18 Months Old

It seems like I just wrote one of these monthly updates... where does the time go? Shelby is now a year and a half old. I can't believe it! She's truly a little girl now and no longer a baby. Here's what she's been up to lately:

• Her appetite has seemed to increase lately and she will shovel food into her mouth with such speed and eagerness that it makes us laugh to watch her eat! She is also getting much better with utensils, although we usually just give them to her for practice at the end of her meal, otherwise she'd never finish.
• She's been waking up super early lately - around 6 a.m. I am hoping this is just a (teething related?) phase and ends soon, otherwise the time is going to change in November and she will be waking up way too early! We usually don't go in and get her immediately and today instead of whining and calling for me, she quieted back down and probably would have gone back to sleep if we didn't get up for work and start making noise and turning on lights. I can't wait until she's old enough to implement some kind of clock or timed light system to signal when it's OK to get up! Besides that, her sleep has been awesome. Down for the night by 7:30, and a solid two hour nap every day around 12:30.
• She has started getting her canine teeth on top and we think we can see where more bottom teeth are coming in. So far, she has four on top, two on bottom and four molars.
• She's really started to lose her baby chub and looks much longer and leaner now. She can walk fairly fast and has started to take off on little runs.
• Her hair is getting so long! It hangs down her back when it's wet and can be pulled into a tiny ponytail. I've just about given up trying to send her to school with a clip in her hair, because she always pulls it out and loses it, so she always has this crazy messy hair at the end of the day! She loves bows and will ask for one first thing in the morning. She also loves my jewelry and watch and always wants to put them on. I wouldn't take off my wedding rings yesterday and she got mad! I gave her a small silver baby bracelet she got when she was born and she loved putting in on and taking it off. Such a girly girl!
• She absolutely loves school and marches right into the room in the morning with confidence. She loves playing on the playground so much in the afternoon that she sometimes doesn't want to leave!
• She seemed to be very fussy and tantrum prone last month but not so much in recent weeks. I'm sure it's frustrating to want so badly to communicate but not know how!
• I can't think of many new words she's learned lately, but she is saying the words she does know with much more clarity and accuracy. Her favorite word of the moment is "outside" and she will regularly ask to go outside, and will even bring us our shoes!
• Her communication skills are improving and she can ask for things, say no to things, etc. and we understand what she's saying. It's funny when we ask her a question and she says "no" even though she has no idea what we said. Or maybe she does! So then we continue to ask her funny questions like "Do you want a new car on your 16th birthday?" and she will say "no." Whatever you say!
• She is starting to learn animal sounds and will say "woof" when you ask her "what does the dog say?" It's so cute! She loves any and all dogs and will stand by our front window and wait for neighborhood dogs to come down the sidewalk on their walks.
• She notices things at a much greater distance now. She will regularly point out planes, helicopters and (of course) dogs that are a great distance away. It's amazing the things that she can zero in on and recognize, like a tiny picture of Elmo on a box or flyer.
• The only TV she watches is Sesame Street songs on YouTube and she can request her favorites, like "lala" for Elmo's Song and "wubbawubba" for "The Monster in the Mirror." Watching these for the 20th time in a row might get old for us, but it's cute how happy they make her and she will even motion like she's playing the piano or dance. She loves any and all songs, including this one with Grover.
• She is super snuggly, cuddly and kissy lately and it's just the cutest thing ever. We have so much fun with her!