Darcy 18 months

We had the sweetest little photo shoot for my big 18 month old. A year and a half! She is so sweet. She is an old pro at walking by now, which means of course that she is getting into mischief. We got out the little walker for her. Oh my heavens, she is adorable! Arms extended, bent over, bum, out, giant stumbling step, huge grin, and the cutest laugh! We couldn't get enough and neither could she.  

It's getting harder to play board games while she is awake. One night John and I played Splendor, and Darcy couldn't get enough of the extra jewel tokens. She had to cart them all over to the dry bathtub. 

Speaking of the bathroom, one time I was washing her bum in my bathroom sink (trying to help some diaper rash) and sure enough, she peed all over. I only noticed when I felt drops hit my feet. 

I still love carrying her in the baby carrier when we go to the store. I love cuddling her. And when I accidentally tickle her feet, she gives the cutest little giggle! She gives the best cuddles sometimes, head resting on me, arms and legs wrapped around me. It is heart melting. I call it her monkey hug. 

She is getting so big! She said her first words at 17 months old, and they were "Go, go go!" She tries to say other words too.  Shortly after go, go, go she decided she could say other words. For example, Darcy loves bread. So much. She was so happy one day when she saw it at dinner: crinkly nose, squinty half moon eyes, and a big show all her teeth grin. But best of all she tried to mimic the word yummy. 

Other early words were "baby, Jesus, kuku (like yucky)" I love when she does her eye brow raises and nods. 

One of her favorite toys is some of the duplo lego figurines, specifically the pitchfork and a plastic spoon. She loved to carry them around with her baby doll. 

Darcy has taken to blowing raspberries on my belly after she is done nursing. She slides her face down there, cuddles in close, blows out in short bursts and pop her face up to grin at me with a proud, giggly, juicy grin. So funny!

One day Darcy kept making the funniest motions. She knows how to sign "more" which really just mean food to her, and she can sign "all done" too. This day though she made several more motions so intently at me. For sure she had something she wanted to say. 

One night Holland and Darcy were dancing together and it was the sweetest thing. Holland had a scarf she was twirling with, so Darcy went and go herself a cleaning rag to dance with (it was clean!). It was adorable. 

Darcy loves helping me! She'll hand me silverware from the dishwasher and I put it in the drawer. I say thank you every time and pretty soon, she started handing it to me and saying thank you at the same time. It is adorable. She does this with laundry too.

When Darcy turned 18 months old, our family was going through its first real winter in Utah, and whoa, we all go so sick. I wrote in my journal, "Darcy tried so hard to kiss me after her nap today, but I didn't want to accidentally spread germs. I tried to get her to kiss my cheek, and she took that to mean put her cheek on my cheek, so she had todo that on both sides."

Darcy loves babies so much! She loves on her baby doll--patting it, kissing it (she never kisses us, and snuggling it. I love when she sees a real baby. It is adorable to see a big baby get so excited about seeing another baby that is almost as big as she is. 

I love her little babbling. "Doo, da!" All day long. 

One day Darcy found a bit of toilet paper on the bathroom floor and she clasped it with her tiny chubby little fist. She threw it away in the garbage can without prompting and made me "uh, uh"  sound at me to get my attention. She indicated the garbage can, gave a big smile, and started clapping for herself. 

One day Darcy loved putting on a toy back pack. It was so cute having her hunch her shoulders forward grunting at me to get attention.

As her vocabulary is expanding she has started yelling "Mom!" whenever she needs assistance. It lasted for a good month or two that she would just yell "Mom" whenever she needed something, even if she didn't necessarily want my help. Occasionally she would yell "Dad" too, but mainly "Mom." 

She also reached the age where if she gets her feelings hurt, she needs to nurse immediately. She is so darling. I love her dancing. She is all about shimmying her shoulders and pumping her tiny fists in the air. I love when she does "eyebrows" and "close eyes." Her little raised eyebrows and squinty eyes delight our whole family. 

Darcy has really loved scribbling with pencils. I was surprised to see her always choose her right hand and immediate start using pencils correctly. It also made me notice how many pens and pencils we have around. They are everywhere. Our house is definitely not as baby proofed as it used to be. 

One day Darcy found a ball and kept tossing it and chasing it. Every time it bounced in a erratic direction, she'd giggle and toddle after it. Her little concerned face when it rolled under the couch melted my heart. 

One of her favorite things is the shape ball. I am so impressed with how quickly she picked it up. She has started finding the shape slots all on her own and only needs help with the most tricky ones. 

At Darcy's 18 month check up, she was 31.9 inches long which is the 45%. Her head circumference was 18 inches, which was the 32%. She weighed 20.72 pounds which was 21%.  

I love Darcy so much. She lights up my life every single day. And even though she is growing up way too fast, I just love (almost) every minute. (Those middle of the night feedings can be a little rough.) She is such a joy, and we couldn't delight in her more. Love you forever baby girl!