18 months

Lola is 18 months and 10 days. She's closer to two years than to one, and some days I can definitely sense that the TTs (terrible twos) are creepin' in. She is incredibly vocal and repeats E.V.E.R.Y.thing we say. I was making oatmeal one morning, and it almost boiled over (on my new stove!), and I panicked and said a slightly colorful four-letter word, which she promptly repeated. Ooopsie. And she seems to really listen to everything we say, too, especially when we're talking about her. But when Matt and I try to have a conversation (that doesn't involve her), she gets really LOUD.

Her 18-month checkup was last week - she weighs 28 pounds (90th percentile) and is 35 inches tall (105th percentile). What can I say, the kid is gonna be tall. She eats pretty much everything we eat, including Jackie's pizza on Friday nights (which she loves). She also eats roasted broccoli, kale and brussels sprouts. Go figure! She still loves avocados - she calls them "tados." Sometimes we go long stretches without them, but I just bought several at the grocery store, and she has been asking for them (and eating them) every day for a week. She's also putting two and three words together. Instead of just saying "more" at mealtimes she says "more tado" or "more berries."

 

She can count to five. In fact, this morning as I was changing her diaper, out of the blue she said, "one, two, three, four, five." Totally random! She can almost count to 10. It usually goes something like this... "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven... nine." Speaking of diapers, she isn't potty-training yet, but she's curious about it. When we stayed with cousins Chaney and Keaton back in February Lola was very intrigued by Chaney's potty chair, so we got her one. She likes to sit on it for a few seconds, then stand up and say "done!" I don't think she's quite ready to lose the diapers, but she's getting close.

The time change wasn't too hard on us over the weekend. Lola adapted pretty well, and like the rest of us, she just doesn't want to get out of bed while it's still dark outside. She sleeps about 12 hours at night and takes an hour nap during the day. It usually takes her a while to wake up in the mornings. She is obsessed with Elmo, and she likes to watch country music videos. She usually requests the Honey Bee video by Blake Shelton - incidentally she thinks Blake is her dad. I can see the resemblance, can't you? There are plenty of times she wants her mama, but at the end of the day (see photo at left), she's a daddy's girl all the way.