18 months old!

Our little girl is 18 months old already! Where does the time go? She weighs about 19.4lbs (after losing a pound with her cold this last 3 weeks), and is 31.5 in tall. (That is still around the 5th percentile for weight and above the 50th for height). She knows 41 words, my favorites being turkey, cookie, bubbles, and butterfly (which comes out bubabye), she knows what 29 animals and/or vehicles say or do, my favorites being a gorilla (she thumps her chest), a crab (she pinches her fingers), a horse (she makes a crazy throat sound which sounds nothing like a horse), a penguin (she shakes her head back and forth because that's what they do in a book we have), and a chicken (buck buck). She is absolutely adorable when she's adorable and a stinker when she's a stinker. She potties on her potty several times a day now and lets us know by pushing on her tummy and saying "eeee". She knows many body parts, helps around the house (she loves throwing things in the garbage), and she dances a lot! I say shake it and she moves her hips around, even if she's sitting. She's getting some time outs here and there, and seems to be responsive. I can't believe we are already to the time out stage! But she is a stinker some times--and stubborn! (geez, who could she have gotten that from?!) She has suddenly grown too fond of the TV, or "TT" as she calls it when we got the big screen in January--and she begs for the one or two Baby Einstein videos I let her watch a day. OH, my favorite thing she does now is she 'wakes' us with a kiss if we pretend to sleep...or in the morning if she comes in bed with us and wakes before we do. LOVE it. Her kisses are so sweet! She likes to show off her "muscles" and she flexes so hard her face turns red--that's a fun daddy trick. ;) She still loves to read with us and is starting to 'cook' for us in her kitchen. She also lives for trains (choo choo!) and tea parties--too cute. She pours each of us, and some stuffed animals if they are around, some 'tea' and gives us 'treats.' We are struggling a bit more now than ever getting her to eat her meals, she doesn't have much of an attention span for food--unless it is goldfish crackers. All in all she is healthy and on target or above developmentally. She is such a sweetie--I cannot believe how fun she has become and how much our love grows for her each day. Thank you Helena for bringing me so much joy!