18 MONTHS!!!

Holy cow! Where has time gone? My sweet little munchkin is 18 months old! She is quite the active child to say the least. There is never a dull moment in our house. I am constantly on my toes at all times!

We went for her 18 month check up on Friday. The child is super tall. She is still in the 97th percentile in height and head. She actually dropped to 85th for weight.

Her precious little brain has totally exploded. She is really starting to communicate and speak real words. While there are some moments where it seems like she is speaking a full conversation in Chinese!

Then there are some moments. . . .she has began refusing to do what I want her to do. She acts stubborn and defiant at times. But I know this is all part of her learning to be independent and learning to be her own little self.

Here are some things she is doing:

• she loves Roaming the yard - front and back.
• She enjoys pushing her crazy coupe and radio flyer - and sometimes riding in it.
• Every day after she wakes up from her afternoon nap, she likes to sit on the front steps and wave at all the cars driving by.
• She loves to take my old cell phone and pretend she is talking on the phone.
• We are 15 miles for the worlds busiest airport - meaning that there are quite a lot of planes that fly over our house. Lexie is fascinated with airplanes in the sky. She hears them and runs around the yard trying to spot them in the air.
• She loves ketchup on just about anything. She is like me and love french fries.
• She has the love for ice cream like her Daddy.
• She is still very much the little snacker. She constantly likes to munch. Again - like me.
• She loves Day Day's aka Dogs. Whenever she sees one outside or on the TV, she does a fun dance.
• Every morning she enjoys watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while eating her breakfast. Of course Pluto and Goofy are her favorites.
• She still has the "Mader voice" - meaning very loud voice.
• She loves to make the animal sounds. These are her favorite: "arf" for dog, "meeeou" for cat, "ahhhh" for sheep, "neeeeeeee" for horse, "cock-a-doodle-doo" for rooster, "boooo" for an elephant (heeee), and "eeeeeeya, eeeeya, eeeeya" for Old McDonald.
• She likes to pick up picture frames of both sets of grandparents and talk to them as if they were really in person.
• She loves her pink blanket (a special hand made gift by some amazing friends). She can't go to sleep without it. She can put it anywhere. If you ask her to go find her blanket, she will be on the prowl until she finds it.
• She is toying with learning her colors. I will ask her to go pick up a purple block. She will sometimes grab it or the blue one. But I was pretty impressed. She will point to colors and want me to say what they are.
• She likes to play with crayons. We have about a 5 min. art session every day and then she is off to something else.
• We don't (and never had baby gates. . . . I know, I know) - but she will grab my hand when she wants to go upstairs to play in her playroom or when she is ready for her nap. She knows not to go upstairs or down by herself.
• When she is hungry, she will either climb in the kitchen chair or walk me over to the pantry door.
• She grabs at her diaper letting me know it needs to be changed.
• When she is ready to go outside and play, she grabs my shoes and hands them to me.
• She is OBSESSED with her shoes (I'm proud to say like her Mama)! She has all sorts of boots and cute flats. I find her putting her fancy shoes on even when she is about to go night night.
• The child used to HATE hair bows. Now if one falls out, she grabs it and runs to me to put back in her hair.
• She loves to dance. Whenever she hears a fun beat of music, she goes to town dancing. Her favorite is the AU fight song (she has been dancing to that song since 7 months) - no joke!
• The ladies at MMO (mother's morning out) say that she loves to share her snacks with her friends. She even tries to feed the caretakers. They also say that when she is playing with a toy and some other kid wants it, she will hand it to them and go find another toy to play with.
• Her last 4 teeth have just popped through. As Dave says, now that she has all her teeth she can eat a steak! Ha!
• She loves to walk on her tip toes - maybe practicing wearing heels in the future.. ..
• She doesn't like to be spoon fed anymore. She wants to feed herself - even though it makes a complete mess!
• She likes to step into my heels and try to walk; She LOVES my jewelry - her days of playing dress up are coming. . . .
• And my favorite - she has become extremely generous with her sweet kisses! Every time I tell her that I love her, she leans in and gives me a kiss!

She has such a sweet and kind soul. Her heart is so sweet! I just adore this little child of mine. We have such a fun time together during the week. We have a lot of play dates and fun filled afternoons.
And if you are wondering when Lexie will have a brother or sister - you might be wondering for a while (I can't tell you how many times a day/week I get asked). I really am enjoying this special time with Lexie. If the Lord thinks that it's time for Lexie to have a sibling soon, than so be it. Otherwise, it might be a bit longer. We are in no rush! As you can see, Lexie keeps us pretty busy.