we have an 18 month old?!

Adeline turned 18 months old yesterday.  I still disturbs me a little how fast time is flying by.  She's got quite a little personality these days and she shocks me every day by how much she is capable of and how much she understands.

Here's a little about you, my baby girl, at 18 months...

First of all, you are in a real Dada phase right now.  You've always loved him very much, but now you really don't like it when he leaves for work and during the day you'll ask for him.  The conversation goes something like this...

Addie : "Dada?"

Me : "Dada's at work, love."

Addie : "Work.  Bye-Bye."

By about 5:00pm (or earlier) you start getting really impatient for him to come home and ask for him repeatedly.  Your simple "Work.  Bye-bye."  is replaced by "Dada.  Daaadaaaa.  Dadaa."  and sometimes "More Dada."  He just started putting you to bed every night and perhaps that is what started this Dada obsession.  It's awfully sweet.  You love him so much and man, does he love you back!

You have become super aware of places these days.  Before we even pull into the parking lot of Central Market you start telling me "play" (they have a great play scape there).  You do the same thing with "wah-ber" when we start getting close to Shipe pool.  Whenever we pass the Chick-fil-A by our apartment, you point to it and tell me "eat", "Dada", and "play" because we have eaten there a few times with Dada and you get to play on the playground there.  Unfortunately we've been to the doctor a lot lately and as soon as we pull into the parking lot, you start telling me, "No."  (Which reminds me that I really need to get some of your "no's" on video.  They are super cute, but hard to explain.  Not demanding or angry, just very matter-of-fact.)

Your favorite toys of the moment are strollers & baby dolls, which have been at the top of your list for a while now.  This morning you were pushing your baby doll in your toy stroller and tripped and skinned your knee a little.  The first thing you did was pop up and say "baby?" then checked on your baby doll to make sure she hadn't fallen out of the stroller.  Then we were on our way again.  It was so sweet and gave me visions of how sweet you will be with your little brother.  This afternoon when we were leaving for the pool you had to bring not one, but two baby dolls with you.

You also love, love physical play.  Favorites of the moment are swimming, being flipped upside down, thrown in the air, swung by your arms or legs (you ask "weeeng, weeng" and swing your arms back and forth), and jumping off of almost anything into Mama or Dada's arms.  You also love to count before you do any of these things.  You bounce up and down saying, "Two, two, TWOOO!"  You are quite a dare devil.

I'm doing a pitiful job at keeping you well lately.  I think you've been sick for about a month now with only short stints of well in between each new virus.  The latest is a nasty cold that caused (yet another) ear infection.  I could tell your ears were bothering you a bit, then yesterday you woke up for the umpteenth time in the night and I realized you had fluid dripping from your left ear.  Literally dripping.  It was gross.  I'm sure it didn't feel that great, either.  Luckily were already heading to the doctor for your 18 month "well baby" check that morning.  You were less than thrilled to be there, but we did get some medicine that hopefully will clear you up.  As a bonus, part of the medicine is ear drops so you get to watch an Elmo video (which you always call "elbow" and point to your elbow) while we do the drops to keep you still.  You love that since we usually never let you watch tv.  Anyway, the doctor also took count of your physical stats.  Here's where you stand at this moment in time...

height : 31 inches (30%)

weight : 25 lbs 4 oz (65%)

head circ. : 47.5 inches (75%)

teeth : 8 bottom, 7.5 top

 

Talking has become an almost non-stop activity for you.  You chatter all day long.  Even the postal worker commented the other day that you were really "talking up a storm".  Apart from your typical chatter conversations with yourself, you are also starting to put a word or two together into "sentences".  Your first official sentence was "I got you!"  I tried to make a list of words that you know, but there are just way too many.  You will try to say anything.  Some of your words are really clear.  Others, not so much.  It's nice to have Mama or Dada around to interpret because not everyone understands your "Addie speak".  Here's a short list of some of our favorite "Addie speak" words...

Ba-tee (coffee)

Pa-tee (pasta)

Pit-chy (pizza)

Budgee (Sabrina)

Dat-oo (cracker)

Na-nu (Noah)

You also know quite  a few of your colors, which I just realized this week.  You can pick out yellow, red, blue, green, orange, white, pink, and purple.

Well, I could go on about you forever and ever.  We are having the time of our lives watching you grow and learn.  Your dada and I love you more than you could ever imagine.  Just do us a favor, okay?  Slow down just a little... we don't want to miss a thing!