18 months old!!

Our sweet girl is 18 months old!  That is so hard to believe.  The other day we were watching a few of the videos that we’d taken of Evie when she was about a month old.  She was just starting to roll over a little and she looked so tiny.  Fast forward 18 months and we have a walking, talking bundle of energy!  She's 25lbs and 33 inches tall!

Just like Daddy :)

Evelyn is doing so many things these days.  She is running everywhere and she’s started to climb.  She has not attempted to get out of her crib yet thank goodness!  I am not ready for that.  She is learning to jump.  We sing the song “Pop Goes the Weasel”, and she will jump at the end.  Right now, jumping consists of bending her knees and then springing up. Her feet rarely leave the ground, but she’s getting there.

Evelyn likes to use a fork &/or spoon at dinner.  This has been helpful in trying to get her eat new things because she’ll try just about anything if she can do it all by herself.  We’re still having trouble getting her to eat non-pureed veggies.  She loves green beans and carrots from a jar and she will suck down the pouch baby food in snap, but it is rare for her to really eat veggies any other way.  She does like celery – especially if it has peanut butter on it.  We sneak veggies into food, but I’m really hoping I can get her to eat plain vegetables someday.

Evelyn and her G.G Mitchell... Love :)

Evelyn still loves to read.  Her current favorite is a Winnie the Pooh lullaby book.  It’s one of those books that play songs when you press the button.  I read it to her no less than 10 times the other night.  Her favorite song is “Are You Sleeping Little Roo?”, an adaptation of Frere Jacques.  She bops her head back and forth, and actually ‘sings’ along with me. :)  I’m so happy my girl loves books.  We started reading longer books and she is crazy about the Dr. Seuss book Go Dog Go.  We actually brought it to the grocery store with us the other day and it kept her pretty occupied in the cart while I shopped.  

Big Foot?

Evelyn is talking up a storm these days, but we cannot really understand half of what she says.  She will babble on and on, telling us things that only she knows.  She does say quite a few words – dog, ball, nana (banana), nigh-nigh (night-night), buba (bubbles), yum, mama, dada, papa, ee (kiki), hi, hello, bye, boo, no, yes, ease (please), tanks (thanks), wuv you (I love you), all done and all gone to name a few.  I love it when she says “oh no”.  She sounds so serious, like something awful has happened.  She knows some animal sounds, including the “Grrr” of the UK Wildcat (thanks Pops for teaching her that one)!  She tries to repeat a lot of what I say these days. We don’t always understand it all, but she’s trying so that’s all that counts.  

Walking for a good cause

Evie likes to watch her shows on TV – ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’, ‘The Chica Show’, ‘Barney’, ‘Pocoyo’ and ‘Sesame Street’ are favorites.  We limit the time she spends in front of the TV, but we do allow it.  She also loves my IPad.  She knows how to turn it on, flip through the apps and find the one that she wants.  Same goes for the IPhone.  Again, we try and limit these things, but they can be a complete lifesaver in the car during long drives.  Evelyn has turned into quite girly girl.  She loves headbands, purses, bracelets and necklaces.  She loves to have her hair brushed and when I put on my lip balm, she likes me to put a little on her as well.  She looks so proud when I put a dress on her – she prances around like she’s a star and I love it!

Happy girl!

She still loves her blanket and her pacifier.  We are going to start taking the pacifier from her during the day (except for naps) and only allow it at bedtime now that she’s 18 months.  Our goal is to have it gone at 2 years so we are starting small.  She’s not completely attached to it during the day, but if she sees a pacifier sitting anywhere, she wants it.  I’m not looking forward to the meltdowns that I know are coming.  Our girl is stubborn and not likely to give up her pacifier without a fight!

So that’s Evelyn right now in a nutshell.  My spunky, stubborn, sweet little girl.  Every day I love her even more and I literally cannot imagine my life without her.