(I always like to write these as though I'm talking to Sarah when she is older)
(Also, anything in "" are things that Sarah actually says)
So at 18 months, you are absolutely amazing. AH-MAZ-ING! There are times when I find myself looking at this beautiful little girl and thinking, how did you get so big? Where did all that hair come from? And how do you know what sound the letter "k" makes? (And also maybe, where did you learn how to throw a tantrum? Is there some super secret toddler club that teaches the art of a good tantrum?) I am absolutely blown away at the rate you are learning and how tall you are growing. You can already reach every door knob and can twist the locks that are in the middle, luckily you haven't figured out how to open the door itself, but you are so close (and yes, you can open doors that have a handle instead of a knob). You can reach inside of our cabinet drawers and we are having to move things higher up because you have a long reach, so center table is almost not a safe area.You are getting really good at articulating exactly what you want. If by some chance I can't understand what you are saying or wanting, you will figure out a way to let me know. For example, one night you wanted a bath, and I hadn't offered you one yet (in my defense it was a little early). So you asked for my "cell phone", then asked for "pictures", then you scrolled through my pictures (yes, you know how to use the tough screen to scroll) till you found one of you in the bath, stopped, showed it to me, said "bath! bath!", then did the bath baby sign before running to the bathroom door. Then when we went into the bathroom, you stopped at the cabinet where your bath toys are kept, pointed and said "toys" "splish splash" "water". You have also started requesting certain activities or snacks. If I ask you if you want a snack, you'll say "snack", and run or hop to either the pantry or refrigerator and say something like "snack, yogurt" "snack, raisins" "snack, sta-berry". Or you'll say "sing song, mingo" "sing song, abc" (btw, mingo=bingo). You also like to repeat key words until someone acknowledges what you are saying, "abc, abc, abc, abc, abc, abc, abc" Me: abc. "sing song, sing song, sing song, abc" I love it! I LOVE how you are communicating with us right now.
Speaking of going to bed... It breaks my mom heart, but you have started to put yourself to sleep. Now, I have to ask you if you want to cuddle or lay down in your bed. Usually you choose to "lay down bed". In fact, after I put your pj's on, you'll toss you lovies over the side of your crib and try to climb in. I know this is so important for your development and that it's good for you to gain independence, but I miss our night time snuggles. You are just proving to us over and over that you aren't a little baby anymore. But even though you want to put yourself to bed, you still want me in the room until you fall asleep. Right now, we play a little game similar to Marco Polo. You'll pop your head up and say "lay down" and I have to say "lay down" in response. I've tried not saying anything, but you'll repeat it getting stressed if I don't, so I know that you just need to know I'm still close by. It's a security thing, and I'm happy to let you know that I am there with you. But as you are getting better at going to sleep, the number of times we do this goes down...
You're still a good eater, but are eating less these days. You make really healthy choices when I give you an option. Raisins are probably your favorite sweet snack, and broccoli and peas are your favorite vegetable. You still won't drink juice, but you love loVE LOVE Chocolate Milk. It is your absolute favorite thing to drink. You only get it once a day, but man oh man do you go crazy over it. Usually following "ch-milk" you want some gold fish or Annie Bunnies crackers. It's so much fun to see what things you like and don't like. You are still not big into meat, about the only meat you'll eat consistently is ham and scrambled eggs. But you love fresh fruit and steamed veggies. You also love dairy: yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese.
Let me see what else... Hmm.. Your gross motor skill are way ahead of the game too. Your daddy used to call me a kangaroo when I was pregnant with you, and I think he was on to something, because you hop like a kangaroo, like you can hop all the way down a hallway in great big leaps, you can jump up and down all waking hours of the day (and do). You love to run and climb. You understand a lot of action words, you know how to "sit down" and "stand up". You know how to "stop", "run, run, run", "jump, jump, jump", "slow down", "lay down", "kick" and "step up/step down". But by far your favorite is jumping. We hear comments all the time about how much you jump and how amazing it is that you can first of jump with two feet, but also that you can move while jumping and that you don't stop jumping, like ever. Girl you were born with springs on feet. Are you a future Olympian? Who knows! But I know you have a passion for it already. Because when I say you don't stop jumping. You.Don't.Stop.Jumping.Ever.Not.Even.When.Watching.TV.
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Okay, so I kinda got derailed when I was writing this post and now it seems so much has changed that I can't quite remember when she started doing the new stuff, so I'm going to go ahead and post this as her update, incomplete and all, and that way I can move forward with where she is now. Thanks for stopping by!!
