I reject your reality and substitute my own

I can't believe I just typed 18 months... how did that happen??

So at 18 months I have this amazing, smart, beautiful little girl. She can say and sign almost any word you can think of. I didn't know the signing would catch on the way it did. Her favorite show is "Signing Time" and she asks to watch it a million times a day. Any food she wants she says and signs. Cereal, apple, grapes, crackers, orange... you name it, she knows it.

She knows where her nose, eyes, ears, mouth, hair , head, shoulders, knees, toes, face are. She has started saying 2 word sentences. She will say "my papa" or "eat apple" and my personal favorite... "hold you". I love that.

She recently stopped doing the open mouth, slobber kisses and has learned to pucker. This makes me sad because I loved her open mouth, tongue, slobber kisses. They were the best.

She has developed into a really good sleeper. We had many issues when she was younger, including waking every 2-3 hours to nurse until she was well over 8 months. But now, we brush her teeth, read a couple books, give her some milk and put her in bed. She puts herself to sleep after that. Bedtime is 8, she wakes around 7-8 and takes a 1-3 hour nap. It's like heaven after experiencing the first 8 months of her life.

Recently she's started her first "chores". She can throw things in the garbage and pick up her toys. She sings the "clean up clean up" song... which translates to "weee-a weee-a". The other cute Lorelai translation is "beat box" which is better known as pizza. I love it.

She still loves to dance, but not the way she once did. After she turned 9 months, she danced her way all the way until 17 months. We couldn't even take a walk without pausing to break it down. Now I have to bring it up and dance with her. I think she gets embarrassed easily because around 16 months she would start to cry if we noticed her dancing. I hope she gets her groove back someday.

Christmas is coming and she's been ok with the Christmas tree. It's a lot easier when it's lit up because we tell her it's hot and she won't go near it. Not as much luck when the lights aren't on... but only the top half of the tree has ornaments this year. hehehe

She has lots of friends and has lots of playdates, but she's not really nice to her friends. She hits and pushes and the famous Lorelai move... she flaps her arms up and down and screams "no no no no no". Doesn't exactly encourage friendships, but I'm hoping it's a stage she grows out of... before all her friends hate her.

She loves to be outside, which doesn't really happen with the fabulous Northwest rainy weather, but I try to look for breaks and take her for a walk around the block once a day. Even tho we go the same route, she always finds something new. I love our walks. 1 block takes at least 45 minutes.

I think that's about all right now. Of course as I'm typing about what a wonderful sleeper she is, I hear her crying right now. Not sure she ever made it to sleep tonight... she loves to prove me wrong.