LJ, 18 mos

My oldest girl is 18 months today!  We are just loving this age--that is, when we're not pulling our hair out in frustration!  Toddlers are really a handful, and a joy.

This post might get long because there are a lot of things I want to remember about Lia at this age.  

Okay, here's Lia Jo for you. 

*First of all, she is a TALKER!  The past couple weeks her speech has really taken off.  She speaks in full sentences, and she talks all day long.  She says things like, "Mommy, you do it." "Yay! I did it!" "Where daddy go? At work!" "I need a change bum-bum." "I wanna milk."  She repeats (and remembers!) everything we say, so we are having to be more and more careful about what we say around her.

*She is also very opinionated about what she does and doesn't want. Little bite of food, not big bite.  Draw a sad face, not a happy face.  Teddy bear, not Pooh Bear. Red crayon, not green crayon.  Watch My Little Pony, not Curious George. When she doesn't get her way, she gets very upset. Like, tantrum upset.  It gets tiring.  But it is fun that she knows exactly what she does and doesn't want and like.
*She likes saying stuff like "Oh my goodness!" and "Aw, come on!" This morning she looked at herself in the mirror, saw the buttons on her jammies, and said, "Oh my goodness! Lots of buttons!" 

*Lia has always been smart, but now she's really blowing me away.  She is learning her colors and shapes.  She can count to five on her own, and if you're counting with her she can say the next number all the way to ten.  Her favorite song right now is the alphabet song, especially the "P-R-S" part (poor forgotten Q! haha!).

*Lia loves bedtime and naptime, and she doesn't cry in her crib when she wakes up in the morning or after a nap.  Instead she talks to herself and her stuffed animals.  It's too darn cute.

*Sometimes when she's doing something naughty she'll look back at me and say, "Time-out!" then walk over to the time-out spot, tell herself to sit down, and sit there laughing. Then she tells herself to "come here!" and jumps out. I'm not sure if time-out is really very effective around here at this point.  
*Lia hates being dirty.  She doesn't like doing any activities (like finger painting) that get her fingers and hans dirty. Mealtimes are a challenge because besides being the pickiest eater on earth, she won't eat with her fingers so I have to feed her with the spoon or fork, and she throws a fit if the bite isn't big or small enough. 
*While she doesn't like getting dirty, she does love playing in water and taking baths!

*She doesn't really play by herself or with other kids yet.  We go to a ward park group every Wednesday and she just sits by my side the whole time. I'm pretty sure separation anxiety is finally kicking in now that the new baby is here.  However, she did great her first day in nursery yesterday. Didn't cry once, even after I left. Crazy!
*Lia loves her teddy bear and her Pooh Bear.  She loves the Pooh Bear movie my mom bought her after Eleanor was born.  And like Pooh Bear, she loves honey!  :)
*Her favorite food by far is milk in a sippy cup.  Every time she's crying and you ask her what she wants, she cries, "Miiiiiilllk!" even if she didn't want milk originally. Milk in her sippy is her other "security blanket."
*Another thing Lia loves is singing and reading books.  She wants me to read books to her all day long.  Usually it's the same book, over and over and over. She has a different favorite every few days. She's startig to be able to request songs to sing too, which is both cute and annoying when I'm trying to sing one song and she interrupts to request a different one. Another favorite lately is coloring. She requests things for you to draw, like happy and sad faces and balloons.  
*She is starting to really like to "help" mommy do things like clean up toys, carry in groceries (one little item at a time haha), and load the dryer. She's also getting really good at using please and thank you consistently, and I'm so proud of her for that!

*Lia sometimes likes praying with us and sometimes not.  She said her first prayer the other day, which went something like this: "He'y Fader, help Daddy, an' Gamma, an' Papa, an' Dennis, an' Joey, an' Amen!" I thought it was funny because she usually doesn't talk much about my brothers Dennis and Joey, but we had been down to visit them the day before, so I guess she was thinking about them in that moment.
*Lia can be pretty contrary. She loves to yell NO, but I usually just ignore her when she does because most of the time she doesn't mean it, she just likes yelling. She is definitely feisty and stubborn, and knows exactly how she likes things.
*One of Lia's current obsessions is rocks.  There are plenty in the flower beds around our apartment, and whenever we go outside she has to collect some and carry them around for a while.  I find little rocks all over the apartment.

*Lia is getting used to having a little sister around. She likes to give her hugs and kisses and trying to pick her up, but it upsets her when I am feeding the baby and she wants me to do something with her, like color or read a book. She informs me when Eleanor is crying and sleeping and when she needs her binky.

*Lia is incredibly active. She runs around the house yelling "Runny runny runny!" She looooooves playing outside and going on walks.  

Lia is our joy, as corny as that sounds.  There is really something amazing about seeing the world from a child's view, especially once she can verbalize some of her emotions and desires and thoughts. She astounds me daily with her beauty, her intelligence, her love, and her happy spirit.