18 Months Old

Maddy is 18 months old today!  Here she is looking at a photo of her homecoming when she was just a few days old.

She is still so good at playing on her own.  She loves to play with fun stuff in the kitchen.  This week she figured out how to crawl into the floor-level kitchen cabinets.  I spend a lot of time saying, "No, Maddy!" these days.

Somehow she knew there were cookies cooling on the stovetop.  She climbed the stool to try and get them.

She can't climb up onto the sofa yet but she loves sitting up there now.  She also loves to take Ben's toys and stuffed animals.  It's driving him bonkers.

Loving a different spot on the sofa: Ben's spot.  Last week they were fighting over who got to sit there and Ben almost shoved Maddy right off the couch.  This summer is going to be soooo much fun...

I finally found a pair of shoes that fits our little cruiser.  She's on her feet more and more outside so shoes were inevitable.  Sometimes she loves them.  But as soon as she wants them off, she wants them off NOW.

It should still be a while (hopefully) before Maddy can walk.  So she climbs on everything instead.  EVERYTHING.  She now routinely gets up onto the coffee table without a step.  Yesterday I caught her in the act of trying to climb on top of her toy piano - she was standing on the little piano bench, and when I shouted "No!" she nearly fell off.

She has been putting weight on her legs like this a lot.  She even does a kind of crawl up on her hands and feet.  And more times than not, when I walk into the family room I find her up on this table.  But rarely in this unflattering position.

Other notable things from this month...

She is finally not using bottles anymore.  She drinks from sippy cups and straw cups; we're still working on regular cups.  She still eats almost everything in sight, and I suspect she might have a hollow leg.  She started throwing up a bit more this month, so her pediatrician increased her dose of reflux meds and that seems to have helped.  She occasionally snores loudly and I'm hoping her doc doesn't want to do another sleep study to check for apnea.  Her ENT said her adenoids and tonsils look good, and both of the PE tubes are where they should be in her ears.  She is giggling more.  She gets a big kick out of dropping things on the floor and watching Mommy or Daddy pick them up.  She went on Ben's preschool field trip last week to a bookstore and frozen yogurt shop, and the teacher included her in circle time for songs and stories - it was truly adorable.  She's gone to her own early intervention classroom for four sessions and seems to like it.  She is signing a little more, mostly for "more" and "drink."  When she wants to eat, she does her own thing - she pretends to grab something with her fist and shove it in her mouth (gets the point across just fine).  Sometimes she will say "nigh-nigh" and that is her way of telling me she is ready for a nap or bedtime.  She is such a sweet, lovable kid.

Coffee Table

More fun with furniture.  Yesterday I went into the family room and found Maddy here, on top of the coffee table.  This time it seems she pushed her musical activity table over and used it as a step.  Later in the day, I caught her in the act of hoisting herself up without a step.  I should have given her a cleaning rag while she was up there.


Her favorite game: dropping stuff and making someone pick it up over and over again.  Ben never really went through this stage.  I love the way Maddy giggles when she drops the block.  The crumbs on her face are from chocolate Teddy Grahams.

Fun With Chairs

Several weeks ago I tried to get Ben to help me make a fort in the living room with these chairs and some blankets. He was totally uninterested. But both kids loved the chairs in the middle of the room.

 

Two chairs, two kids.  And yet they still fight over who gets which chair.

She looks so sweet and innocent.

And then she tries to hurl herself over the back of the chair.

She hasn't actually taken a header.  Yet.

Troublemaker.  She knows I'm gonna say "no" when she tries to climb over.  She'll do it anyway.

On to the rocking chair.  She can climb up onto it herself.

She can sit on it herself.

And she's right back to climbing over the back of another chair.

Boo!

Ben made up this game where he says "Boo!" and we act scared and yell.  He has done this in front of Maddy a lot.  She thinks it's hilarious.  Then she started saying "boo" herself.  Mike and I think this is awesome.  Ben does not appreciate her taking his game.  Less attention for him.


Here's a slightly calmer version.  Ben runs around in the background toward the end.  Both of these were from a couple weeks ago when it was still cold and Mike was on the road.

My Week With Ben

Mike was on the road for about a week recently. So I got to spend a lot more time with Benjmamin than usual. Here he is having his "special breakfast" (pop tarts) that he always does once or twice each week with Daddy.   

   

One afternoon we used watercolors to paint pictures.  Without saying a thing to me, he went and got his safety scissors and starting cutting a piece of paper into strips.  We've been trying to show him how to cut with scissors for months.  It must have clicked at preschool, because now he thinks it's easy-peasy.

Snacktime!! Yes, he sometimes likes to eat a plain tortilla for snack. They're not usually this big.

I bought a sleeping bag for him this week. He had been whining for one and while I didn't want to reward his persistence, I realized it's a good thing for him to have on hand. He was totally excited to try it out for about 20 seconds and then started griping about something and I snapped a picture.

I had intended on limiting his computer time while Mike was gone, but it didn't work out as well as I had hoped. Anyway, he was on the Sesame Street website and found a recipe for Abby Cadabby's Twinkle Think Punch. It's cranberry lemonade and looks very pale pink. He liked the process of making it on the stove (it's been a challenge to get him to help in the kitchen lately) and was thrilled to drink his creation.  He even offered some to me.

 

He's been doing this squinty thing with his eyes lately.  I know he's just messing around but it's a little disturbing when he holds a whole conversation while making this face.

Sitting Up, Getting Down

She leaned against the bottom step for the support she needed to push herself up into a sitting position.        


When she's done sitting, this is how she gets down. Eventually she'll learn to lean to the side and extend an arm to get to the floor, but that will come as her core gets stronger.

Under the Table

Finally caught her on video cruising around under the dining room table.  There's a cute little sneeze and giggle at the end.