18 Months!

 Our little Lou is not a baby anymore! She is growing up fast. Although, being the baby of the family, we all still treat her as one and call her "the baby" often. Haha.

She is getting an early start on the terrible two's and keeping up with her all day long is utterly exhausting. :P She is into everything and an expert at making messes. She is also very clever and very much an opportunist. The other day she created a diversion. I was trying to keep her out of the girls' playroom because she wrecks the Calico Critter village they have set up. I had stopped her from going in there about twenty times and then she found a cup of water T had left on the nightstand and dumped it everywhere. While I ran for a towel she beelined straight for the playroom. Stinker.

But the most difficult thing is that she is a climber. I spend my days following her around pulling her down from chairs. We have had climbers before but they have been good climbers. Not Lou. She is great at climbing, but staying on whatever she climbs up on is a different story. She is constantly climbing up on tables and chairs and then falling off, crying for many minutes, and then going right back to it. Over and over. She does not seem to be learning the lessons of gravity and cause and effect very quickly and she has the bruises to prove it. :(

She loves to drag chairs into the kitchen and then stand on them so she can reach whatever is up on the counter. This is especially dangerous when she pushes one up to the stove. The other day I hid her chairs so she couldn't do it so she improvised with a five gallon paint bucket. Sheesh.

 

But of course despite her orneriness she brings SO MUCH joy to our family and each of our lives. She is a very happy girl these days and smiles and laughs her way through life. She is starting to give the best hugs with her tiny little arms squeezed tight around our necks. She gives sweet kisses on the cheek and anytime anyone is going anywhere she enthusiastically waves and says, "BYE!" but it sounds more like, "DIE!" Lol. She is going to be a late talker like Bug and Peaches. She hardly says any recognizable words, but every now and then we'll catch a whole sentence or string of words.

She loves animals and says, "Ooooo!" any time she sees one. Same for birds, "Bur! Bur!"  Books are a huge favorite. I think she could read all day. If I sit on the floor for more than ten seconds she is there with a book, backing up her little bum to sit in my lap and have me read to her. Baby Shark is her favorite song and we finally got wise and learned to have Alexa play it so we don't have to sing it all day. She plays it a dozen times a day. 

Lou is still our best eater by far and I definitely recommend Baby Led Weaning. Her favorites are fruit and beans. She hasn't met a fruit she doesn't like, but blueberries are her absolute favorite. She could eat an entire pint in one sitting if we would let her. She loves black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans...any kind really. Her favorite dinners are Mexican casserole, taco soup, and chili. Surprisingly bread is not a favorite. She would much rather eat other things than breads which is the opposite of all her sisters at this age. Pasta is hit or miss. She doesn't love chicken, and won't eat it unless it is in something. She does love chicken nuggets, fish, and hamburger meat. French fries are a favorite as well and she will eat more than me when I make them! Eggs are not a favorite and she will only eat them when they are heavily disguised...she might be mildly allergic because wherever they touch her skin there is a red mark for 20-30 minutes afterwards. So far we've managed to keep her away from sweets...the WHO recommends no added sugars till 2 years of age. She definitely gets some added sugar in things like cereal...Oatmeal Squares are her favorite, but for the most part we keep her sugar free. Most meals are super messy and some even require an outfit change, but she is getting better slowly and I try to remind myself it's just a short season. :)

It's bittersweet and hard to believe our last sweet baby is growing up so quickly! She is such a joy, and we thank God every day for sending this little bundle of energy, happiness, and love into our lives! 

Happy 18 months Lou!