18 months

It really is hard to believe that my little girl is 18 months old!! She seems more like a little girl every day, making me miss when she was little. But we are having TONS of fun. She is slowly picking up talking, although she understands things really well. Sometimes she only says the first letter or so of the word, like mouth and hair, but she points to them! She can say ball, go, no, tickle, and mama on occasion. She loves to read and point out the animals, but the only animal sound she makes is that of a monkey. She's got 10 teeth with more poking through, and is slowly learning to like the food we eat. Texture gets to her, I think, and she just shakes her head at most things we try to put in front of her. She loves string cheese, but that's the only thing she'll eat consistently. Getting her to eat is the thing we struggle with the most - what sorts of things do your kids like? I'm always looking for new ideas!

One of her favorite things to do lately is poke my belly, and watch as it indents and pops back out. I am pretty sure she doesn't really understand that there is a baby in there, but we keep trying. It may be a big surprise to her when we add baby brother next month!  I love my little girl, and am so grateful I get to spend every day with her.

one piano, six hands

We had our neighbors over for dinner the other night, and all the kids ended up playing the piano. It was fun to watch how differently they played - Abigail often pokes one key at a time, and the little boy was pounding pretty good!  We have really started to enjoy the neighborhood we live in - so many people close in age that we are getting to know, and the kids are all fun to be around and play with. We initially thought we'd be moving a few years after we bought are townhouse (right about now), but I think we've decided to stay for a little while. It really feels like home.

outside

Abigail LOVES being outdoors, and is constantly bringing me her shoes or trying to open the door to go outside. She loves going to the park down the street, and going down the twisty slide. She loves playing with her soccer ball, especially when the older kids are also playing in the same area. She used to be relatively shy of other kids, but they've taken a liking to her and she loves it. Most of the time. They love to touch her, and think she needs help when she doesn't, but other than that they are sweet to her! She also loves riding the scooter we got from my sister. She has no idea how to push herself, but loves it when we push her around. It gets a little tiring.