Eighteen Months

Dearest Addison,

Here you are in all your wild haired glory enjoying your breakfast on St. Patrick's Day. You are actually sporting your first ponytail but that is a whole other post. Late last week you turned 18 months and you are so quickly turning into a 'big girl' in so many ways and yet still our baby. You have a whole arsenal of words that you are testing out including daddy, mommy, elmo! (of course), night night, bye, hello, water, airplane, choo choo, 'cuse me, the ever popular no and about a million other ones. You have two or three phrases you also say including, 'I poop!', 'I love you' (sounds like I wuv you) and 'My Mommy!' (used at daycare). All so cute and sweet (yes, even the 'I poop' one).

You have gone through yet another slew of changes, particularly in the past two weeks or so. These include moving into your new big girl room, moving into a new classroom at school with the bigger kids and finally getting your car seat flipped around to face forward in Mommy's car (just today in fact). You seem to take it all in stride and I am pretty sure I was the only one who was a little sad when you moved into your new room. You love the pink color and the giant mirror to see yourself in.

You are testing your independence and that is both exciting and hard sometimes. It is so fun to watch you run, slide, climb your way around the playground and to hear you using words to express your thoughts and needs. The tough part is that your brain has not caught up yet to all the things your body wants to do and so you are sometimes frustrated by not getting your way or when Mommy and Daddy can't figure out what you want. And while those times can be tough on everyone, I stop and remind myself to be proud of your independent spirit. It will serve you well in the long haul.

As always, you continue to be the light of our lives and we love you beyond infinity.

xoxo
Mommy

PS - We also had Addison's 18 month check up last week and for those interested/keeping track she came out as follows:

25.5 lbs (!!) = 70th percentile (gained 2lbs)

31.5 inches = 50th percentile (grew 1.5 inches)

It sounds like most kids grow a lot their first year and then slow down but our Bugs is sprouting now instead. And the nurse discovered that Addison has a nice right hook, especially if you try and give her a shot in the leg. Good times!