18 Months

Addison had her 18 month well-baby visit yesterday and she is doing WELL! She whimpered off and on and whole time we were at the doctors office - from the waiting room all the way through. It doesn't help that she has had a shot every 3 months since she was three months and today was no exception. She full on cried the minute the nurse walked in with the tray. She is smart and observant and if vaccines weren't good for her I'd be irritated that the doctor conditions kids to be terrified from birth :) (No this in not in an invitation to hear how you feel about vaccinating your kids because I truly don't care.)

She did let the doctor use his light to check her eyes, ears, and mouth. She also place the stethoscope so he could listen to her heart and lungs. She is in the 70th percentile for weight and head size and the 75th percentile for height.

She is right on track throwing tantrums, being a picky eater, and climbing and running all over the place. She tries to jump but just can't quite get airborne. She also loves to pray and we bless the food at least 2-3 times every time we eat. We take our prayer cues from her and whenever she stops playing and folds her arms we say a quick prayer. I'll forever be grateful to Jolene for helping me see the light in that area!

We expect a lot out of Addison and she lives up to and exceeds our expectations. She will do most anything you ask her to if she gets to do it herself - but she won't be forced to do most anything. If you ask her to put down a toy and come eat she comes running, but if you rip it out of her hands without discussing it with her then she will scream bloody murder. She is strong willed but easily trained with consistency and she loves being the center of attention.

The one area that Addison is very advanced is in her speech. We have thought that Addison's word progression is normal because she is the only child we have. The doctor said that he looks for about 6 words by 18 months and Addison has about 60. She says little sentences like "where you going?", "how you doing", "what's that", and "daddy go bye". She also says "a cup" and "the spoon" and "my binky". Here is a the list of words I can think of off the top of my head - I'll probably update it over the next few days so we have a good record.

mama, dada, nick, tasha, tay, papa, Kyle, Gay, house, mail, binky, bear, blanket, cup, bottle, bowl, spoon, fork, milk, water, juice, go, baby, duck, cow, truck, frog, doggy, kitty, meow, roof, moo, bird, "chirp noise", pear, apple, banana (nana), teeth, hi, bye, kiss, slide, roar, stop, out, in, up, down, tada, yay, chair, play, piano, please, thank you, phone, hot, blow, eyes, ears, head, hair, sleep, weee, again, off, on, blue, cheese, don't

Her favorite place to go is Nick's house, which is actually Oliver's parents' home, but Uncle Nick lives there. When we turn onto their street she starts yelling his name and get's so excited. What is so funny is that she wants nothing to do with him. She is currently a huge grandpa's girl and will readily go to her grandma as well but she doesn't want Nick to hold her or pick her up. But she calls him by name, knows his street and house, and I think she just know how badly he wants her therefore she won't give in :). She's decided that she's going to call Oliver's dad papa for now and we'll see what name she calls her grandma. My mom goes by Nana, and has since her first grandkids were born, and we don't intend to have more than one in the family. Plus, although Oliver's mom wants to be called that, all of the rest of us HATE IT. My sister and I hate that is the name my mom has chosen and Oliver and his brothers don't like it any better - we still haven't reached any kind of compromise - so we'll just have to keep waiting to see what grandma becomes. We've come to realize that what the first grandchild picks kind of sticks and so Addison has a great responsibility. We have to find something that not only we like, but also Emily & Taylor, and Nick.

Addison is always on the move and really isn't a baby anymore. She runs everywhere and has a very happy temperament when she gets enough sleep. We can't wait to see what these next months bring!