To My Girl, at 18 Months

To my 18 month old sweetie,

You are SO MUCH FUN! You make us laugh every single day. Every hour. And probably every 10 minutes. There are so many things we love about you-it's hard to know where to begin.

Your personality. You are very, very determined. If you want something done you won't rest until you've accomplished it. You set your mind to the funniest tasks-climbing into a full cabinet and shutting the door, climbing up on the cooler so you can look out the window, laying out the blanket for your baby just right with no bent corners or wrinkles-and you do whatever it takes to complete your task. If you can't do it you get angry. Really angry. And then you reluctantly ask for help by saying, "mama". But you'd much rather do it  yourself.

There are certain words we are always using to describe you. Curious. Nosey. Tenacious. Full of energy.

You love to read. And we love to read to you. We don't have to "entertain" you with books anymore. We don't have to say, "Where's the dog? Oh look a car!" to keep you interested. We can read every word on the page and you listen attentively and soak it all up. We've been tearing through the library's board book selection because we can't keep up with your love of books. Before we read each one you examine the cover picture. When we get to the page that matches the cover, you turn back to the cover and smile because you found a match. It amazes us every single time.

You still love to be chased by your daddy. He hardly gets in the door after work before you're running from him and egging him on to get you. You watch him leave for work every morning and blow him kisses. Then you get excited if you see a truck drive by and say, "dada!" I think you think trucks are actually called "dadas".

We've been in 10 different houses in the last two months and you have been a champ. It's helped us discover some of your favorite types of toys. You loved your friend's toy car so much that we bought you one.

Your favorite toy of all is your baby and a pair of your pajamas. You could spend an hour arranging the pajamas just how you like them and trying to dress your baby in them. We just sit and watch you-we're so impressed by your intensity.

If we'd let you, you'd spend all day outside. The other day you watched a caterpillar climb on the sidewalk for 10 minutes and then looked for that caterpillar every time we came across that part of the sidewalk for an entire week. You like swimming and sliding and swinging but you'd really just prefer to walk around and explore. Your curiosities are never satisfied.

Your language is really taking off. You had a bit of a slower start but now you have almost 40 words. A lot of them sound the same. Poo poo, baby, bye-bye, and beep beep all sound like "baba". But we know what you mean :) It's amazing that we can actually have conversations. Ask you what you want and hear you give a response. Today you were pretending to talk on the phone. I asked you who you were talking to and you confidently said, "papa".

Your newest word is "no" and it's the cutest dang thing. You exaggerate your mouth and say "doooo" while shaking your head. You always know when a "no" is coming. You hold your food over the edge of your tray, say "dooo" while shaking your head, then throw it on the floor. The fact that you know "no" doesn't mean you actually obey "no".

You've always been pretty girlie and we love that about you. You love to have your toe nails painted-it's the only time you sit still. When I fix your hair or put your clothes on you immediately show it off and and swirl until I say "pretty!" This week we bought you your first pair of big girl tennis shoes. We went to the mall, just the two of us, and tried on at least five different pairs. You loved it. And you love your new shoes.

You start school Wednesday! A cooperative mother's morning out at a local church. It's just three hours a week-but I know you're going to love it. Dad and I both get a little teary eyed thinking about you starting school already. You're growing up waaaay too fast.

Hannah, every day with you is a blessing. You exhaust us, frustrate us, and push us to our limits. But we go to bed every night talking about all the cute things you did that day. We say, "She's so sweet!" at least a hundred times a day. You are the light of our lives and we thank God for you every single night, without exception. We know you're going to be a great big sister. You rub my belly when we ask you about the baby and you get excited anytime you see a little baby out in public. We can't wait for your little brother or sister to meet you.

And although you love to be "pretty", we'll probably always remember you like this. Striped pajamas. Crazy hair. Turning on some music and ready to dance.