18 Months Old

Dear Eva Kate,

Little girl, you are 18 months old today! Happy half birthday! As I was trying to think of what to share my mind just kept going back to how much fun you we have together. My heart seriously bursts with love just thinking about your cuteness!!!

Your most favorite thing to do right now is to RUN! You run and run and run. You have a seemingly endless supply of energy right up until it is time for you to sleep. You like to be chased and you like to chase me and Daddy. When it is your turn to chase us you let us know by turning around and pointing for us to go in the other direction. You also like it when we hide behind furniture so we can pop out and say, "Boo!" 

This is us wrapped up in your favorite snuggle blanket. One night you were tired so you dragged it all the way to the playroom for us to cuddle together. During the day you like to get the snuggle blanket out when we sit and read together on the couch. You still have your binky, but only at nap and bedtime and we have gotten you down to only 1 binky. You sure like that thing! When you see other babies or kids with binkies you try to steal them. 

Cheese! I love your "big smile." Most of the time you only want to do it when the camera is put away though. You also love to take toys with you upstairs now anytime we have to go up to change your diaper or get ready to go somewhere. Bringing along a toy has helped prevent many tantrums.

You are also communicating with us so much! I don't know how many words you can say, but I feel like it's a good amount. You are good at repeating simple words to us and you use sign language to tell us what you need. When I ask a yes/no question you will answer with a word close to what I'm asking if the answer is yes or shake your head if the answer is no. Your newest words are Dad-eee (although it's usually still Dada) and puppy.  

You love your friends! This is a photo of you loving a baby in the the church nursery. You definitely know and recognize your little friends. You love all babies and try to hug and kiss them. You also love seeing your grandparents. We saw Mamy yesterday and you ran right up to her with a big smile!

Where is Eva? You think you are so sneaky and funny now. But I can see those little legs sticking out. So how big are you?????

You are 29.75 inches tall and weigh 20.5 pounds. That means you are still right in the 5th percentile for your age...but you have grown a little bit! We finally got to turn your car seat around so you can face forward!!!! You wear 6-12 or 12-18 month size clothes, a size 4 shoe, and a size 3 diaper. You still have 16 teeth and I can feel 2 bottom molars budding to pop through. Your hair is starting to grow and I'm really looking forward to when you have enough hair for pigtails. 

Yum! Look at all that food! You are actually a really good eater. You eat 6 small meals a day. Some of your favorite foods are yogurt, broccoli, oranges, grapes, raspberries, avocado, bananas, kiwi, cheese, peas, spinach, ham, turkey, toast, tortillas, teddy grahams, and cereal bars. And you are still nursing twice a day - when you wake up and when you go to bed at night.

All that food must make you sleepy because you are sleeping much better than you were 3 months ago. You sleep from 8PM - 8AM without waking up and usually take a 2-3 hour nap. I guess you dropped your morning nap about a month ago but you've been doing great on one good nap a day. I've been doing great on getting more uninterrupted sleep at night so thanks :)

You love to play outside. Whether it's a trip to the park or just walking around our yard you are so happy to play and explore. You like to pick flowers and acorns. If I ask you if you want to play outside your answer is always yes!

One of your favorite indoor toys is your Little People Zoo that you got for Christmas. We play with the zoo and your animals every single day and you can actually point out every single animal when I say the name.  You also like to play basketball with your Little Tikes Hoop. You like to paint. You like to read the same books over and over again - Brown Bear, Brown Bear is one of your new favorites. At night when we give you a bath you like to pull out the drain so that all the water goes out and just play in the empty tub. Silly girl.

You may be obsessed with our iPhones....so we often hide them from you. You would sit and look at pictures and videos of yourself for hours if we let you. Sometimes though you like to take pics with me! I love this one of us making silly faces together.

I adore you. I pray for you everyday. I cherish all the moments I get being home with you. I'm loving you as a little friend although sometimes I miss you as a baby. You are smart and funny and friendly and so beautiful. I love you!!!!!

love, Mama