18 months (& 24 years!)

One year ago.... (6 months old)

Now (1 year, 6 months old)

Here's the entry I made for Evie for her baby book. I did them every month for her first year and now do them every 3 months (15, 18, 21, 2 years) for her second year. It's a little long-winded for an "outside" audience, but we sure hope that she loves how we documented her life and I knew Auntie Paige would apprecaite the update on her little niece! :-)

Also, today is my 24th birthday (Evie was born on my 1/2 birthday). Thanks so much for all the well wishes and love that have been out-poured... I feel so very blessed (and full! I've eaten so well this birthday! Hee hee!)

Evie: 18 months

Stats: 32 lbs, height 34.5 inches, Size 3T tops, 2T pants (the length) but 3T dresses and skirts

Eating: You are still a really great eater! Lately you have been working breaking through your “eye teeth” and it has been really hard for you, so you have been even more interested in your “milks”, which have begun referring to as your “me me” (and so have we!) Since you ask for them all day long, I have started mixing them, ½ water, ½ milk, so you are actually drinking twice the amount of cups in a day! You went from 4 cups to 8! But you are getting your fluids in and aren’t taking in too much dairy according to recommendations, so I try not to worry about it as long as you are eating too!

Sleeping: You sleep through the night with the exception of some nights where you wake up due to teething pain. Our newest development is that you now sleep in your crib, in your room!! I can hardly believe it and am actually a little sad over it, but it was time and you led us to that decision, you were ready. You sleep most nights from 7 pm to 8 am, and then take a nap from 11 am to 1 pm. You are a crazy sleeper and move all around the place, and when you wake up your hair looks crazy!! Often times, the back of your hair is very knotted because you rub your head around so much I can hear you kick the crib side and you make a big thunk, but you never wake up and don’t have any bumps or bruises, so I think you are okay J

Mommy pulls you back into her bed most mornings so that we can snuggle and mom can get a few more winks in! You love to watch Yo Gabba Gabba and will watch it while mommy sleeps for a few minutes!

Personality Description: Well, if I thought you were spunky before, man, are you SPUNKY now!! You definitely have a personality and will all your own, you know what you would like and when you would like it and if you don’t get it- watch out! You’ve learned to use your voice to scream your displeasure and we are working on taming the “naughty voice” that has sprung up during your defiant moments! You’ve also learned to bite and pinch, and went through a period where mommy thought she was going to lose it!! You only pinched and bite mommy, and not other kids or adults (thank goodness!!) so mommy has begun to see your warning signs and warn you in a very low and firm voice, ‘Evie, we do not bite’ before you actually take action, and this seems to have quelled the biting!

Now, that makes it sound like everything is bad, and it is most definitely NOT!! You have just surprised us with this stubborn, behavior streak! Things you don’t like: 1) getting your diaper changed, mommy has taken a few too many kicks to the belly! 2) brushing your teeth (you used to love it! And now I do it while you scream in my face and I hold down your arms 3) getting your hair washed (you never liked this but now you scream at me the whole time) 4) oranges- you won’t even try one Things you love: 1) your “me me” 2) watching the “babies” (you) on Mommy’s cell phone video 3) babies- you love them and scream BABY! every time we see one in public 4) edamame 5) giving Sadie her bone 6) being in the garage with Daddy and O’pa 7) being a helper

You are becoming much more comfortable in public. You love a good audience and attention in the right doses. With family, you soak it up right away! But if there are strangers around, you wait a bit to warm up before you show your true self! If the group is too big, you will just stick close to mommy. You are doing better at playing with other kids and warming up and having fun in the nursery. One day I went to pick you up and you had NO interest in leaving, as they had bubbles and mommy didn’t! You sometimes cry when I drop you off, but are quickly soothed and have fun with others.

The Funny Things You Do:
Oh kid, you get FUNNIER by the day! You crack us up!

Right now, you pee-pee every time I take your diaper off and announce it, “pee pee!” while you go, but you have no interest in putting that pee-pee in the toilet. You will go get a towel and try and absorb it up after you go, as you know that it isn’t supposed to be on the carpet!

You also love to spin in circles and make yourself dizzy!! Often times when you are dancing, you’ll stop and start spinning, and if someone laughs at you then you will continue to do so until you are SUPER dizzy! You love a good laugh J

Grandma Jo got you two gold fish and it is so cute—you were watching them one day and started to mimic them by opening and closing your mouth really big. We call it “the fish” and love asking you to do it for us, you get so serious and do it JUST like them!

We also love your “So big!” You will stick your hands straight up in the air and be our big girl when Daddy asks you, “How big is Evie?”

“Woah!” This is by far our favorite of the moment!! Everything that is impressive to you is “woah!”. A motorcycle goes by with a loud engine “woah!”. Daddy takes a fast turn in the van, “woah!”. You fall over while you are running, “woah!”.

You just started doing this thing where I think you think you are taking these huge steps and moving forward, but in reality you are only taking big steps side to side and you look like a little sumo wrestler!! It’s hilarious! We call it your “big steps” when you do it, and you will do it for quite a while! You think you are really moving!

Language and Words:

You have learned everyone’s names a lot better- you now say “O’ma and O’pa” and “Mama and Papa” for your grandparents. You are in love with your grandpas right now!! Every time Daddy is gone you ask for him and then for O’pa, because you figure they must be together! And when you see your Papa you scream, “Papa” in this high pitched, affectionate voice. It’s adorable.

You can idenfity a ton of animals, but have started calling certain ones by the sounds that they make. (For example a sheep is a “baa baa” and a cow is a “moo moo”) You recently astounded me by identifying a giraffe when you saw a stuffed one at a friend’s house, I didn’t know you had been paying that close of attention!

Your language development is really growing- you are saying quite a bit that I’m sure that we are not understanding correctly and would be amazed if we could!! You are such a smartie and we are astounded by your development!

Other Developments/”You”:
You are becoming such a little girl. You have started to “thin” out and lose some of your baby chub, and you are becoming older by the moment!! We take you to the park quite a bit, and you have just learned how to climb the steps by yourself and you will go to the slide and “sit and scoot” right down it!! You went on the ‘big kids’ swing for the first time the other day and did fantastically- we can’t believe how old you are getting! You are very good at paying attention to instructions (like “hold on tight!” which I repeated emphatically while you were on the swing) when you want to!

Every day we do your hair in “piggies” and if you have a book to look at then you usually cooperate. Someone referred to them as your “signature pigtails” the other day, and they are- they are just so cute and spunky and YOU! I love it!

Daddy loves having you with him and has begun to take you out quite a bit with him while he runs errands or works in the garage (if O’pa is around to watch you). You love to be his little helper and be with him, and “help” him with his car projects. He’s so proud of you and who you are becoming, he loves your little personality and how funny you are and loves to show off your newest and greatest “trick” to the family! You love when he comes through the door and you yell “DA DA!” so enthusiastically and give him the biggest smile. No one compares to your da da!

Mommy is in awe of the little girl you are becoming and can’t believe how fast time flies. I often times cannot believe that you were ever this little baby who just laid there and smiled and coo’d, and now are this little girl running down the hallway and going through my shoes in the closet. You love to make me smile and laugh and often times give me very affectionate hugs on my legs and sigh, “Mama”, which makes my heart melt. There is nothing in this world that compares to the love I have for you as your mother, and I’m so grateful for each and every day that I have with you!! You are my “helper” and friend and I soooo enjoy our special time together. Mommy is getting ready to not be pregnant anymore so that I have more energy and ability to get down and really play with you.

We are preparing you for becoming a “big sister”. We haven’t done much but Grandma Jo did buy you a baby doll and bought it boy clothes (she couldn't find an actual boy dolly anywhere!). The baby has a bottle, a blankie, a hat, and a mini-stroller that is a perfect for your height (even though it is made for 3 and up! You are really tall!). You love to push your baby around in a stroller and I plan on getting her a little diaper bag w/ some of her own "supplies" in it around the time Chet is due. Right now we practice putting a diaper on the baby and we rock the baby, feed the baby the bottle (I haven't tried to nurse him, LOL, we'll stick to the bottle for now!), and hopefully, by the time little brother comes, you will be happy to help your baby along while Mommy is busy with brother!! We also talk a LOT about Mommy's baby in her tummy and we talk to him (you yell "HI!" into my belly button, hee hee) and you give him kisses and can point out to others where her brother/Mommy's baby is.

Also, my good friend had a baby in January, so we have spent some time with that baby and given it gentle kisses on the head and listened to it cry (that's probably the hardest thing for you to get used to, you are very concerned for the baby and very unsettled by her cries). You don’t seem to get jealous at all when Mommy holds other babies, you seem to genuinely enjoy them. Daddy and I have also made it a point to point out every single baby we see in public and "ooh" and "aah" over them and how cute they are, and its gotten to the point where YOU now point out the babies to us, as soon as you see an infant carrier you gets excited! Now, I don't think any of these things will completely make up for the fact that, our little baby brother will not be going away, will cry more than you like, and will take up a lot of your mommy's time- as you are used to being the only grandchild and child in a family full of adults. But hopefully it will help the adjustment!

That’s all for now, my dearest, 18 months is updated!! At 21 months you may have an update full of how you are adjusting to being a big sister!! We hope and pray that you do well with it and love having a baby brother of your own! We love you, sweetie pie! We can’t believe how fast this time is going and we hope you are well aware of how much we cherish and hold you dear!

Forever loving you,
Mommy