Abby 18 Months...

My Abby Jean turned 18 months old on Thursday.  A year and a half, that is crazy.  I still call her my baby, but I guess I should stop... or maybe not. I haven't done a little update on her in awhile so I thought I should.

 Abby continues to bring so much joy to our home but her feisty personality is shining a little more.  She definitely knows what she wants and if she can't have it she'll let you know.  She's had some grumpy days lately but I'm pretty sure that's due to teething. She loves to play, get kisses and cuddles, and get chased.  So cute to watch her try to run.  She loves her brother SO much and even though he bugs her quite a bit, she always wants to be where he is and do what he's doing. She likes music and to "sing" and "dance." We definitely see a future of dance classes and maybe singing with her.  She plays peek-a-boo, gives high fives, folds her arms for prayers, and tries to do summersaults. She's gotten a little pickier with eating lately (maybe because of the teething? I hope!) but her favorite foods are: waffles, cheese, yogurt, fruit (especially pears), and ham.

Abby is a mama's girl like crazy.  She actually has some pretty serious separation anxiety right now and will start to cry if I leave the room or go to the bathroom... something we'll have to work on, it's just hard because we rarely get a babysitter so she's just always with me.  I definitely know I'm loved though, which is nice.  Our Abby Jean isn't talking yet... the only words she says are "hi" and "all done" and that is only occasionally.  I talked to her doctor about it a few weeks ago and he referred me to get her hearing evaluated to rule that out.  We were anxious for that appointment but her hearing checked out and is normal.  Her 18 month appointment is on Monday, so we'll talk to her doctor to see what to do next or if any action like speech therapy is needed.  She's actually pretty good at communicating her wants and needs and she jibber jabbers all the time so it seems like talking is right around the corner, but we'll see.  We're just so ready to hear her use words!

I seriously can't imagine our family without Abby.  When we had just Preston we were happy as a little family of 3, but now I can't even remember what that was like.  I feel like with the first child, you are so on top of every milestone and what is to come, but with the second child we are so busy with the day to day that it's like, "oh wait, you're 18 months old." "oh, you should know where your nose and eyes, etc, are."  "oh, you need to learn how to learn to use a spoon."  Lol.  I have to remind myself to give her as close attention as we did Preston at that age.  These two kiddos sure keep me busy but make my life such an adventure every day.

Daddy gave her a chocolate lollipop before dinner... that's what daddies are for.

I had gotten the kids ready for bed and getting Preston to pick his books to read when I look over and Abby had climbed onto the couch and started "reading" it.

Her favorite thing is to take things out and then put them back in.  She's working really hard in this picture.

Chocolate pudding finger painting... didn't take long for her to figure out that it was yummy.