18 Months

Our tiny tot turned 18 months on Sunday. This also happened to be Grandma Kathy's birthday, so we headed to their house to celebrate the day with Chinese take out for dinner and a lemon tart which I made for dessert. Genevieve sat on Grandma's lap while we sang 'happy birthday' and of course was certain that we were singing to her. This kid is going to grow up thinking that she gets a birthday every 6 months.

Which is the birthday girl?

We had our 18 month check up today. Despite the caloric intake, she hasn't done that much growing over the last three months. She weighed in at a little over 25 pounds and measured a bit over 32"...both in the 65th percentile or so. Our pediatrician must have noticed my surprise that she's gone from the 90th height percentile to the 65th, because she casually mentioned that it's hard to accurately measure the kids before they're four years old and big enough to stand on the scale. Either way it proves that, like everything else, we'll just have to wait and see how she turns out. Someone mentioned the other day how heavy she's getting, and it occurred to me that she now weighs as much as I gained when I was pregnant, which was a really weird perspective. No wonder I was freaking exhausted! Anyway overall she is in tip-top shape. We've only had one ear infection since the tubes in October (due to a really nasty bug right before Christmas) and, save her 2-year molars, all of her teeth are in. You'd think that would mean luxurious, sleep-filled nights at our place, but alas that is not the case. We're now going through a super fun "sleep is for the weak" phase where she is really fighting going down. Furthermore, and more exhausting, there is an unidentified something waking her up at random points throughout the night. Matt and I have never been afraid to let our kid cry it out, but this isn't a sassy, ha ha I got you out of bed cry. This is like the boogeyman in your closet kind of cry. The one thing to be grateful for during these midnight adventures is that as soon as she sees us at her door, she collapses back down and falls almost immediately back to sleep. We're chalking it up to a crazy toddler phase and praying that it moves right along. People told me that I would find religion once I had kids. I thought they meant because I would want my children to be raised in a church. Now I realize it's to have someone to beg for help during sleepless nights.

Annnnnyway, besides the sleeping misadventures, life is good with little Genevieve ruling the roost. She has mastered so much in the last three months: she can identify most of the alphabet and give you the corresponding sound, she knows all of her colors (although her first answer to, "what color is this?" is almost always "lello"), and she can rattle off 1-10. Sometimes in order, sometimes not. She can tell you all of her body parts, name all kinds of foods, loves her shoes and can identify diamonds (it's true). We regularly hear 'please', 'thank you', and 'bless you', which is totally adorable. She can ask for what she wants, which I had no idea would be such a luxury instead of racking my brain trying to find the one thing to calm her down. She's more reserved in groups and definitely not interested in joining any kind of rough and tumble play with other kids. She will happily swing or slide at the park forever, and loves to build tall, tall towers out of her Legos. Matt and I suspect an engineer in the making.

One of her favorite things to do is play in my closet. She loves the make up brushes, the shoes, the necklaces, everything. She's noticed that mommy wears her sunglasses non-stop (my calling card since high school, right ladies?) and has taken to wearing hers again this year. She is also now demanding to go on walks with Ralphie. Ralphie, of course, thinks that this is the bomb. Together it takes us a good half-hour to get around the block, as we have to stop and identify every stick, leaf, house, tree, bush, flower, plant, car, runner, doggy, and blade of grass. Oh, but when she sees a piece of garbage, it's, "Garbage! Icky." What a girl. Today we headed out with our sunglasses to tour the neighborhood:

Head-to-toe pink. "I've got the leash, let's get this show on the road!"


Right now he's thinking, I love this kid


Shades-R-Us


Hollering, "Bike!". It has two wheels, it must be a bike, right?


Wat'ch you lookin' at?

Here are a few other random shots of the last couple of weeks:

Downward Dog with Daddy


Watching 'Letter Factory' with Mommy


Looking all gangsta in Daddy's vest and hat (wait, pink froggy pajamas aren't gangsta? Hmm)


"Hiding" from us by pulling the beak down as far as it goes. She finds this game hysterical


Sharing her milk and gingersnap (known here as 'naps!') with Mickey and Tee-Tah