eighteen months

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dear Sweetpea,

 you're now officially a toddler! and boy, are you busy. you love to run around the house, or run around outside, or run around the church narthex after mass, and sometimes you'll announce "wun! wun!" to make sure everyone notices how fast you're going. i bet you wish that i wouldn't notice you running across the coffee table or climbing to stand on top of our upright piano, but alas! you don't get away with those shenanigans. i love watching you explore and develop strength and balance! you still love going down slides, and often times you'll say "whee!" right before you let go of the sides and go down all by yourself.

milestones for this month include walking on your tiptoes, walking backwards, and trying to jump (although only one foot ever leaves the ground at one time, so it looks more like a frenetic stomp). at your 18 month well visit, you weighed 22 lbs (50th percentile) and measured 33 inches tall (82nd percentile). you're a pretty good eater, but you'd subsist on milk ("mnoo") and snacks ("na") if i'd let you! you particularly love baby carrots (steamed or raw), fruit snacks, string cheese, and the peanut butter in the middle of peanut butter sandwich crackers. 

you're obsessed with keys, hats, and Elmo. you still love to color ("cah"). you learned how to say "help! help!" when you need just a little bit of assistance. and much to my amusement, we have this conversation often:

you: "hap-pee! hap-pee!"
me: "oh, are you happy?"
you: "no."



you announce that you're all clean ("ah-kee") after a diaper change, and you love to help me sing This Little Light of Mine. you'll ask for the song ("mine") and then prompt me for the verses ("whoo whoo" for the verse about Satan blowing out the light and "no!" for the verse about hiding it under a bushel). 




 we had a lovely Mother's Day celebration. you made me a beautiful drawing at daycare and Nana and Pappy came to church with us and out to lunch at Max & Erma's (one of our favourite Sunday brunch buffet spots). i'm so grateful for you every day. and i'm so glad that you have Grammy Kim and Nana Sabrina in your life. 


you stayed with Nana and Pappy for Memorial Day weekend while i went to the national PA conference in San Francisco. you had an absolute blast! you went to Lakemont Park and rode your first merry-go-round, stopped at all the best ice cream spots, visited Penn's Cave and Wildlife Park, and had fun with Aunt Becca too. 



love you to the moon and back! 

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