Lexi at 18 Months

How can you already be 18 months old, Babydoll?  I CANNOT believe it.  Times continues to fly.  But I must admit that this is a pretty good age.  We are loving how much fun you are and how interactive you are.  We communicate just great with you- both in receiving your messages as well as you receiving (and acting on) ours.  So far, there hasn't been a bad age.  We have truly loved them all.  But what's not to love?  You are a precious gift, and every day is truly a joy, dear girl.

It was another BIG MONTH for you, baby girl.  There were two huge milestones that you hit this month.  The first was monumental in my book.  You are officially down to one nap a day now.  Until this month you were still napping once in the morning and once in the afternoon, but the time between those naps was stretching out to the point that your "afternoon" nap wasn't starting until 4 pm or later everyday, and that wasn't really working anymore.  So early this month, we tested the one nap a day schedule and after less than a week, you were good to go with a new routine.  Now, you wake each day around 8:30 am, nap each day around 1 pm, usually 2-2.5 hours, and then go to bed for the night around 9 pm.  We've got it down pat now!

Your other biggie this month was the introduction of not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR new molars!  They all came early in the month, with very little fanfare.  I knew you were teething.  You get drooly and close up shop when I try to check your mouth, but you weren't very fussy at all, and next thing we know, you have all sorts of new teeth!  Two on the top and two on the bottom.  :)

Speaking of teeth, you have turned the corner this month to eating mostly table food now, occasionally supplemented with some baby food here and there.  You request apples at almost every meal and still drink a LOT of milk (the love of which I'm sure you got from your Daddy!)  You love chicken, tacos, any kind of Mexican food really, peanut butter sandwiches, fig newtons, bananas...  You also ate chicken pot pie and homemade shrimp and grits just this week.  You are still a very good eater.

Another first this month happened on a trip to Evansville to see Grammie and P-pa.  We went out for lunch at Old Mill, and the server brought you your own spoon.  You were fascinated with it and used it throughout the entire meal to scoop up food and feed yourself.  Our little girl is growing up!

We also bought you a potty chair this month with the hopes of starting potty training soon.  You have given us SO MANY CLUES that you are ready to move past diapers.  You tell me as soon as you need a new diaper every single time.  You also follow me to bathroom all the time and we discuss the process in detail.  You know the words "pee pee", "poop", "wipe" and "diaper", and more importantly you know what all those words mean.  Our goal is to start potty training next month after we return from our trip to Las Vegas.  Stay tuned for another update on this next month!

You visited both Evansville, IN to see Grammie and P-pa for Fall Festival as well as North Carolina to see Granddaddy, Nanny, Aunt Misty, Uncle Howard, Aunt Donna, Uncle Ryan, and cousins Charlotte, Emma, Aidyn and Jaxon.  You learned all their names with the exception of Jaxon- who you called Duncan a couple times. 

You now repeat almost every word you hear- way too many to count.   More impressive though is that you also know what most words mean.  And you use them correctly when you speak to us.  I always notice new words, there are new ones every day.  But the ones that surprise me most are words that I didn't actually teach you.  For example, this week you pointed to my coffee cup and clearly said "coffee".  I can guarantee that's not a word you will find in any of your baby books nor one that I've worked with you on, but you clearly know what it is.  For the past several days now, you have delighted in talking about my coffee every time you see me make a cup.  (It's not that often, I promise!)  Another one that caught me by surprise was the word "snuggle", which is another one that I don't really use very often.  I'm not sure where you picked it up.  But the other day you buried your head into your blanket and clearly said "snuggle".  And you've been "snuggling" every since.  You also now say "Come up" when you wanted to be picked up, usually when you want to sit on one of our laps.   

Oh, and you are starting to say "Mickey" now, which is impressive because until now, you have only said "Minnie". Although, you still refer to both characters as "Minnie" whenever you see either one of them.  That's a good example of being able to say a word vs. knowing what it means.    You can also say "Goofy", "Pluto", "Donald", and "Daisy".  The only one of these characters you actually refer to when you see him is Donald Duck.  Incidentally, you also call Daisy "Donald".  I don't correct you because I know these moments are fleeting.  Whenever an episode of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ends, you exclaim "SOON!" because Mickey always says, "See you real soon!"

You clap at the end of songs and shows now.  And you also say "soon" at the end of these things too. ;)

You are such a little worker too.  You push chairs back up to the table.  You close drawers and cabinets when you see that they are open.  You also help your Mama with laundry.  I take the laundry into the laundry room and you hand me laundry- one piece at a time- to put in the washer.  You also pick up anything that falls to the floor and put it in the dryer, whether it's clean or not.  The other day, I gave you a large (empty) laundry basket and asked you to carry it to our closet.  You picked that huge basket up- it was bigger than you- and carried it all the way through the house until you got to our closet with it.  You are gonna be a wonderful little helper for your Mama. 

In just a couple days, we will be taking your 18 month photos.  This will be our last set of professional photos this year.  After this, we will shoot to get photos done each year, starting at age 2 years.

Your 18 month check up will be early next month.  You will receive more immunization shots as well as your seasonal flu shot. 

And your dancing skills have improved dramatically this month.  Now you stomp those little feet and clap your hands and dance in circles.  Oh baby, we can barely keep up!

Until next month, my darling.  We love you so much, Babydoll!