Nineteen months

Today the weather has been perfect! Thank you, Jesus! Sunny and 70's all day and we didn't even need a jacket this afternoon. Emily's little Easter basket liner arrived this week and I thought I would give her a head start in the Easter egg hunting department! (Watch out Hunter and Cooper!!! haha) We "hid" eggs all over the backyard and then watched her run after them and get so excited to put them in her basket. The eggs were empty of any goodies and she still loved it (not like she knows that they are supposed to be full.) She must have played this little game for almost an hour with us re-hiding the eggs. This little game goes perfectly with what she loves to do--take stuff out of containers and put them back in. I don't know why this is so fun for a little one, but she never seems to tire of it! I can keep her entertained for 20 minutes in the bathroom with an old Clinique bag filled with random stuff. She especially likes little pink panty liner packages (Bless her heart, I hate to think of her growing up and needing those!) This is how I usually manage to get my make-up on while I'm getting ready for work and Jeremy is still in the shower.

Sleepy little girl. Springing forward in time is not easy!

We are officially parents of a little toddler girl instead of a baby. That transition happens so quickly yet so gradually that you look back and think, "When did she get so tall?" She still felt like a baby at 12 months. I had just weaned from bottles and breastfeeding and she only had a few words she knew how to say. Now, she is a little parrot and will repeat pretty much anything we ask her to say. She still has trouble with two syllable words with the exception of Da-Dee and MaMa and maybe a few others.

At 19 months

--She is a total love bug. Loves to squeeze our necks, plant REAL kisses with a "pop" on our cheeks, and hug us. We get lots of love and we love her right back. I am addicted to her super soft chubby cheeks.

--She likes to test us. We ask her to come to us and she looks at us like, "What are you going to do if I don't? Will you chase me?" This is difficult because she LOVES to be chased, but sometimes it isn't a game and it is annoying when she disobeys. She doesn't seem to be able to distinguish when we are being for real and when it is a game of chase.

--She is getting much better with a spoon and fork, but finger eating is still the most efficient. Using utensils also turns into a game and a bit more mess. Patience is needed for sure!

--She responds to 1-2 step commands very consistently. It is awesome to be able to describe and/or point at what I need her to do and then she does it! Love it!

--She can say her name (kind of). A month or so ago, we asked "Where's Emily?" and she pointed to her chest. Now when I ask her, "What is your name?" She says, "E" or "Emmy."

--Potty training is getting closer. Emily now will tell us (sometimes) if she has had a poo poo. However, if we are having fun outside, we could care less if we have poo in our diaper and we will not tell mom and dad! We have bought a couple of toddler pottys for the house and she likes to sit on them (it is another chair to climb on so what's not fun about that?) She will tell us that she has to pee pee or poo poo and go to the potty, but she will have already done it. Still, I think this is a sign that she knows what the bathroom and potty are for. I don't think we will try potty training until this summer because I really don't think she is ready yet, but she is getting closer.

--Emily knows how to sing! I have noticed little sing-song melodies in the past, but now I can very specifically hear her sing the tune to "Twinkle, twinkle Little Star" or "ABC's"--never really thought about it before, but the tune is basically the same. Also, I hear her say some of the words such as "star" and "up" and "high." The rest is made up jargon and it is so cute to hear her voice singing to me as we drive home from places.

--She started doing the motions and sounds to the song, "Wheels on the Bus." She especially loves the horn, the "baby", and the "mommy." It cracks me up! It is so cute. The best part is at the end of each verse when you say, "all through the town" she says "TOWN" VERY LOUD. I need a video and it would be much cuter than describing it!

We are so blessed to have this little bundle of toddler energy in our house and I have to admit that as we see more and more glimpses of the person she is, we fall more in love all the time.