I have always said I think you sleep so good and hard because you are NON STOP every second you are awake. You are moving and grooving, running and jumping, dancing and twirling 24/7.
Things you LOVE:
Eating.. oh my gosh. I hear EAT! EAT! all day long. Daddy gave you some ketchup one day for lunch and you now would probably eat a straight bowl of ketchup if I let you!
Being outside. You loooove it outside. We normally spend an hour or so each day walking around our property and I just follow you as you pick up rocks and sticks and explore.
Dancing and shaking your booty. You still have zero interest in TV, but if we turn it on the music channel or turn the radio on.. you can get down!
Climbing! You can climb up the slide in your gym class all by yourself now. You go up the top, climb over and slide down like such a big girl. This also means you can climb on the couch now, though I do stop that as much as possible. The back of the couch is where I "hide" my phone, remote, and drink during the day. You are about to take over the one safe place! haha
Also- Our cell phones/tablets and remotes (which you aren't allowed to play with and make your mission to get), running, laughing, playing with mommy and daddy, coloring for about 2 minutes, playing with friends, bath time, books, baby dolls, doggies, leaves, rocks, sticks, your Romp N Roll gym classes, balls, putting on mommy or daddy's shoes and walking around, putting on daddy's hats, when daddy gets home from work, spinning in circles making yourself dizzy, and of course your elephant that is still your sleeping buddy must.
Things you aren't so found of:
When daddy tells you no. Girl, you have got this pout DOWN. You pretty much act like your world has been destroyed and get the MOST pitiful quivering lip I have ever seen. Your eyes fill with tears and you look at him.. and bam! He jumps up and is hugging you telling you he's sorry and how much he loves you. It's hilarious, and yet so bad. You know what you're doing there little lady. Luckily with mommy you just give me a mean look and stop whatever you're doing because you know I don't have time for that nonsense all day long.. mean mommy!
You aren't a big fan of most vegetables so we are still working on squeezing those in when we can.
Oh, and Santa.. you are not feeling the big guy this year!
Happy before we left the house.. then not so much!
Overall you are still our little ball of joy and keep us smiling and laughing daily. Even though some days you can drive me crazy, I couldn't imagine my life any other way than staying home with you and being a stay at home mommy. It is the best job I have ever had and I am probably way too attached to you. But that's ok! :) We love you to pieces and can't wait to see you continue to grow and learn as the months roll along!
Happy 18 months Ms. Sassy pants!
