Miss Madeline – Eighteen Months Old

I haven’t done one of these monthly updates for Madeline since she was 11 months old, and since this is my only written spot for what she’s up to, you’ll have to bear with me!  My little monkey … I can’t believe she’s a year and a half old already!

She continues to both shock and delight me on a daily basis.  She is so very different than Nick was at her age, but in some ways, though few, they’re very similar.  Nick calls her our little tomboy, and she definitely embodies the very spirit of the word.  She is always up to something, and it’s not always good.  Whatever she can reach her chubby little knee on, she climbs.  The dining room chair so she can sit on the dining room table.  The sofa to the end table to the bay window.  I can’t tell you the amount of times I have pulled her mid-dance from the coffee table.  You name it, she climbs it.  Nick was never a climber.  I definitely have to have an eye on her at all times.

She is adding new words to her vocabulary every day.  Although Mama was her first, when she wants me, it’s Mommy, said perfectly.  She also says baby, color, Dora, more, please, shoes, nose, no, juice, yes and many more.  We love to hear how she says things, to the point that Nick often asks her again and again to say something, just to hear her pronunciation.  Although she only has a handful of words, she has the R, particularly in Dora, down pat.  It really is cute to hear her say it.  I love that she loves Dora.  Nick did too, and learned how to count to ten in Spanish just from watching it when he was younger.  She dances when the end “We did it, we did it!” song comes on.  The repetition, the bright colors, the cultural nuances and Spanish learning make it a welcome change from the usual things that kids tend to watch.  She also loves Elmo, and calls him Mo or Mo Mo.  I took a picture of Elmo and Cookies Monster from the Fourth of July parade, and it’s on our fridge.  Every morning, while drinking her morning milk, she walks over to the picture … “Mo.”

She still takes two naps a day, and good ones at that.  Before she heads upstairs for naps or bedtime, she makes sure to wave bye and blow kisses to Nick, the cats and the dog.  When anyone is leaving the house, she runs to the window to be picked up so she can wave bye.

She has a little temper and a stubborn streak that’s not so little.  When she gets mad, she clenches her little fists as tight as she can.  She has an obsession with seat belts, and will sit for sometimes half an hour trying to get the seat belt on her high chair, car seat or stroller fastened.  She gets frustrated, but even more so if you try to help.  She doesn’t want any help, she just wants to figure it out for herself.

She is absolutely fearless.  With Nick, he will go over a scenario fifty times in his head before doing something.  She just dives right in and trusts that all will be ok.  I love that about her, although it certainly keeps me on my toes.  She wakes up every morning, turns on the music on her aquarium and just sings with it until I get her.  She wakes up happy and ready to go.

She loves to help, and will frequently close drawers and doors and pick things up and put them in the garbage.  We’re still working on the definition of what exactly is “garbage.”  For that, she is definitely like someone else I know.  When Nick is feeding Eli his dinner, she runs over in the hopes of trying to grab a fistful of dog food.  Although she will eat anything except potatoes, her palate obviously still needs a bit of refinement.  Dog food?!  She loves broccoli and shrieks when she sees it on the table, has a mean sweet tooth and has her own words for cupcakes and cookies.  A girl’s gotta be heard!

I have loved seeing her personality develop and come to life, and she is such a great spirit to have in the house.  Happy year-and-a-half birthday, little monkey!

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