18 months and SpIcY

We adore this little monkey!


At 18 mos., she's in the 70th %tile for her height, 60th for her head size, and 25th for her weight.

I really love/don't love having an 18-month old. I love how interactive she is, how they rely so much on body language to communicate, how she is learning new words every day, how exuberant about life she is, how cuddly she gets, how silly she is.

I don't love the huge mess she makes on the floor 5 times a day, how she climbs on EVERYTHING and pulls anything she can down, how she SCREAMS and throws huge fits when she doesn't get her way or we don't understand her, how she's starting to hit us and yell 'NO!' and be naughty.

BUT...I know it's all part of the deal. You gotta have both sides of the coin.

Some of our Favorite things about our Ashy-bear at 18 months

1. She loves to use me or Kraig as a human playground if we ever try to stretch out on the floor.

2. She fake sleeps and 'snores'

3. She always pulls her sandwiches apart before eating them.

4. She is mellow and quiet in crowds, busy and crazy at home. (She has really hurt me quite a few times, including cutting my lip, making me bleed under my toenail, a huge bash on the head with her hard head....I protect myself around this one now.)

5. She loves to blow bubbles in her drinks with straws.

6. She gets really cuddly and kissy with us.

Her favorite things right now are: cuddly teddy bears, lift-the-flap books, puppets, playing in our cars, being outside, getting herself wet, chasing Miko, wrestling Mikayla, splashing like crazy in the tub, and recently, SWIMMING. She is a little too daring for my liking.

Words she can say: cheese, "kay-koo" (thank you), mommy, daddy, Lala (Mikayla), Geeko (Miko), bu-faiy (butterfly), tee (brush teeth), aw- up (I want up), all done, dink (drink,) NO, MINE, gotchya, cracker, bubble...hmm, can't remember what else. She is a little parrot to Mikayla. If Mikayla says, "I want red" she'll try to say it.


LITTLE GIRLS ARE ALL THE SAME??? I DON'T THINK SO!


They all come into the world with their own unique personalities....you hear it all the time, but Ashlynn has been almost the opposite of Mikayla in everything, so in a way she's been pretty predictable!

Mikayla was an active, 'I don't need sleep' kinda newborn; Ashlynn was mellow and slept a lot (THANK GOODNESS)

Mikayla was a skinny babe; Ashlynn pretty chunky.

Mikayla didn't really care about blankies or teddy bears; Ashlynn LOVES her teddy and wants to sleep with him every night.

Mikayla would sit and listen to a long book at 18 mos.; Ashlynn lasts about 1 minute.

Mikayla was a finicky eater when we started on 'real' food, Ashlynn dug in with both hands to anything she could. She often eats all her food then sneaks up to the table and finishes off Mikayla's leftovers.

If we put a messy food on Mikayla's tray, she would poke it once and then cry to have her hand cleaned off...and then refuse to touch it again (like, when she was only one year old....totally weird, right?)

Ashlynn has been a more normal baby and will paint anything she can with her food, use her hair as a napkin (actually works pretty well), throw it, squish it, try to wipe it on us, basically create as much mess as possible.

Mikayla never really cared about feeding herself (even now, she wouldn't mind if we did!) Ashlynn is determined to feed herself and refuses to let us help her....thus the huge mess.

Mikayla cried for about 10 mins at the beginning of nursery for about 6 MONTHS. Ashlynn went into nursery last Sunday and didn't even look back. ("Toys? Kids? Snacks? I'm good! See ya mom!")

We love both of our little personalities that brighten our home! I need to do an update on Mikayla soon too, so watch this space if you care. :)