18 Months

A picture for Uncle Kevin.  This onesie was a souvenir he brought back for Sierra.

 I told her we needed to wait until they were cooked.  Yeah right mom.

My little cookie maker

They really taste better when they are done.  Especially with frosting! 

Beautiful decorations 

She loves to stick stickers on her face (and on mine and daddies too) 

Sierra needs to be accessorized while watching cartoons 

Get down! 

Pretty in Pink 

Grandma is such a good example;) 

Pull-ups make pretty cool hats 

Sierra was so excited to play in the snow 

Her first attempt at making a snow angel.... 

You can see it can't you?  :) 

Yay snow! 

It tastes pretty good too. 

This picture makes me smile.  I hope it makes you smile too. 

I'm a little behind right now.  On absolutely everything.  I always post a month behind because I wait until the end of Sierra's "month" to post.  But I'm even farther behind right now because we started potty training.  It's pretty consuming!  I'm basically following Sierra's bare biscuits around every second with her little potty in tow.  Anyway, I'm trying to get caught up and will talk more about that experience in the 19 month post.

It's hard to believe that we have an 18 month old!  She certainly is learning to have 18 month old tantrums!  We had a rough end to the month.  Some new teeth are coming in or maybe we are just going through a tantrum phase.  Either way I'm feeling a little bit frazzled, frightened, and really worn out.  Every time we get a new tooth aliens abduct my sweet Sierra and she is replaced with a little monster.  It's funny because I've said that in the past and so many people just say that they cannot believe Sierra would ever be naughty.  Ha!  Recently my grandma and mother who both swear that Sierra is a perfect little angel got to see her "noddiness" first hand. 

The hard part is knowing how to handle tantrums.  If she starts throwing a fit I generally try to distract her and remove her from the situation that is frustrating her.  But that doesn't always work.  When it doesn't I've learned to walk into the other room or really not acknowledge that she is throwing a fit.  The more attention she gets, the longer her tantrum lasts.  If she is throwing a fit because she wants something then I tell her I won't talk about or give her what she is asking for until she calms down.  I say, "Sierra throwing a fit does not get us what we want."  She really does try hard to calm down.  There are also times that nothing works and I just have to let the "fit" runs it's course.  I guess we are at a point that she is realizing she doesn't get everything she wants in life.  Life sure is hard:)  We have made progress though. Jesse and I are learning right along with Sierra in so many ways. 

It's funny because I really enjoyed 15 to 17 months.  Sierra and I were really having fun and the days seemed to go by quickly.  I was starting to think maybe just maybe I would be ready for another child.  And that maybe just maybe I was getting this parenting thing all figured out.  Then came 18 months and I was humbled.  I'm reminded that children go through sooo many phases and once you think you've gotten into a comfortable routine, EVERYTHING will change! 

Despite some cranky days Sierra is still learning like crazy.  Her language skills continue to improve.  Her baby talk is slowly fading and is replaced by real words.  When she is pretending she now uses the words she knows instead of baby babble.  Yet another reminder that she is growing up.  There are still times that she tries to tell me something and I just don't understand what she is asking.  This really frustrates her.  Usually she can make a hand gesture or take me and show me something to further explain what she wants.  But sometimes I just don't get it.  And hello tantrum!  I'm sure it's frustrating to know what you want to say but not be able to get it out, or even worse think you are being clear but no one understands what you are asking. 

We had a well baby visit and two shots at the beginning of the month.  She has always been between the 3rd and 10th percentile but this time she has jumped to the 50 percentile in weight.  She gained 2.5 lbs and grew 2 inches in 3 months.  She is about the 98th percentile for her height.  I was dreading the shots (even though she has always handled them well).  She did very well and didn't do much more than whimper after the second shot.  The nurse gave her some stickers and all was forgotten.  She is currently 34 inches tall and weighs  24lbs 4.5oz.  Her acid reflux seems to have improved all of a sudden and we are hopeful that we will be able to take her off of her reflux medicine soon.  The specialist said that she should quit having reflux between 18 and 24 months (he hoped anyway) and here we are at 18 months and we really have seen quite an improvement.  The other digestive issues continue to be a struggle but we pray that those will go away too.  

It's really is hard to believe that 18 months have gone by.  In some ways it seems like a lifetime ago that we could sleep in on weekends, eat warm meals, go to the bathroom in private, not plan life around naps and food, and be spontaneous.  BUT, it seems like just a few seconds ago that I was holding my new baby girl in my arms for the first time.  Sometimes it seems impossible that in this short of a time I have a child that now walks, talks, and eats on her own.  My tiny baby that mastered the art of sucking her toes now looks for the "fuzzies" in between them.  My infant that grabbed onto a rattle for this first time now uses her hands and fingers with ease to build with blocks and put pennies into her piggy bank.  My tiny child who was just learning to roll over can now walk, run, and jump (though she barely makes it off the floor).  And my sweet cooing Sierra can now tell me that she loves me.  All of this and so much more happened in 18 months time!  I'm so glad that I haven't missed any of it.