18 Months

Lulu turned 18 months yesterday, which is the most insane thing EVER. She is getting so big, so fast! Mommy does NOT recall my first two years going by in the blink of an eye like this… I pointed out to her that Baby Lulu is getting to be a big girl and asked her if she would be sad when she didn’t have any more babies and she affirmed that she will be sad.  Lulu has shot up all of a sudden – she is all leggy and tall, not so much a cuddly squish anymore.

She is tall (33+” – 87th percentile) and skinny (23+ pounds – 36th percentile), so pretty much she doesn’t loook like *anyone* in our family.  She has perpetual skinned knees and bruised forehead – she runs fast and jumps high, but is not totally steady on her feet. She is such an enthusiastic dancer that she frequently knocks herself over while boogieing down.

Lulu’s favorite foods are ice pops and m&ms, but she also loves macaroni. She is not a picky eater, and she frequently eats her own meal and then my leftovers! Her favorite book is Are You My Mother?, which Mommy USED to like, but has found it gets old after half a dozen daily readings.

“Cole” is still her most frequently used word, but she also says Mommy, juice, please, cat, Henry, cheese, ball, pop, boo boo, bye, and hello. She makes animal sounds for frog, dog, duck,cow, and sheep.  She can sign cat, more, all done, please, frog, mouse, and bird.  Baby Lulu is kind of a genius, I guess.

Once again, it’s time to check in with the BabyCenter Milestone Chart. They stopped publishing their lists, so we had to rewind to MY 18 months post to get the skills.
Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

• Will “read” board books on his own – Maybe, but she would *definitely* rather someone read them to her.

• Scribbles well – Yup.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

• Strings two words together in phrases – Not really – she’s still working on single words.
  

• Brushes teeth with help – YES. She *loves* to brush her teeth.
  

• Stacks four blocks – Yup.
  

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)

• Throws a ball overhand – She LOVES to play catch – or she plays fetch with me, too.
  
• Takes toys apart and puts them back together – I don’t think so.

• Shows signs of toilet training readiness – Yes! She wants to climb on the potty all the time – probably because I do, and she loves EVERYTHING that I do. She’s going to be very sad when she finds out that she won’t get to stand to pee.