18 Months

     18 MONTHS:

• 1 bottle of baby shampoo
• 7 40L bins of baby clothes
• 8 doctor's visits
• 260 loads of laundry
• 546 nights of interrupted sleep (minus maybe like 10)
• 3820 diaper changes
• 5694 photos 
• infinite amount of love

     Yesterday, our little monkey turned 18 months old. 

     Now, I have considered her a toddler for a while... but a baby toddler. ;) I think the general consensus though, is that by 18 months your baby is officially a toddler. There are so many things that remind me every day that she is growing up so quickly. The other night we randomly decided to go to McDonald's since we were out and about at dinner time, and we ordered her her very first own meal. A cheeseburger Happy Meal with chocolate milk. And she even ate most of it. This was very emotional for me for some reason. I guess because she is, like, officially a kid when you have to order her her own meal.
     In the last two months, she has been increasing her vocabulary almost daily. She has well over 40 words by now, I'd say. It is so much easier to communicate with her now (which is great) but at the same time, it's just another one of those things that reminds me that she isn't a baby anymore.
     We are going on vacation next week, and when we come home and are settled back into routine we are planning on taking the rail off her crib. I'm thrilled that she is becoming more independent and learning/ doing new things, but I don't know quite how to describe this feeling I have about her leaving babyhood behind.
     Another sad fact about the 18 month mark is that I am going to have to go back to work now. I rationed my maternity leave money so that I would be able to stay off longer, but sadly, it is almost gone now, and I have a student loan to finish paying off. So back to work I go. Hopefully I will be able to pay it all off before #2 arrives (don't get too excited, there is no #2 yet, we're still in the planning stages), or at least be able to finish paying it with maternity leave money then. The plan right now is to get a waitressing job in the evenings (probably part-time) so Josh can stay home with Laura and we won't have to pay for/ send her to daycare. Wish me luck! (Or just give me $15 grand...) :)
  
Happy 1 1/2 Birthday, Laura!

PS I don't know why Photobucket won't let me add the 17 month caption... also thanks to Josh for helping me embed the slideshow <3

Night Away

     This weekend, at just shy of 18 months, Josh and I left Laura overnight for the first time. One of Josh's good friends was getting married, and when we had spoken with the bride and groom earlier this year about whether or not Laura was invited, they said it was fine, "It's not like she's an infant anymore." Hmmm, I thought, if you think our one-year-old is going to be less disruptive than an infant... yeah. I'd rather not be the one to break it to you (on your wedding day, no less) that one-year-olds are hell raisers. So, we decided for the sanity of the bride and groom, as well as our own (mainly mine, since I would likely be the one chasing her around all night) that she would not be joining us. 

     Since Grandma had been bugging to keep her overnight anyway, the new plan was that Laura would be having a sleepover there. Although she is comfortable with my mom, I worried about her because for the last few months she has been going through the shy/ stranger anxiety phase; I don't think she was at a good point developmentally for me to leave her for so long when she felt this insecure. BUT at the same time, after 18 months I felt due for a night off! And I was really looking forward to having some 'adult only time'. So, after going over a lengthy instruction manual on how to operate my child, off we went, leaving Laura at Grandma's. I cried a little when we drove away. And then again when someone brought it up at the wedding. But then I was okay, and actually even started having fun. :)
     The wedding was held at a small resort nestled beautifully amongst the pine trees on the shores of a small lake - a very intimate and rustic setting. We arrived for the ceremony with little time to spare, as Josh informed me as we were getting ready to leave the hotel (we weren't able to stay the resort, sadly, due to financial constraints) that he had left his dress shoes at work. So we made a short pit-stop to rectify that situation, putting our arrival time within minutes of when the ceremony was to start. But, we didn't miss anything, so all was well. The ceremony was held outside overlooking the lake, and although the forecast was threatening thunderstorms, the rain held off until after dinner.

The ceremony was really lovely, and the bride was beautiful.

 

 

 

 

They released butterflies as part of the ceremony. So pretty!

 

     After the ceremony and the wedding party had snuck away for photos, we had dinner in the lovely chalet overlooking the water. Everything was really nice. We stayed until midnight or so and then drove back to the hotel. After a night of very little sleep (but probably not for the reason you're thinking of) we headed back to the resort for the Farewell Breakfast. It was really great being able to get together with all of Josh's friends for the weekend. 

     After breakfast we drove back to my mom's place to pick up Laura. Although I didn't really miss her, I was looking forward to seeing her (and nursing!). When we walked in, she came straight over to me, put her arms up to be picked up, and said, "nursing". LOL. I guess that's all I'm good for. Honestly, I was expecting a little more of a reaction than that...
     She was very tired as she had a late/ short nap, and didn't go to bed for Grandma until 11:30. So, we packed up all our things and headed out. She crashed very shortly after I started the car. Once we got home she seemed her normal self again... until it was time for bed. Mommy and Daddy were very tired and wanted to go to bed early. Going to bed early seemed like a good idea for Laura, too. Except she wouldn't go to sleep. I seemed to have broken our relationship and her trust in me that I would be there for her in the morning. She wouldn't let me leave. Poor monkey. It took a good hour of her crying and me reassuring her over and over that I wouldn't be leaving until she would go to sleep. But she ended up sleeping for about 14 hours once she did. 

    I guess I don't really know how I feel about the whole situation, still. It was very nice to enjoy adult company, but I feel guilty because Laura seemed so disrupted by it all... :/ hmph.

Golden Afternoon

     I am writing this blog post mainly to capture this "happy place" we created today for me to remember when Laura is inevitably driving me crazy at some point in the future... ;)
    Nearly every day after Laura wakes up from her nap (usually around 4pm), we go outside for an hour or so until Dad gets home. It works out well because the sun is down far enough by then that a) she won't get sunburnt, b) I don't need to fight her to wear a hat anymore (because she won't leave one on her head), and c) there is enough shade that I can sit out there without becoming uncomfortably hot. Usually I sit and watch her paddle around in her pool, filling toys with water and dumping them, going down her slide (and climbing back up!), writing with chalk on the wall, digging in the garden, etc.
     But today we had a particularly delightful afternoon. It was hot, and Laura was splashing water from the lid of a tupperware bin and getting it all over herself and in her face. But instead of getting upset and crying, she laughed. She even started "singing" her own little song about it. I tried to think of a kids' song to do with splashing water that I could sing along with her, but then realized that sometimes songs with no real words are just fine. Following her lead, we sang a few verses of "dum dah dah dum dum" (or however it went, I can't remember now). We also shared a laugh at Willow who, after I turned the hose on her, began attacking the water like it was some small animal of prey. Very funny.
     Then I decided to chase Laura around on my hands and knees. Our respective speeds are matched just about perfectly for her to be able to run away just out of reach, which she loves. Giggling wildly she picked up a handful of grass clippings and threw them at me. My first instinct was to be mad and tell her not to do that. But then I realized, what was the harm? So I threw a handful back at her. We both ended up covered in grass clippings by the time we were done. I realized today that it's good for the soul to just loosen up and have fun like that.
     We also had some mommy horsey rides that she loved, as well. I guess I need to get down on her level more often. Having a happy giggling toddler makes for a happy mommy. <3

(please excuse the less-than-flattering camera angle of my giant rear) ;)

Time Out

     In the last few weeks Laura has picked up the adorable habit of hitting. With her fingernails. We started taking her to her room and putting her in her crib (the only place left in the house to contain her) to let her cool off for a minute or two, which seemed to do the trick. 
     But then we began wondering if she would negatively associate her room and bed with being 'in trouble'... so we went back to the drawing board. The problem is, since we don't have anywhere (besides her crib) to put her for a time out, we are coming up blank. I decided that today I would sit her on the stairs and actually use the words "time out". I've only had to do it once, so I can't attest to how effective it is so far. In the meantime, I am open to other suggestions on how to stop the hitting/ scratching!