18 Months

P, as we like to refer to Peyton, is growing and changing right before my eyes. Sticking with what I said about her last month, she is becoming more and more aware of everything around her. One of the newest things she has started doing is putting her hand up to her ear when she ears something and she wants to know what it is...for instance, a bird chirping in the background, someone driving by on a motorcycle, an airplane flying above us. It's amazing to watch her face as she takes everything in. At times, this can be very frustrating though. She knows what she wants but can't always verbalize it to me which results in one frustrated baby and mommy. I sometimes joke and say that I am afraid that we are entering the terrible two's at 18 months old because she has now learned how to throw a full blown tantrum when she doesn't get her way. I have to admit that I am shocked that this has started so early (or at least it seems early to me). Just to give an example of this, we were in a store not long ago and Matt told Peyton "no" because she was trying to mess with something that she shouldn't be messing with, and she just flat out laid down on the floor and started crying. I could not believe what I was seeing. Shocked and embarrassed that this was my child, I said "That's fine. You can throw a tantrum if you want but I am walking away." It didn't take long before she realized she wasn't getting any attention from us so she stopped crying and started crawling across the floor...seriously?!?!

This is what she did when I asked her to show me how she goes "night night"

Still pretending to go "night night"

On a lighter note, as bad as the tantrums are, they are nothing compared to how much fun we are having with her right now. She has so much personality and keeps us entertained all of the time. She is loving her baby doll right now, and enjoys pushing her around in her little stroller. It's so sweet to see her take on a nurturing role at such a young age. Two of her biggest loves right now are playing outside and swinging. We have a huge deck in the back and she loves to go out there and run around. She has also started wanting to go run around in the yard while I sit on the steps at the deck and watch her. As I have said before, she definitely knows what she wants...when we go outside she will pat on the glider as if to say "sit here" until I sit down; or if she wants to play in the yard, she will run over to the stairs and then pat on the step until I walk over there and sit down there. I'm beginning to worry about who is running the show in our household! Peyton continues to love cheese, fruit (especially grapes), raisins, pasta, and meatballs. She has also started to follow after her daddy's footsteps, developing a strong love of m&m's. Although this little girl keeps us on our toes all of the time, we wouldn't have it any other way!

18 Month Stats:

Weight: 24 lbs. 6 oz. (50-75th percentile)

Height: 33 inches ( 90th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18 inches