18 months

Sloane,
You are 1 and 1/2 years old. I still remember the hazy nights right after we brought you home from the hospital and they just don't seem that long ago. How that baby turned into such a sassy little kid so quickly rocks my world.

You had a great visit with Dr. J today.  He said you've always been one of his coolest customers.  Happy, fun, interactive (though you weren't thrilled with him checking out your ears or mouth).
18 month stats:
Weight: 28 lbs. 7 oz (90-95%)
Height: 33.75 in (95-97%)
Noggin: 47 cm (50-75%)

You wear mostly 2T clothes but are sneaking into quite a few 3T pieces. You play long and you play hard. Once you started walking (just after you turned 15 months) there was no stopping you. You are always on the move and you're incredibly steady. You are happiest when you are running circles in the house. When you finally tire yourself out you usually drop down in the middle of the hallway with a good book. While you still eat like a linebacker all of that running has seriously thinned you out. What happened to my chubby little baby?

You will eat pretty much anything we put in front of you but sometimes you like to turn your plate upside down on your head and dump your entire meal on the ground. Cooper loves those nights. You are always watching your dad and I intently, ready to copy any motion we make or word we say. It's a little scary sometimes. We spend lots of evenings in the play room and, even with all of the toys you have up there, you are happiest with an empty paper towel roll and a blanket. You are already the queen of the forts and can sit and giggle for hours in the semi dark underneath a blanket with your parents.

You are talking up a storm - sometimes we understand, sometimes we don't. You have started in the “no” stage. Some days it is your favorite word. There were a few days where your responses to everything was, "No, mama", even if I wasn’t in the room. A couple of days ago you started to say, “I know, mama!” in a sing song voice that has us cracking up. You think every type of liquid is called “applejuuuuuuice”.

You love Cooper, aka "Pooper" and give her nice pets and kisses. The sight of you two, side by side at the front window checking out the happenings on our street gives your dad and I the biggest smile. But sometimes, you just aren't in the mood for your sister so you shout "No, Pooper" and point to the other side of the room to get her to leave you alone.

You are still a great sleeper. Except for the weeks before and after Thanksgiving when you were sick and then your eye teeth were coming in. And, of course, the next couple of weeks will be rough since I just put into writing that you are a good sleeper. It's like you can already read and want to keep me on my toes. You sleep on your tummy with your booty stick waaaay up in the air or on your back with your hands behind your head.

















You still love tubs, you tolerate getting your hair combed, but for a long time you absolutely HATED brushing your teeth. We tried to do it nicely, we really did. We let you get used to your own toothbrush, we sang songs, played games, bought you a vibrating toothbrush, sang more teeth brushing songs, etc. But we finally had to resort to pinning you down and getting at those pearly whites with a finger toothbrush. It was beyond painful for your mama but you will thank me one day. Luckily after 3 days of toothbrushing/wrestling matches you decided it wasn't so bad after all and now you open your mouth right up. You now have 14 teeth with a couple more on the way and we want to keep those suckers clean.

















Unfortunately, I didn't know the terrible two's could start at 18 months or, in your case, earlier. While the high of my day is 100% of the time some sort of interaction with you, these days, the low of my days is often about you too. You started to hit a few weeks ago. Fortunately/unfortunately, it was I who has felt your wrath most of the time. "We do not hit. Owie. Hitting hurts mommy." Ugh. You also answered one of your playmates at daycare with your hand a time or two. Not cool. You seem to have cooled it with the hitting. Thank God. The only solace during that times was that you still love and are incredibly gentle with babies. You love to give them kisses, very gentle touches, and love to talk to them sweetly. We'll see if that behavior keeps up once your sister comes.

Oh, how you love to dance. You have the most adorable little but wiggle and you automatically start to shake your booty the minute music comes on. You love rap (ugh) but, much to my delight, you also love Christmas tunes. We've had many a dance party in the kitchen while rocking out to Pandora's holiday station. The site of you and your dad chair dancing at the dining room table is priceless.

You want to do everything on your own, but a bump, bruise or even just general crabbiness has your running to snuggle your mama. I love it.

We feel so incredibly lucky to be your parents. You are the coolest kid around and we thank our lucky stars every day that you are our kid.