Eighteen months

Where to start with this girl?  At eighteen months she is so full of life and wins me over again and again.  To say we are still smitten with her just doesn't quite explain it.  Her big personality shines through more and more each day and I often find myself thinking "she's just her own little person and I can't believe she's ours."

She's in love with being outside, especially if there's water involved.  I can't keep her away from fountains, sprinklers, pools - you name it (and yes, it makes me a more than a little nervous).  She's running and got her first real scraped knee yesterday.  My once perfect eater has become pretty opinionated about what she eats now and if she had it her way would eat candy all day long (thanks to her sweet-tooth grandpa and possibly her mom).  She loves her books and could read or be read to for hours on end - something I hope never changes.

She jabbers and jabbers and jabbers all day long.  She has her own language and it's pretty darn evolved for an 18 month old.  She's positive everyone understands her.  But we are getting some real words to sneak through.  She's developed an extreme fear of men with beards completely out of the blue and if she sees one (a beard) she'll for sure be in tears after 3-4 minutes of open-mouthed staring.

Her blonde hair is shifting to white and is getting pretty long.  She's totally a girl and loves getting her hair done (most of the time) and doing her "makeup" with mom.  She is obsessed with shoes and loves carrying purses around.  I seriously don't know where she gets all of this from because I'm not that girly.  She cracks herself up and does the funniest fake laugh.  She pounds it like a pro and "winks" on request.

She's as happy as they come and really makes motherhood so rewarding for me.  I never dreamed a little 18 month old could have a hold of my heart like she does but I wouldn't have it any other way.