Happy 18 Months, Grace!

her "official" 18 month pictures are still to come.

Grace is 18 months old!

One and a half years old.

Wow.

After today, she will be closer to two than she is to one. That just blows my mind.

She has changed so much since her 15 month update. She learns something new everyday. It is just amazing!

She is a joy, there is no other way to describe it. She flits around from toy to toy, jabbering and playing. She loves to point to all of the things she knows and say what it is. She loves to watch me cook. She is crazy about playing outside with our neighbor kids. Asking if she wants to go "bye-bye" means an instant dash to the door where she sits down and waits for her shoes to be put on.

She can give high fives, kisses, hushums (the local greeting here is a nose rub, similar to an eskimo kiss,) shake hands, tries to do a "thumbs up," can do the touch down sign, and the gator chomp. She blows kisses, claps, points, waves bye.

She Says:
More
Bye-Bye
Please
Thank-You
No
Yes
Shoes
Light
Alright!
Clean-up
Milk
Apple
Cheese
Baby
Ball
Night-night
Up
Down
Head
Eyes

She Sings: (or says a word to start it, or does the motions for it...)
Twinkle, twinkle,
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
Wheels on the Bus
The Clean Up Song
If You're Happy and You Know It
Ten Little Indians

She does the Sign for:
Please
More
All done
Mouse
Food
Help
Fish

She Makes the Noise for:
Cat
Dog
Elephant
Sheep
Goat
Camel
Mouse
Lion/Tiger/Bear (roar)
Horse
Bird
Monkey
Train
Car


(I love that my kid knows the sound for a camel, but not a cow. Desert baby, anyone?)

She knows to point to her:
Eyes
Mouth
Nose
Belly
Ears
Head

Her typical day looks like this:

8:30- we wake up, go get her from her crib (I have no idea when she wakes up, but she just lays or sits there, almost never stands up or cries!) take her downstairs, and give her cheerios and a cup of milk. She watches Barney from her high chair while we eat our breakfast.
9:00- she gets down from her high chair and plays and drinks her milk
10:00- naptime
12:00- We get her up from her nap, take her downstairs, and feed her lunch in her highchair
12:30- She gets down from her high chair and plays or we run errands
2:30- naptime
4:30- We get her up from her nap, take her downstairs, feed her a snack (cheerios, fruit, or cheese) while she plays until dinnertime
6:00- Dinnertime as a family
6:30- We either take her outside to play with the neighbor kids or give her a bath
7:00- Bedtime!

I didn't do the best job at keeping track of "firsts" this time around, but I know she colored for the first time, attended church nursery for the first time, and spent her first night away from us! She also became a big sister for the first time!

Meal times are becoming easier as there are more foods that she will eat now. Before she turned one she ate anything and everything. Then, she got 8 teeth in about one month, and she stopped eating everything! It's taken alot of hard work and perseverance but she's finally started trying things again. The trick? Putting it in front of her time and time again, and not getting upset when she doesn't want it.

Nicknames are still Gracie, Cha-Cha, baby girl, and Sweet Cakes.

Grace,
We love you so much and are blessed and honored to be your parents. You fill our lives with more joy and love than we ever thought possible. Alot is going to change over the next few months, as you adjust to a new sibling, but I hope you will always know that our love for you never diminishes, it only grows larger. We love you and can't wait to see what the rest of 2012 brings for you!

Love,
Momma

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Happy 18 Months, Grace!