18 Months Already

Every day Sadie does something or says something and I think to myself, "I really need to write that down." Like the day she first learned how to do a somersault, or the day that she first said "gam-pa" (grandpa), or the day that she desperately wanted to go outside but utterly refused to put her shoes on. All of these are little things that I want to remember. Sadly, I am not doing a great job at getting around to journaling/blogging on a daily basis and so you are going to get this, a ginormous, picture-laden update of everything Sadie has been up to in the last few months all in one sitting. Here it goes: "
I want to go outside!!!"

Sadie turned 18 months old on Friday. She is growing up so fast! She celebrated her 1/2 birthday with her first ear infection, which was most likely caused by her first case of strep throat. She has been feeling sick for the better part of 3 weeks but she is on meds now and therefore on the mend, thank goodness!

Sadie has 12 teeth. 4 in front on both the top and bottom and 4 molars, 1 on each side top and bottom. She weighs 19 pounds (below the percentile charts) and is 30.8 inches tall (tenth percentile).

Sadie jabbers and talks all day long. We have the most fun conversations...even though I can't understand what she is saying. She jabbers with inflections and pauses and facial expressions just like in a real conversation. When she finally finds her words she is going to be quite the chatter box. Even though Sadie can't say alot of words yet, I am amazed at how much she understands. She understands almost everything we say to her and she can respond with yes or no and can follow the simple things we ask her to do. I am always amazed when we read stories at how she can point things out. I can ask where the dragon is or the whale or the baby and she can show me. Sometimes she can show me things that I never remember even telling her. She is a smart little cookie!

As far as real words go, she regularly says "ma ma" and "da da" in many differing forms. She also says "hi" and "bye bye" as well as "malley" (our dog), "woof woof" (doggie), "cat," "gampa" and "gamma" (grandpa and grandma), "e-sus" (Jesus), "ok," "es" (yes) and "NO!!" I think that "no" may already be her favorite word.

Sadie is also becoming quite the proficient signer (as in sign language). She can sign milk, doggie, baby, more, please, sleep, diaper, eat, help, thank you and various other signs that I have no idea what they are because she makes them up on her own.

One of Sadie's favorite things to do is listen to music. She loves to sing along and dance to it. The type of music doesn't really matter - she dances to her musical toys, tv commercials, my cell phone, grandpa's stereo, my ipod and the timer beeper on the microwave. She knows how to put my ipod on the dock in her room and turn it on and off. And, she knows how to put ear buds in her ears. She also sings ALL the time. She will sing along to music, like the radio in the car, but she will also start singing to herself without music playing. For example, she woke up Saturday morning at 6AM and sang to herself for about an hour and then went back to sleep. My mom is very proud and convinced she is destined to be a singer. Perhaps she is right.

Sadie also loves all animals, especially the birds outside of our front room window and the neighbors cat. But mostly she loves our dog, Malley. Sadie really, really loves Malley. In fact, at times I am afraid that she thinks that she is a dog too. She puts things on the floor and then eats it up, not by picking it up with her fingers, but by leaning over and picking it up with her mouth. I can't keep her out of the dog's kennel and water bowl. And the very first time she initiated a kiss with me, she grabbed my cheeks and brought my face to hers and then she opened her mouth wide and gave me a big, wet lick! Anyhoo, Malley is a pretty good sport about Sadie's attention. He lets her ram his face with her little push cart, he lets her play peek-a-boo with him by covering his face with blankets and he endures her endless smothering of hugs and kisses. I guess I have to admit that when it comes to Sadie he is a pretty good dog. Although, Sadie has endured her fair share of slaps in the face with his tail.

Sadie isn't just growing fast, she is learning so fast too. She is getting really good at eating with a fork and a spoon and refuses to eat unless we give them to her to use. She is learning how to climb...everything, most notably, the fireplace hearth and the computer chair. She is learning how to go potty on the potty (yea!). She has learned how to not only close doors (a favorite past time of hers since she could crawl) but, now, how to open them, too. That has led to a lot of fun games of hide and seek.

Sadie is so full of personality. One of our favorite things to do is to ask her to do different facial expressions. So far she has a "concerned" look, a "surprised" face and a cheesy smile, all of which she does on command. This next picture is Sadie's cheesy smile.

We are so glad that Sadie is a part of our family. She has brought so much joy and love with her. Ryan and I feel extremely blessed to have her in our family. We enjoying being parents more and more everyday (except for on the days she is teething or doesn't get a nap) he he :)