18 Months

I cannot believe my baby is 18 months old. There is just no possible way time has gone by that quickly! *sigh* You know people always say that time flies. If it really does fly, then it's like a jet propeller is added to it when you have kids. {Does that even make sense? Is there a such thing as a jet propeller? Probably not but you catch my drift.}

She's been getting into stuffed animals and dolls lately. When she wants one she actually wants all of them.

She's also much happier if she is allowed to take them all to bed with her. Sometimes she actually wants  to go to bed if all her stuffed animals are there, too.

Anyway, I figured I'd better do an update on this little one for this big milestone birth-month. Heck, I almost made cupcakes for the big day but then didn't really have time to. Maybe I'll make some late rice krispie treats instead! :)

She's such a ham!

Liv is so much fun! She loves to be tickled and will giggle and laugh the whole time. She'll even giggle before you start tickling her, which is hilarious to me. If she's really in a good mood she'll grab your hand and make you tickle her should you stop.

She was teasing Dan. She wanted him to feed her but then would do this when he tried.

She is incredibly independent. The biggest thing lately is that she wants to feed herself. She does not want help. At all. But since she still hasn't figured out how to use a fork or spoon very well {and she certainly won't let us help her with that discovery} she eats primarily with her fingers. Yes, this is sometimes embarrassing. Especially at breakfast when she has oatmeal and yogurt. That's usually a pretty messy meal.

She has become my little helper. She loves to help vacuum and sweep and wipe the table after she's finished eating. Sometimes she'll get the broom out by herself when she thinks the floor needs to be swept and will get going at it. The hardest thing about this particular help is that I can't seem to convince her she shouldn't stand in the pile of stuff I'm sweeping up. We're working on that one. She absolutely loves the vacuum and was sad a couple weeks ago when the nursery leaders starting vacuuming as the kids were leaving and I wouldn't let her stay to help! That was particularly heart breaking for her. She also likes to throw away her diapers and put dirty clothes in the hamper.

I don't remember what she's eating in this photo. But she insisted on continually eating while I took photos.

This little one has been using the potty! We are so proud of her! I don't think she's 100% ready to be potty trained, but sometimes she recognizes when she needs to go and will let me know. She's gone multiple times - and even used the potty twice last night for her babysitter! I was so surprised! I decided that I would just start sitting her on the toilet periodically throughout the day so she would get used to it. Because she is so stubborn and independent I figured that if I let her get old enough to decide what she liked in relation to the potty then it might be a big struggle. So I decided to start getting her used to it and making a huge hurray when she accidentally went potty. Now I think she loves it. I'm still waiting for her to be completely ready to use the potty exclusively before we make a switch to underwear but I'm pleased with the progress she's making so far.

I was trying to get an 18 month photo with the giraffe but she didn't want to take photos.

Here she's letting him give her a kiss.

The biggest reason I don't think she's really ready to potty train? She doesn't talk. She signs really well and a lot, which is nice so we have some kind of communication going on. However, getting her to use words is tough. Again I really think it goes back to her being independent. She doesn't like to do things because we want her to. She has to want to. But I think she's coming around to wanting to talk so hopefully in the next couple months she'll start using more words. I'm actually hoping she learns "potty" quickly. :)

Here she's modeling a little dress my grandmother made for her.

Here's a video of Livie being silly. She's giggling because I keep playing peek-a-boo with her. She also hums a couple songs and signs water, thank you, and mommy {all of which look conspicuously similar} and occasionally asks Dan where mommy is {those are the times I'm hiding}. {Just a note: yes, I know she isn't actually making the real sign for "where" but this works for us.}