18 Months

It really is amazing how quickly time goes. I wish I had more time to sit down and write about all the amazing, hilarious, new, awesome things Lauren does. It seems like she's learning something or doing something new nearly every week. I love this toddler stage. I love watching her discover new things. The weather has been improving lately and so last week Robbie, Lauren, and I went to the park a few times. She was so excited to be outside, and after being cooped up in the house all winter, everything was new. Grass was exciting, trees were exciting, and who would have thought running could bring so much joy? Lauren just ran without stopping for nearly half an hour. We had so much fun! Here's some specifics about my girl right now, that I don't ever want to forget:

Stats: (Dr apt is coming up so I don't have these yet). 10 teeth! 

Having her toes painted for the first time! Green for St Patrick's Day! 

Sleeping: Lauren has developed her own new bedtime routine! And if I do say so myself, it's the best thing ever, not to mention adorable. After her bath and brushing teeth, Lauren brings me or Robbie her blankie and asks for a bottle. Once we have her bottle she climbs up on either of our laps and gets comfortable, and drinks her bottle while we watch an episode of something on Netflix. When her bottle is empty she sits up and points to her room. We go to her room and tuck in her giant 4 foot Teddy Bear, then tuck in her stuffed monkey who sleeps with her. Then she gives us kisses and we tell her how much we love her, and she lays down and goes to sleep. No fussing. She's happy to go to sleep with Monkey and Teddy. And she sleeps wonderfully... for the next... 12 to 15 hours. Seriously. I know, I can't even type it without bragging. Nap time is the same routine, and naps are generally about 1 1/2 -2 hours.  I love that Lauren loves sleeping as much I love sleeping :) 

Eating: I still worry about making sure she's had enough to eat. We've expanded our menu a little and it seems to be helping. But really, thank goodness for instant breakfasts mixed with milk in a bottle. At least I know she's getting a wide range of vitamins every morning. New things we've found that Lauren loves: egg salad!, deli turkey with monterey jack cheese roll up, and mac & cheese with cut up hot dogs and some kind of green veggie. Loves it! And I love that she has a full tummy! Now that she can sign FISHY CRACKERS though, she is quite specific about what she wants for snacks, and fishy crackers it is at least once almost every day :) 

Communication: We decided to make a list of all of Lauren's signs. I haven't updated it in a couple weeks, but as of a few weeks ago she had 40.  That she uses regularly! Really, we don't have any tantrums over not understanding one another. We definitely have big tantrums over not getting our way, though, lol. As for verbal communication, Lauren has 3 words: Mama, Dada, and duck. We're working on increasing her verbal communication, but I'm not worried. She communicates so well and understands everything we say, so I don't really see it as an issue right now. 

Playing: As of the last week, Lauren's favorite thing to do is go outside and run or kick a ball. She has a blast and it makes my heart happy just to watch her. Lauren's other favorites include playing with her babies and her stuffed animals, all of which are very well taken care of. Stuffed animals are EVERYWHERE, and every single one of them has a diaper on. It's really quite adorable. She's also Mommy's Helper! She loves to do laundry and vacuum, lol. I take the laundry out of the washer and set it on the lid of the dryer, and she pushes the clothes into the dryer. And she intentionally makes messes just so that we can get the vacuum out and vacuum them up! Such a sweet helper :) She's also becoming a pro at using Mommy's iPhone. She has certain apps she loves, with one of them just being my photo album- she likes to look at the babies (meaning pictures of herself), lol. Thank goodness for child-mode and child proof cases ;) 

Vacuuming at Sheryl's house :) 

Really though, time never seemed to move this fast until this beautiful little girl came to us. She makes life wonderful. I love her tremendously!