happy birthday and a half
Posted by laralynnian on 03 Dec 2008 at 01:53 pm | Tagged as: Uncategorized
18 months! A two-day belated happy birthday to me and happy half-birthday to our little girl. The biggest change for me this past month is realizing how little baby Meli has left in her. Other moms at the park will say to their toddlers, “Oh, this little girl looks about your age” and I’ll think, “but that kid’s a KID!” Inevitably, the tot in question is just a few months older than Melina.
The biggest changes for Melina all have to do with independence. Even Teacher Mei at daycare likes to comment, “She’s very independent, that one.” 
Suddenly I’m not always the coolest thing ever – until another kid, even Kai, tries to sit on my lap.
She’s talking up a storm (mostly single words, and she now spontaneously says “PEEzh” when she wants something), opens inside doors all by herself (good for us since she loves to close them), and has thrown a single full-blown tantrum (when we cut off her teeth-brushing after 10 minutes of what was really water play).
The one tantrum aside, Meli does a great job brushing her teeth all by herself, including bringing the stool to the sink and putting her toothbrush back when she’s done. She also puts her clothes in the hamper before bath and sometimes puts any clothes she finds on the ground in the hamper. If she finds a blankie in there, though, she pulls it out.
Melina is fascinated with the straps on her table booster and shopping carts. She’s determined to figure out how to latch them together (she sometimes succeeds) and pull them apart (she doesn’t get the squeezing part just yet). She still adores stickers, dogs, cats, and her brother, and had a blast keeping up with her twin 2.5-year-old cousins over Thanksgiving weekend.
She’s also obsessed with feeding Thor cat and giving him kisses when it’s time to say bye bye.
One thing hasn’t changed a bit: Our little girl LOVES to explore, and if she’s really interested in something will stick with it for a while. The other day she spent a good 20 minutes pulling every last box of pasta, bag of rice, and can of beans out of our corner kitchen cabinet. Mess? Who cares. Yay for independent play!