Updated Vocabulary

I'm amazed at what Kaylee knows at just 18 months...

People/Names - Momma, Dada, Kaylee, Mike, Ma-maw (for grandmas), Papa, Auntie, Dylan (my nephew), Madeline (her bestie at childcare), Manda (her childcare provider), Lance (Amanda's husband), Bella (our dog)
Animals - dog, cat, bird, horse, cow, duck, pig, owl, mouse, goat, baa (sheep), spider, fish, bunny
Foods/Eating - milk, cereal, cracker, cookie, apple, juice, pear, banana, carrot, eat, water, please, more, thank you, spoon, help, cheese
Toys and things - Elmo, Big Bird, book, baby, doll, car, train, boat, girl, bath, ball, bubble, barn, bear, purse, bike
Body parts/Cloths - eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, cheeks, elbow, boobs (lol), feet, toes, head, coat, socks, shoes, pants, diaper, hat
Colors/shapes (she uses these appropriately about 80% of the time) - blue, pink, purple, green, orange, yellow, square, circle, star, moon, ellipse
Letter names (these are the ones that she names appropriately) - A, B, D, E, H, I, K, L, M, O, P, R, S, X, Y, Z
Randoms - up, down, cold, hot, go, stop, yes, okay, no, E I E I O, whoa, I don't know (together as a phrase), hi, bye, wait, jump, hop, day, night, wind, rain, tree, flower, nice

We're working on encouraging Kaylee to use more 2- and 3-word phrases, but she mostly sticks to just one at a time.

18 Months

My Darling Little Love ~

Has is really been a year and a half since we welcomed you into our little family? I cannot believe how quickly time goes by. It's a bittersweet thing to realize that my snuggly, dependent baby is becoming such a strong, bold, independent little girl. It seems like you are finding new ways to both amaze and frustrate me every single day. I'll take the amazing with the frustrating, though, because all in all, it's so so much fun to be your momma.

Eating and mealtimes fall on the frustrating side of the balance here lately. You want to do everything yourself and get so upset when your daddy and I try to help you. We've learned that you'll eat almost anything if we put it on the spoon and set it down within your reach. We've tried teaching you to spoon things out of a bowl yourself, but that's still a work in progress. As always, your favorite foods are fruits and vegetables, and you love your milk. As the weather gets warmer, we'll need to figure out how to get you to drink water. I just know you're not going to like it.

Also on the frustrating end of the spectrum is your little temper. We're seeing more and more little mini-tantrums all the time. These happen when you can't do what you want to do...either because you're not quite able to do something, or we won't let you do something. We try to give you space to try new things, but sometimes we have to stop you from doing something unsafe. There's just no way around it. I wish there was a good way of helping you understand. For now, though, we just wait out the pouting and the whining and the crying and move on. It's just part of life with a toddler...

Now for the amazing...you are just growing and learning in so many ways! Your little brain has just been working overtime. Right now, you can name about 13-14 different letters of the alphabet, point out most basic colors and even name a few, and pick out almost all of the shapes in your shape sorter...including ellipse and trapezoid! You can even name a few shapes...circle, star and ellipse. What a smart cookie!!! As always, you love your books. You're starting to pick out more little details in the pictures, and reading with you is so much fun.

You can be the sweetest little girl I know...when you want to be. You get so excited to see your friends every day and have started giving hugs before we leave to go home each day. You never get tired of looking at the pictures we have of our family members. I just love hearing how excited you get to see some of the pictures...especially those of your cousin Dylan and Auntie Mir. The other day, you gave me an extra long, snuggly hug when The Beatles "I Will" came on your iPod. Do you really know that that's your special song? It just meant so much to me.

We love you so so much!

Your Momma

Hunting Eggs

Kaylee really got the idea of hunting for Easter eggs this year. Here are a few pictures of my baby in action.

Kitty Love

17 Months

Baby Girl ~

Here we are again, the beginning of another month of your life with me struggling to recount all the amazing things that you've been doing. Although we may not remember the dates and times of every single milestone you reach, we will never be able to forget the absolute joy that you bring to our lives. You are so lovely and happy.

This month you blew us all away when we realized that you are beginning to recognize letters. It all began a few months ago, when you pointed to the letters on the cover of your Corduroy book, wanting to know what they were. We played that game for a while...saying the names of each letter and then reading the title. This became something that you wanted to do every time we got out the Corduroy book. One day, when your daddy asked you, "Which one is the R?" I just laughed at him...until you pointed to the R. Now, you recognize all of the letters in Corduroy and can point them out wherever you see them. You can even tell me the names of a few letters. What a smart, smart baby!

You also shocked us with your knowledge of a few shapes. You've been loving your shape sorter for a while, but we're starting to push you to find out exactly what you know. Last night, I told you to give me the circle, without any other cue as to which shape I was talking about, and you handed me the circle. You also knew the names of the ellipse, square and star. I suspect that you might know a few of the others as well, but you got bored of that game, so we moved on.

It's fun to watch you learn new things and realize just how bright you are. Beyond being a smart girl, though, we are so pleased that you are curious, persistent and a problem-solver. This talents and interests will serve you well throughout your life. I thrill in the idea that you will enjoy learning for a lifetime.

As always, you've been talking up a storm this month. I was thrilled to find out the other day that you now know one of your friends' names. Every day when we get to Amanda's house, you fun for the door saying "MaaMy MaaMy", excited to see your friend Madeleine. I know that you will have many good friends in your life, but this is your first friend, and it's just so special.

One of my other favorite things that you've started doing is picking up. We can now tell you to put your books away and you can do it. You're so cute doing it, too.

Here lately, you are pure poetry in motion. Whether it's running, climbing or dancing, you just don't seem to stop. I love seeing the absolute joy on your face when you get where you want to be or accomplish something new.

I hope you always know that you are, truly, the joy of your daddy's and my life. We are so lucky to be able to share all these experiences with you. We love you so very much.

Your Momma

An Honest to Goodness Sentence

"Bye bye Dada." I'm so proud of my girl!!!

Sweet Baby

Kaylee loves playing with her baby...a doll that my mom got her for her birthday. Last night, while she was hugging her baby and patting her back, I suggested that we sing to her baby. I started singing the ABC Song (a go-to for calming Kaylee down when she gets upset) and, as usual, Kaylee began singing along. The next part, though, I didn't expect. Kaylee continued to pat her baby's back and started rocking back and forth just a little bit. What a sweet little girl!!!