18 Months

My baby is 18 months today. One and a half. Almost two.

Ciara is certainly not the petite, demure, girly girl I had envisioned having when I was younger. No, no, her two brothers make sure of that. She can chase, bounce on beds, and leap into couch pillows tossed on the floor with the best of them. Hair accessories? Only if I can put them far enough back on her head where she can't reach up and rip them out. Although, there was one day where she seemed infatuated with her hair bows and kept handing them to me to put in her hair. That lasted about 5 minutes.

Actually, now that I look at my handiwork, perhaps that is why she doesn't want anything in her hair.

Dolls? She does love her dolls which she will just as soon throw across the room as tuck them lovingly in their bed and feed them.

She is such a mix of her two brothers, it really is funny. She has Aidan's build, his laid back temperment and his rhythm. She also shares the same penchant for her milk bottle that he did and really has no comfort object other than that.

From Gavin, she gets the antagonistic behavior. I never thought I would see that trait come out at such a young age but it's there. She will scream just for the heck of it which annoys the heck out of Gavin. Gavin will then proceed to complain to me. And then Ciara will very purposefully go up to Gavin, look him in the eye and scream. Which just about sends him over the edge so of course she does it again. I actually find it quite funny (except for Gavin's shrieks of "STOP!!!!").

I was just thinking about Ciara's 15 month appointment at her doctor's. I mentioned to him that she really only had about five words and I was surprised because of having older siblings plus the fact that she was a girl. Now, at 18 months, her language has just exploded. She still communicates with lots of pointing and grunting but I am amazed at how much she says. The newest phrase being "I love you" which she just learned yesterday. Only it comes out as "Ah uv do". Another one is "more" which she pronounces with a perfect Boston accent "mow-ah". Have no idea where she got that pronunciation, must've been the grandparents. And then of course thiere is "Dat doe" while shaking her finger. I have to admit she got that from me as I shout in exasperation "That dog!!" when he barks incessantly at squirrels (luckily she just picked up that and not the other choice words).

Happy half-birthday Ciara!