18 Months!

Dear Evie,


   Time keeps flying by and we just cannot believe that you are just as close to being 3 as you are to being a newborn. That puts it in perspective! You are so special to us and we just love you so much. We love you more today than we did yesterday and I have a funny feeling that it will be like this forever! Daddy and I are pretty sure you love us too as you shower us with lots of hugs and kisses. You cannot tell you love us with your mouth but your eyes certainly convey that message quite well!


   Eating is hit or miss these days. Some days you eat everything and some days you eat almost nothing. Throwing food is still one of your favorite pastimes. You are sitting in a booster seat which makes it so much easier to clean up after meals. Let's try to work on keeping our bowls of cereal on the table instead of the floor. You love to eat anything that Mommy and Daddy are eating. Sometimes we are able to sneak some extra food into you this way. You head into the pantry when you are hungry or bored and point at the food that has captured your interest.


  You are about 25 pounds and it's getting harder to hold you especially since you would let us hold you all day. Clothes in your closet range from 12-24 months depending on the brand and they all fit! You found a hat the other day from when you were a baby. It was so little that you thought it was a shoe. Speaking of shoes, you still love them and try to put my shoes on my feet and then take them off to put them on your feet.

   You are still a really good sleeper. Naptime is around 12:30 and you sleep between 2 and 3 hours. Sometimes more if you are really worn out. Bedtime is 7 and you sleep until 7:00 or 7:30. Later on the weekends, when the alarm clock does not ding bright and early. You have really good hearing and pop right up to see what is going on if you hear us moving around in your room. Moments later you are back to dreamland. I just love to put you to bed because you are so soft and cuddly. Most nights you let us rock you for a few minutes while we sing to you.


  Daddy turned your seat around so you are facing forward now. It's a whole new world out there and you seem to like it especially when the windows are down. We had a bit of an adjustment but you have figured out that just because you can see me does not mean that I can be at your beck and call since I am supposed to keep my eyes on the road.


   You love to play with you friends and have toned down your hitting tremendously. Hugging is your new favorite way to show love to your friends. It sounds good in theory but your hugs can sometimes be a little vigorous for your friends taste.

  You are a really good cleaner. Each morning, you get a wipe to clean your baby and it's so sweet to see you giving your baby a bath. You also like to wipe the floor and table which works out nicely since you are the one who makes about 95% of the messes around here. That's okay one day, I will want you to come back and make messes for me to clean up.

     Fourth of July was really fun! You loved the fireworks and kept pointing your little finger at the sky. Fireworks are pretty amazing so I can only imagine how special they must be to you since you have no concept of where they are coming from.


    You went to your first wedding. Aunt Dale got married and you liked looking at everyone. You looked so beautiful, everyone told us so. Mommy and Daddy were nervous about your behavior but you managed quite nicely. I am so glad you finally got to meet your Cousin Brian and Aunt Dale. Mommy wishes you could have met your Uncle Jim because he would have loved you so much! Everyone loves you Evie.


   You went on your second trip to the beach. It was a really long drive to Florida but we had so much fun. Daddy loved taking you out into the ocean. You had no fear at all which made me a little nervous. You got pretty good at going out to eat. Maybe we should practice more because you seemed to like gazing at the other children trying to figure them out.

  Raffi is still your constant companion. Thank goodness, that we have three of them now. Raffi went for a little swim in the toilet. YUCK! Don't worry, I washed him for you. Daddy still sings you songs about Raffi being a part of our family. Sometimes you even want us to kiss Raffi goodnight. Never imagined kissing a stuffed animal would be part of my daily routine. I have a feeling that Raffi will be around for a long time.

   You are talking a lot. Some of your favorite words are cup, ball, and pool. You babble a lot and say "mm mmm" when I ask you a question. I think you must really understand me because you only say that when it's something you like a lot. We have noticed that your understanding has grown by leaps and bounds. You do pretty much everything we ask you to do if you are in the mood. Or you just look at us like are crazy if you do not think it's a good idea.

    Evie, we just love being your parents. Every day is a new adventure and we feel so honored to be sharing this adventure with you. You are more fun than we could have ever imagined and fill our life with so much joy. You are our sweet, precious little girl and we love you so much! Mommy and Daddy