18 Months Old

Dearest Devyn,

Today you are 18 months old.  I can't believe how quickly the time has passed.  You are more and more your own little person every single day, and you continue to astound and amaze me.

I wrote, at the very beginning of your life, that you would be my greatest teacher, and you prove me right every day.  As much as I strive to teach you the things you need to know in life, you are teaching me the things I still need to learn.

You have such a passion and tenacity for life.  You growl throatily when you see something you want and cheer "Yay!" when you get it.

You love to sing and dance—whether there's music or not—and you love to listen to music or have me sing to you. Favorite songs are "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and all the songs from Kindermusik.

As I write this, you are standing under the apple tree, picking apples off the branches and inspecting them as you go.

You can walk and run like a champ.  You dance, stomp your feet, and clap your hands, and I've definitely seen you trying to jump.

You are too tall for your 12-month clothes, but too skinny for your 18-month clothes.  Right now, you love to unlace your shoes whenever you can get your hands on them.  And shoes that go on with velcro come off almost immediately when we get in the car.

You are a champion at throwing little tantrums when you don't get what you want.  Sometimes we have to have strong words about changing your diaper, or putting on shoes, or getting dressed.  You do love bath time, but loath getting out and getting dressed after!  You also don't like to have your hair brushed or for me to put barrettes or pony tails in it.  It requires great patience from me and much crying and gnashing of teeth from you to look so cute.

You can identify lots of body parts now, including head, hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, arms, hands, fingers, legs, toes, feet, belly button and belly.  You are also starting to use two-word phrases.  You just recently started saying "right there!" and pointing when we ask where something is.

You are very much your daddy's girl right now.  You ask for him many times per day, from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to bed.  I tell you that he goes to work so that we can stay at home, but I'm not sure you have any concept of what work is.  :)

You're still a fearless eater, happy to try lots of things and enjoying things we never would have expected.  For example, you really seem to like bean sprouts of all things!  You eat four times a day: breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner.   You still love avocados, cheese and any kind of fruit.  You have learned how to ask for bananas (and do so frequently!).

You like bags and purses.  Every time you put a bag over your shoulder, you say, "Bye-bye!" Off to see the world. You still love to sort things; any activity that includes taking something out of one container and putting it into another container is a big hit.  And BOOKS!  We cannot go more than an hour or two without reading some books.  You get so excited about books!  I guess it shouldn't surprise me, what with my genes and your dad's.  Favorite books right now include "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and anything by Sandra Boynton or with dogs in.

I could not be more proud of you, little one.  And I can't wait to see what the next few months have in store for us!

All my love,
~Mommy