Wow! 18 months old! What a big, big girl I have!
We celebrated with pink lemonade cupcakes and lots of playtime today. Sarah talked and talked and talked - favorite words right now are "Mommy," "Daddy," "Pa-ple" (Pickle), "more," "no" and "uh-huh." She also loves to point at me and have me say, "Mommy" and then point at herself and have me say, "Sarah." She even nods her head in agreement! We're branching out on identifying body parts and have moved onto "elbow," "chin," "shoulder" and "knee."
Sarah has also gotten kind of bossy and will pat the chair or floor next to where she's sitting to let Mommy and Daddy know where they need to sit. If she thinks we're not paying close enough attention, she'll say our names over and over and over. She'll also wedge herself between me and the sink or oven to get me away from what I'm doing so I'll play with her!
Sarah's favorite playtime activities right now are carrying around stuffed animals (Lella the Elephant is her favorite - she carries it around with the trunk in her mouth!), reading books ("Click, Clack, Moo," "Giggle, Giggle, Quack" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" are the most requested), and pushing things (her Cozy Coupe, the broom, the toy vacuum, the toy shopping cart, the toy stroller...). She loves to watch "The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That" and "The Fresh Beat Band," and she yells "Dora!" every time she sees Dora on TV. Sarah still LOVES to dance and will often twirl in circles with one hand in the air. She's big into helping and likes to put things away (as long as it's a game). Sarah is also a huge fan of doors (cabinet, closet, bathroom, etc.) and loves to open and close them - often with little to no regard to those who might be trying to get into the closet or have a moment of peace in the bathroom! She likes to listen to people talk to her on the phone but has yet to respond to anyone. I think she may see a phone as something you play with - my phone is 90% apps for her (Toca House, Nighty Night, and The Wheels on the Bus are her favorites)!
She's super independent and wants to do everything on her own. This can be a problem on our walks because she sometimes gets tired and sits down halfway home. She also wants to master jumping and works hard practicing her skills by jumping (bending her knees and standing up quickly) at any uneven spot in the sidewalk. To further her jumping skills, Sarah often "trust falls" onto Mom or Dad from the top of the stairs into our arms or from her chair at the table into our laps. I don't know if it's working or not, but it sure does keep us on our toes!
Other interesting facts about Sarah at this age: Sarah is currently wearing size 24 mo tops and size 18 mo pants (which are too short, but her waist is too small to keep the 24 mo pants on her body). She wears a size 7 shoe. Sarah loves to eat ice - especially ice from Sonic. Sarah's favorite snacks are Garden Tomato-flavored Lil' Crunchies (tomato-flavored cheese puffs) and freeze dried fruit melts. She tries to feed herself and manages to use a fork or spoon with about a 30% success rate. She can, however, open and close the front and back doors by herself if they are left unlocked on 10 of 10 of attempts. She loves our new neighbor, Grace, and will try to run across the street to go visit her whenever we're in the front yard (it doesn't matter if Grace is outside or not!). Sarah also loves to be carried upside down and will laugh and laugh about it whenever we indulge her.
I have had so much fun getting to know my daughter, and I can't wait to see where we go from here! Happy Half Birthday, Monkey!
