18 Months Already?

I can't believe that my little girl is 18 months old! She is so big and independent now. She is really good at telling you what she wants, when she wants it, and lets you know if she's not getting her way! Although most people don't believe this because she is super well behaved in public and loves to be around people and activity (Knock on wood; Let's keep that going!).



Recently, Holly received a comb, brush and mirror set from her former daycare provider and she loves to play with it. The only problem is when she tries to comb her hair with pigtails in because she gets the comb stuck in it.

Last weekend we all went up to my parents to hang out. I wanted to take Van up there at least once before Thanksgiving so that she will be a little more comfortable and not feel so overwhelmed when the entire family shows up for dinner! Holly has loved Nana's garden hats for a long time. Here she is with one of them on. She made Nana put one on, too, and they sat on the steps talking for a long time. I think this is an incredibly adorable picture.

The little nut is in 18 month clothes now and I had to do some emergency shopping 2 weekends ago. When she outgrows things, its an overnight phenomenon, not a gradual one! Here are the monkey pj's that she picked out herself.
Today was the huge community yard sale in town. There were 35 yard sales in a town of about 500 people! No worries, lots of out-of-towners came to buy things up! Holly and I went perusing the goods. I spent $9.00 and got a toy tea set and dishes, 2 Winnie the Pooh videos, 4 Peter Rabbit videos, and several others like the Velveteen Rabbit and some others I can't remember the names of. The dishes were the best purchase of the day, as you can see! Holly played with the entire time we were home today. After the yard sales, we went to check out the new daycare that Holly will start going to soon. The great thing is she will be around other kids again and be really busy and active all day long. The bad thing is that I will have a 20 minute drive each way to take her to daycare (and then again to pick her up). That may not sound like a lot to people in the city, but considering that I work 4 blocks from my house...you get spoiled in some ways by living in a small town.

During the Moon Festival, my mom gave me the table and chairs that I used when I was a little kid, and that has been in the family for a long time. Holly loves it and its perfect for her new dishes. Here is my little daredevil thinking it might be fun to stand up on the chair. She definitely knows what "Sit down!" means. Van's brother goes to college at the University of Wisconsin. He called to tell us that their football team was playing tonight on ESPN, so Van and I watched them get their butts kicked by Pennsylvania. Here's a sweet picture of Holly and Van watching the game.
Holly is doing so many new things lately. I guess this is normal for little kids to learn so much stuff in such a short time, but it sometimes takes me by surprise what she knows. Here's a short rundown of the things I can think of right now:

1. She can point to her head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, feet, belly, toes, leg, arm, belly button, and fingers. She can say most of them, too. Salem (the cat) doesn't particularly love it when she points out his body parts to him, especially his belly.

2. She wants to sing the ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in the worst way! With the ABCs, she gets some of the letters, especially at the beginning and after the pauses. She also kinda has the "Now I know my ABCs, next time..." part down. She tries so hard, but her little mouth still can't make the words perfectly!

3. Holly has definitely been influenced by her babysitter. Some of her favorite words right now are "cool," "dude," and "sweet." She uses them in the right context, too. The other day she asked to press the "button" (aka light switch), turned the light off, then said "Cool!" I cracked up!

4. She loves to stack blocks as high as she can, then knock them down and make them scatter across the room. Fortunately, she usually picks them back up so she can do it again.

5. Holly likes to put her blocks into cups and then pour them into a different cup. Sometimes she even takes a little "drink" from the one she ours them into.

6. Sadly, she is tall enough to open the doors in the house. Several times I have gone down the hall in the morning and found that she opened Van's door, went in, and I find her standing by Van's bedside and staring at her while she is sleeping. She also goes and opens the pantry door to point to what she wants to eat.

7. The girl is a cleaning fool! Give her a washcloth or Clorox wipe and she goes to town. She likes to clean her high chair tray, her face, and the coffe table the best. She also want to wipe the table off when we eat out at a restaurant. I'm trying to nurture this quality as best I can; I hope its not just a phase.

8. Potty training is in our near future for sure. Now, after she has gone potty, she will lie down on the floor with her legs up in the air until I come and change her diaper. If I ask if she has gone potty, she always says yes if she has.

9. Holly is cheerfully willing to help pick up toys and put them away. She knows where most of them go without specifically being told, or she will put something exactly where you tell her to. How great is that?

10. She gives the sweetest, delicate little kisses, finally with her mouth closed and puckered up instead of just slobbering or breathing heavily on your cheek.