19 months

this little peanut has really jumped from being my sweet baby, to being a strong independent toddler.

it seems like it happened overnight, but i know that is not true.  it happened little by little, as she watched and imitated her big brother and just soaked up everything around her until she was so full that she had to spit it back out.

i thought she was never going to get teeth (12 months) walk (15 months) or talk (just recent where we really know and understand what she is saying).  it seems like she has always taken her own sweet time with these milestones in comparison to her big brother, which has always been fine with me as it lets me hold onto the idea of having a baby just a little bit longer.......

but now her language has exploded.  in fact, we have even noted that while hendrix had an extensive vocabulary at a very young age (LOTS and lots of single words), she is so much more of a conversationalist than he was at this age.  

she says lots of phrases, and she already uses I/me/he/she appropriately which took hendrix until far past 2 to get figured out.

some of her favorites are:

"i'll be back"

"my own"

"daddy at work"

"i do myself"

"help me"

"i want a snack"

and of course, some of the less fond on my part - 

"i don't like that"

"stop it hendrix"

"mine"

she is generally pretty happy and smiley and still is easy going about naptime.  in fact, i have before asked her "are you ready for a nap?" (implying it almost as a threat because she was throwing a fit and i wanted her to shape up), and she responds with a smile, "yeap".  well, okay then.

this girl loves technology between begging to play a 'game' on our phones, or watching youtube movies (primarily of the music videos from frozen), playing on the iPad, and controlling the remote....she knows that there is power in technology and wants to be a part of what we think is important.  lol

she loves her babies and likes to feed them - making sure that she points out that the babies like milk, but she likes juice - and give them their pacis.  she still uses a paci at sleep time, and is incredibly attached to her taggie.  both are neccessary to prevent a meltdown.

she likes dresses and loves to twirl and dance.  she knows some of the lyrics to the song "let it go" and "do you want to build a snowman" (also able to distinguish which one is sung by elsa and which one is sung by anna.....i am thinking that this girl will be ready for her Disney trip before we know it!!)

don't let that sweet girly face fool you though - she loves to get dirty and play rough right alongside big brother.  she loves to ride her bike and play in the sandbox and she has become quite the daredevil with her climbing and jumping off things at the playground.

she is small and petite, but she has some serious spunk! 

she likes to take photos of others and herself, and can be seen with the phone pulled up to her face saying 'cheese' on a regular occasion.  she still does a pretty decent job of posing for mama, though has recently been mimicking hendrix's protests which of course makes this photog mama sad......but i still think i get plenty of pictures of my kiddos.  lol

she has a pretty fun sense of style and has lots of opinions these days about what she wears.  her sparkly shoes are her favorite, and she is kind of obsessed with wearing a coat/jacket/sweater.  even when it was 80 degrees yesterday, i asked her several times if she wanted to take her coat off and she always responded with, "no - on".

everything needs to be done by "myself" which includes things that are too difficult for her, so we battle frustration, tears, and much longer getting ready times on a daily basis.  it is so fun to watch her enthusiasm and delight when she does finally get something on her own though, so i am choosing to patiently encourage that independence and just budget more time to get places.....

in the meantime, don't mind us if we are late!  lol