Photoshoot: 18 Months Old

Baby girl turned 18 months old on July 28. Each month on the 28th I take a photo of Miss Alexa and her owl to mark her growth because, as everyone likes to remind me, "they're only little for a short while."

Alexa, Alexa. She is a feisty one. What used to be a serene five minutes of the day when I would dress her has become Five Minutes of Torture. For me. Kicking, screaming, whining. I don't know if it's objections over my fashion selections or just toddlerdom. I'm leaning toward the latter because I dress her impeccably. I'm talking purple sparkle sneakers, pink shorts and a blue T-shirt. What? That's not fashionable? Maybe not runway worthy, but it's freaking hot on the playground.

One nap a day. I don't want to jinx anything, but she slept until 8:30 this morning. This is a record, and I love it. Fingers crossed it's a recurring event.

The teeth keep coming. Ice is the only thing that helps. The girl is a fool for ice. She can hear me chewing on it from the next room and immediately runs in and says, "Hmmm?" in a high-pitched voice, with her arm outstretched to me.

She likes noodles. She likes rice. She likes bread. If it's a carb, she likes it. Also, if it's a fruit, she likes it. She finally has enough teeth to bite into an apple. Apples are now her new favorite thing.

Alexa climbs onto the couch and jumps onto piles of cushions on the ground. She also reached for a knife on the kitchen counter tonight while I was cooking dinner. Forget "Leila." Her middle name is "Danger."

Favorite things: hugging our legs, her new Brobee pillow (she sleeps with it), sitting in her new "big girl" chair, driving the toy firetruck at her babysitter's, pulling apart Legos I've built, pouring things out of containers and then putting them back inside

New words: Honey, watch TV?, baby, owwie, all right!

Last week she put a puzzle piece in its correct place and got a round of applause from us. She did it again. More applause. I can't explain the magic of seeing her "get" the puzzle for the first time, but it was exciting stuff.

She is learning to sing. There's a song on Yo Gabba Gabba (what else?) that goes "Keep trying, keep trying, don't give up, never give up." She sings the "keep trying" part. I think it's great advice. Until it comes time for her to stop trying to reach sharp knives, that is.

Also, A YEAR AND A HALF? Seriously!

The doctor says she is beautiful, healthy, and very strong (doc has the bruises to prove it).

Height: 32 inches
Weight: 26 lbs.

Previous months:

one  •  two  •  three  •  four
  •  five  •  six  •  seven  •  eight
nine •  ten •  eleven •  twelve
•  thirteen •  fourteen •  fifteen •  sixteen •
seventeen