18 months

Dear Lilah,
 


Oh my sweet girl...18 months old!?!  It's so crazy how time flies.  Sometimes I wish I could just stop it for a while.  But then I realize that I'm enjoying this moment just as much as the last.  You are so much fun right now.  Turning into a little person with a spunky personality.  You continue to fill my heart with so much joy.

You're a full-fledged toddler now.  You've been walking for about three months and are still a little stumbly sometimes.  You have recently begun to insist on walking down the stairs (with help, of course) instead of being carried.  You also just moved out of your infant car seat.  You were no where near the weight limit, but you had just about reached the height limit.

Your vocabulary has been exploding lately.  And the things you say are so adorable.  You have started saying please (peas) and thank you (often "tee too" like your brother said it when he was your age), which is sweet to hear.  Your most popular word lately is okay, which you usually pronounce "otay."  For a while before you started saying that, you had been saying "ohhh" to mean yes.  I think that started because sometimes when I'd be trying to figure out what you wanted and when I did figure it out, I'd say, "Ohhh, you want...".  So you started saying "ohhh" for yes.  Which was really cute.  But I'm loving the otay too.  Even when you say it in an over-dramatic whiny voice (which you often do), it's adorable.  

 I think you are enjoying the fact that you can communicate with us more easily now.  Your other most often used words are still dada, bubba, and hi.  Every day, multiple times a day, you say, "Dada?"  I tell you where he is, and then you say, "Bubba?"  I tell you where he is, and then you say, "Mama?"  I say, "Mama's right here," and you say, "Hi Mama!"  You still love animal noises and can tell us what a dog, cat, monkey, cow, lion (tiger and bear), owl, sheep, duck, rooster, horse, pig, donkey, and snake say.

Your hair is long enough now that I can put it in pigtails.  And I do.  Almost every day.  I'm still not that excited about the thought of having to do your hair all the time.  But I love how cute you look in pigtails.

We recently took a trip to CT and you got to see your MorMor and MorFar and Aunt Carrie and Uncle Mark and your cousins and even second cousins and lots of other relatives and family friends.  It was such a treat for all of us to get to see so many relatives and friends and for you to meet some of them for the first time.  You have this little evil glare you give people sometimes and you pulled that out a lot on our trip.  It was pretty amusing.

Your brother is still a pretty big fan of yours.  He's realized recently that you're old enough now to be able to play with him.  So he's started to try to get you to do that.  Of course, he doesn't really realize that you aren't always able or willing to do whatever it is he is trying to get you to do.  So he gets frustrated sometimes.  Often.  But hopefully he'll keep trying. 

It's amazing the things you get away with that your brother never would have at your age.  Mostly in the realm of treats.  Which you love, of course.  Here's a little snapshot of you enjoying your granddad's homemade ice cream:

 I adore you, sweet Lilah Jane!  It's so much fun being your mama.  I'm looking forward to seeing all that the second half of your second year brings.

Love always,

Mama