Annie at 18 months

This is kind of a horrible thing to say because I have two other children at other ages right now whom I really do love to pieces...but 18 months has to be the best all time age ever. You know, in my super experienced 4 years of being a mom opinion.

I love 18 months. I love toddlerhood, really. When they interact with you, soak up new information, learn new words every day, but are still small enough to cuddle, want to be held, and aren't quite old enough to start talking back and voicing their own opinions :) (would you be shocked to hear I have a VERY opinionated 4 year old??)

At 18 months, Annie is a teeny little thing, only weighing 22 pounds! She is wearing mostly 18-24 month clothes, but some 12-18 months still fit her too. 

She is VERY active....she can climb on anything without help. She is constantly on a chair, a couch, the kitchen table, a bed, and I've even caught her on the kitchen counter a few times. Along with being active comes lots of falls and war wounds. Her head and face always look like she was in some sort of fight...and lost. 

She is lovable and cuddly, and has such a sweet spirit. Every time she sees a baby or an animal she cocks her head and scrunches her face and says "awww" in the sweetest voice.

She is talking a lot, but not as much as Lucy was at this age. Annie just says what she needs to to get by and the rest is covered up in gibberish and laughing. She can say everyone in the family's names, including grandparents. Her favorite thing to do is point to everyone in the room while saying their name, ending with herself, who she calls "nee nee". She won't say Stella. She just calls her "baby".

She has one word with multiple meanings. "Shooce" could mean juice, shoes, or Lucy. "Go go" could mean yogurt, good girl, or cookie. "Baaa" could mean ballon, ball, or back (her word for going outside, because we often go out the "back" door...).She can say night night, milk, baby, car, and everyone's names pretty much perfectly. There are lots of other words she says that I can't think of right now. "Beeyah" for zebra is probably my favorite. Oh and she has recently picked up "mine".

She went down to one nap right before 18 months...really I forced her to. She would have taken 2 naps for a bit longer I think but with Stella coming I wanted her to be taking one really long afternoon nap. She requires a lot of sleep, but she doesn't KNOW that she requires a lot of sleep. She doesn't love to sleep like Lucy does, she would rather be right in the middle of the action. Annie is often the first one to go to bed at night because she can fall into melt down mode rather quickly...as can most 18 month olds.

She LOVES her sisters. Big and Little :)

She also LOVES her mama and prefers me over anyone else. I'm not complaining.

She is very obedient to my voice. We really have not had to discipline her much because if I tell her to stop doing something she stops. I'll enjoy that while it lasts.

Most of the challenge with raising and caring for Annie is physical. She is hard to keep up with! My day mainly consists of pulling her down off of surfaces, taking sharp things out of her hand, and chasing her away from toilet bowls and Heidi's water bowl.

Oh and cleaning her. She is the Messiest. Eater. Ever.

I love this sweet girl with all my heart. She is such a blessing to our family. She is a ray of sunshine, a ball of energy, and a cuddle bug. She can make you smile in about 0.1 seconds.

See?? She made you smile didn't she....

Happy 18 months little Annie Faith!