Evie at 18 Months

It's hard to believe, but Evie is truly 18 months old!  This cute little doll face continues to bring so much happiness to our home.  She lights up our lives and it's a delight to watch her learn and grow.

I'll give you a little taste of our Evie girl.  What is she doing now?

• She's talking really well.  Just this past week she said a full sentence ("I see a moon.") and she's constantly picking up new phrases.  I stopped recording her new words because she'll pretty much attempt any word you ask her to try.  (She says phrases like, "Where is she/he/it?" and "There she/he/it is." and "Ready, Set, Go!" and more.)  
• Along with talking, she's starting to "read" her own books now.  She'll sit down with a book all by herself and flip the pages while she "reads."  She's usually saying gibberish phrases, but it's cute and very entertaining.  If there's a page where she can count objects, she'll stop to truly count them.
• With help, she can count to ten.  Without help, she'll say, "1, 2, 1, 2, 8, 9, 10."  We constantly count things at our house (blocks, toys, crackers, balls, etc.).
• She knows her A, B, C's.  For further clarification, she knows the A, B, C song and will fill in the holes as we sing it together.  She's particularly strong at saying the G, P, V, Z.  She'll also try to sing in the other letters, but the song still goes a little fast for her to catch it all.
• Along with the counting and A, B, C's, I should note that she knows the differences between numbers and letters when she sees them in written form.  I figured this out when she looked at her bottle one morning, saw the numbers on it, and then started counting while pointing at the numbers.  She also brings me grown-up books (books without pictures) and points to the pages filled with words and says, "A, B, C's."  
• She's starting to sing along to songs.  Most move too fast for her to sing every word, but she'll sing the last word in a phrase or a word that might be prominent in the song.  
• She says, "Num, Num" for anything that smells good or tastes good.  She'll also say it if she wants something to eat.
• She loves to say, "Ready, Set, Go!" And take off running.  While she is running she will say, "run, run, run."  (Needless to say, she wears us out in the process.)
• She jumps by only raising one leg off the ground (more like a front leg kick).  If I ask her to jump, this is what she'll do and she'll also say, "jump" while she does it.  
• She's mastered the stairs!  Yay!  Her mommy and daddy still get a little nervous while she plays on them, but she seems to have them down.  She absolutely loves going up and down any set of stairs.
• She loves to dip stuff.  She'll dip fries, bread, or anything that can possibly be dipped into ketchup, fry sauce, salad dressing, etc.  Usually when she dips stuff she'll lick the dip off of her item and then re-dip.  So, if you ever eat with this kid and have dip-like stuff around, you better be okay with double/triple dipping or give her her own dip.  :)
• She started going to nursery at church and loves it.  She loves playing with other children and having new toys to explore seems to be pretty exciting.
• She LOVES Shrek!  My, oh my!  She asks to watch "Shrek" daily!  I don't know what it is about that big, green, ogre, but Evie is completely smitten by him.  Her second favorite movie is, "Toy Story."  She also loves Elmo.  
• She still loves to play outside, play with Codee, be with the animals, and collect eggs.
• She's becoming more and more independent and WANTS to be independent.  She likes to try to do things herself.  
• She loves to climb.  She'll try to climb just about anything.  And, I must admit that she's rather good at it too!
• She just started throwing tantrums.  When she doesn't get what she wants, she'll lay right down on the floor and cry.  These tantrums can be brought on from us not letting her watch Shrek, not wanting her diaper changed, or just not being able to find the book she wants to read right at that moment.  This being said, her tantrums are few-and-far between and happen most when she's tired.  She's a fun, sweet girlie 90% of the time.  We only have our 10% moments from time-to-time, and luckily she bounces back fast.
• She's starting to hate being in the car.  She hates getting buckled in her car seat and doesn't seem to last long in the car anymore.  Thus, I know my limit with her is about two stops and then I'm just pushing my luck.  I really have to plan my errands out effectively now so that I can avoid a disgruntled toddler in my back seat.  I'm hoping this gets better when she reaches her second birthday and we can turn her car seat around and she can be forward facing.  Until then, we try to be super effective and super entertaining while going anywhere in the car. 
• She gives the best hugs and kisses.  (All of these hugs and kisses make up for all of those tantrums . . . and then some!)
• "Oh No!" is one of our favorite sayings of hers.  

While sometimes I wish she would just stay little forever and I have my moments when I look at her and wonder where  my chubby, round-faced baby went . . . I am still soooo happy with the here-and-now and look forward to every stinkin' day with this beautiful girlie.  I love being a stay-at-home mommy. Winnie the Pooh said, "Any day spent with you is my favorite day.  So, today is my new favorite day!"  This is how I feel every. single. day as I get to be with my Evie doll.