18 months!

On April 3 our little baby turned 18 months! She has grown up so much over the last few months...I hate to say it but my baby is gone and I feel like we truly have a little girl on our hands! Although she continues to be a snuggle bug and a mommas girl, she is definitely becoming "miss independent":) I feel like she is learning new things every day and growing up right before my eyes. With this new found independence comes a stubborn streak but it is priceless seeing her experiencing the world around her with fresh eyes. Here are some of the things that describe Ella at this stage:

LOVES to read books...any time, anywhere - I already have to specify how many books we are going to read before I put her down or she would make me read all night. Oddly her favorite daily books are my books from childhood, not the ones we have bought for her.

She will spend a huge amount of time playing with our wallets -playing with our credit cards and business cards...basically she just likes to putter with little items

She thinks it is fun to give me food from her kitchen by pushing her grocery cart around the house and "serving" me food.

FINALLY says "No!" instead of teetering her head back and forth...and might I say is a long time coming. It is so much easier to communicate now that she says it out loud:)

Says "uh oh" when she gets put in the corner for a time out making it hard to teach her a lesson when it sounds so cute

She is really into playing outside - throwing a ball around, going on the swings, blowing bubbles, getting pushed around on her car buggy, putting rocks & bark in her pails, play around with sidewalk chalk, running up and down the hill, and look for birdies. Currently scared of the slide oddly enough.

Is in love with anything Elmo:)

Favorite songs to "sing" and do motions to are "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Baa Baa Black Sheep", and "Head and Shoulders"

Can say- hi, bye bye, no, yes, Dad, Mom, ball, bird, dog, Grandma, Grandpa, more, hat, Gil (our fish), water, etc. She also will repeat words that you ask her to say but doesn't necessarily use them again. I personally think she is really smart of course but she hasn't been a huge talker...she is great at communicating and I feel like she understands everything and has a great memory but just doesn't do a lot of actual talking. Every week she seems to say more and soon enough I am sure she will be jabbering away.

Hits herself when she gets frustrated or mad...we are working on resolving this:)

Loves to give kisses and blow kisses

Totally into dipping her food into really anything at all (pickles and applesauce last week:)

Has hair long enough to put into a pigtail!

Currently growing like a weed and needs a new wardrobe ASAP...gotta love those long legs!

Although there are a lot of little things that characterize my little girl at this point in her life, these were just a few that are fresh in my mind. Although this stage does brings tantrums, we are definitely having a riot with our little ball of energy! Here are some pictures of her around the house at 18 months...