Lilly - 18 months

My LillyBug - you turned 18 months old this past weekend!   Where has the time gone?!? You are a fiery, spunky girl that knows what you want, when you want it, and how you want it!  You don't like to be told no, especially where food is concerned!  You LOVE to eat!

We walk in the door every afternoon and you immediately start saying "mo mo" and signing "more".  You then walk to the pantry and beat on the door until someone gives you a graham cracker & your cup.  You are quite happy then...until the graham cracker is gone that is :) You love just about everything that we offer you to eat including mushrooms, asparagus, spinach and broccoli!

First Popsicle...you were NOT a fan!

Enjoying dinner

Currently, your favorite snacks include graham crackers, animal crackers, any fruit, squeeze fruit in any flavor, puffs and yogurt melts sometimes, and fruit cereal bars.  Your favorite place to have a snack is on the kitchen floor right in front of the refrigerator or just to the side of it...so funny!  I guess you have easy access to ask for more :)



We had your 18 month appointment today.  You weighed in at 22lb and 6.5oz (23%) and were 29.5"high (5%) (as comparison, Brayden was 22lbs 3oz and 31.5" at 18 months).  You are still on the short side for your age.  I actually bought you a mini skirt (12-18 mo size) but when I tried it on you, it came down almost to your ankles!   You can still wear 6-9 months pants but they are finally starting to get short!  You can wear 12-18 month shirt but they are slightly large.  Your feet are still really tiny as well...you are still wearing a size 3 shoe but I think they are starting to get small.  It is hard to find hard bottom shoes in size 3!  Most babies that wear size 3 are not walking yet :)

Having a snack at the Drs office this afternoon. 

You had to have your finger stuck twice today for a blood draw.  You were a champ both times and didn't cry at all.  The 1st time they did the finger stick, the blood clotted in the tube before they were able to run the CBC panel.  When the Dr told me that, we both had the "we need to have you checked for clotting issues" look.  The 2nd time they drew the blood, it was fine with no clotting.  Your hemoglobin is a bit low, we we have to try to get some more iron into you.

You have had several nasty ear infections recently.  The most recent one a few weeks ago caused a 104.5 fever that lasted for 3 days.  You refused to take the antibiotic or any motrin/tylenol, so after the 3rd day, the Drs office said to bring you back in for antibiotic shots.  They worked like a charm even though you hated the shot part.  At least you started feeling better quickly!

My pitiful, sick baby

This is how we spent about 3 days.  Poor thing...you were miserable!

 You are trying to talk but still only have a few words.  You clearly say mama, dada, shoe, thank you, and ball.  You also try to say shirt, hat, and cat.  You can point to your feet and nose and hands.  I suspect that you know so much more but you are stubborn and won't show me where your eyes, ears, etc are.  We also keep trying to get you to say more words, but you just don't seem interested yet.  You also don't seem to care about picking out pictures in a book or making any animal sounds.  When you choose, you can sign more, please, thank you and all done.

You seem to like music more than Brayden did at this age.  If you hear music, you start bouncing up and down and clapping along.  I hope your love of music continues as you grow...your BB and Uncle John are so musically talented and I hope that you got some of that talent.

Enjoying a basketball game with Grammy.  We couldn't find a sitter that night so you got to come with us to the NCSU vs UNC game!

In the past few months, you have really started to enjoy books.  Some of your favorites include "Hippos Go Beserk", "Moo, Baa, La La La", "Barnyard Dance", "Pet them Gently", and "Doggies".  

Reading books in bed

You are still very much a Mommy's girl but love your Daddy too!  You enjoy sitting on the couch with Daddy and watching football and basketball for brief periods of time. You and Daddy and sometimes Brayden enjoying chasing each other around the downstairs. At bedtime, you want a few books, some loving, and occasionally you still want to nurse.  Sometimes you wake up during the night just to nurse as well.  I am not quite ready to let go of the baby in you so I am glad that you still want to nurse some.

"Helping" Mommy cook on Sunday afternoon

Snuggle time

 We redid our 1/2 bath downstairs in January.  We decided that to save money on a fancy painting for over the mirror, that we would each paint a canvas to hang.  You had a blast with this project!  Now, we just need to get them hung up!



One of your favorite things to do these days is to tear apart Brayden's train tracks that he has so carefully built!  He is no longer quite so tolerant of your destroying his creations!  You also like to "help" when we are playing games with Brayden.  It makes it very difficult play without Brayden getting upset!  You also love your baby doll and stroller.  You collect all sorts of things in the stroller and push them all over the house.  You also like to have your baby wrapped in her blanket and carry her around like a little mommy.  It is so cute to watch you take care of your baby.

Trying to take apart Bradyen's train track

Another favorite pastime is to take everything out of our bathroom cabinets (there are 2 that are Lilly safe) and put everything into the tub.  You then get mad because you can't reach anything anymore.  You also enjoying playing with all of my shoes.  You don't care about putting them on but you do like to play with them.  Your shoes on the other hand are a different story.  You LOVE your shoes and are quite persistent on which shoes you want to wear...pink polka dot, red Mary Jane's, and black Mary Jane's are your favorites.

Fun at Marbles Kids Museum

Making a mess in the playroom...you hardly ever actually play with anything.  Instead you pull everything off the shelves and move on like a tornado :)

Wearing Brayden's football helmet

You also love your bows but don't like to leave them in for very long :)  At least your hair isn't too long in the front and isn't hanging down in your face.  You do have a lovely mullet going on though :)  I wish we could cut some of your hair in the back and move it up front!  I guess, in time, your hair will come in.  It is still a beautiful, silky strawberry blonde color and I hope it stays that way!  Your eyes have also stayed a beautiful blue color.  I am so happy that your eyes stayed blue...I have always wanted a blue eyed baby :)

Bathtime fun!  You now beg for bubbles every time we get a bath!

You and Buckaroo also have a love - hate relationship.  You get so excited when you see him and you like to walk right up beside him and squat down but you are not so sure about petting him.  Occasionally, you will pet him but it is only a one time petting.  I did catch you a few weeks ago trying to pick him up.  Buckaroo is so good...he was just sitting there and letting you mess with him.

We are so blessed that God chose us to be your Mommy and Daddy!  You are the perfect addition to our family and we all love you so much!  I can't wait to watch you as you continue to grow and learn (but slow it down a bit girl...you are growing up WAY TO FAST!)