18 Months

Amelia's 18 month "birthday" was last week, so I thought it would be a good time for some updates.  At her check up she weighed 24lbs 6oz (50th percentile) and was 34" tall (95th percentile!). Doctor Rice says she's still "tall and skinny" - hee hee:)  She did great for her two shots and was glad to get a sticker afterwards (she picked Spiderman).

She's got all her teeth, except her two-year molars, which she's been working on like crazy.  I can't wait until those come in and we can be done with new teeth for a while!

Although Amelia has her own ideas about what she wants (have I mentioned that she's a bit stubborn?), she adores her big brother and repeats everything he says and mimics his every action.

She talks so much now that I can't keep up with how many words she is saying anymore (could it be thousands already?).  Here are a few things she said to me just this morning in the half hour after waking up:
"I'na go downstairs, see Marley." (First thing she says every morning.)
"Open eyes, mama!" (Repeatedly.  I wasn't ready to get up yet.)
"You going pee pee (on) big potty, Mama?" (I was indeed.)
"I'na do drawing (with) markers." (She's ready for the day's activities to begin!)
"No, mama, no!  I don't like it!  Let go, mama!" (She's not so excited about diaper changes these days.)

Things I love about her baby talk:
*She leaves off the 'p' in the middle of words/phrases.  Diaper = di-er.  Oopsie = oo-sie.  Happy = ha-ee.  Stop it! = Stah it!
*She uses an 's' sound when it should be an 'f'.  Elephant = elesant.  Off = oss.  Different = dissent.
*The way she says Marley's name (Mah-ee), which was one of her very first words, and her own name (Mih), which she didn't even attempt until about a month ago.
*She says 'has' when she means 'have'.  "Can I has that?"
*She doesn't use articles or prepositions, but she does use pronouns correctly.  "I has go poo poo potty!"

Some other things Amelia's into right now:
*Playing with baby dolls, dressing and undressing them, diapering and nursing them (though she usually brings them to me to nurse.)
*Playing dress up, especially trying on different shoes.  She's been obsessed with shoes for months, now.
*Wearing her brother's clothes, especially his underwear (can't wait to share that one at her wedding!)
*Reading.  There are several books that she knows most of the words to - Sandra Boynton's Opposites comes to mind.
*Sitting on the potty.  She's actually gone in the potty (both pee and poop!) several times, though I'm not ready to make the leap to full time underwear just yet.
*Picking Marley up from preschool, and getting to participate in the last few minutes of music time.

She does not like:
*Being left behind when anyone goes somewhere.  Usually she's grabbing her shoes in a panic and saying, "I need shoes on!  I need shoes on!"  It's so sad!
*Eating breakfast.  Perhaps because there's usually no meat.  She's such a meat eater!
*Having hair in her face.
*Getting a hair-do that takes longer than 3 seconds (see photos above for my 3 second hair-do).
*Being away from Marley.  She loves her brother so much!

One more language anecdote:
She always amazes us with her vocabulary.  Jeff and I are constantly looking at each other in wonder whenever she says something new.  For example, the other night when we put up our tree Amelia was already in bed.  Jeff brought her down the next morning to show her.  Before he said anything, she pointed at it and said, "Christmas Tree." 

I can't wait to see what she does next!