A Whole Year and a Half!

Charlotte is 18 months old today.  I don't know why, but these six months have really flown by. It seems like only yesterday that we had her first birthday party, and now we're halfway to her second.  It also means that we've been living in our house for over six months, which is even harder to believe.  Charlotte really just gets more fun by the day.  I know I keep saying this, but every new stage has been great.

Charlotte's 18 month appointment was on Friday.  Here are the obligatory stats:

Weight: 24 lbs - 51st percentile

Height: 32.5 inches - 77th percentile

Head Circumference: large - 79-ish percentile

The doctor said she's perfect and growing just as she should be.

We had such a fun weekend.  Our good friends Kristen and Todd came over from the Bay Area and stayed with us.  We cooked a Christmas goose, which was good, but not as spectacular as I'd hoped.  I think it was because we didn't have a sauce or gravy to pour over the gamey meat.  Anyway, Charlotte has turned into a little mimic.  Todd and Kristen were both standing up against a wall, and Charlotte walked over to them and stood between them.  We got a great video of Kristen and Todd running up to walls, only to have Charlotte run after them shortly afterwards and stand in a nearby spot along the wall.  Here is a picture taken right before bedtime, as a sneak peek of the hilarity (Chris was laughing so hard while taking the video that I know the camera is shaking).

 Charlotte's verbal vocabulary is progressing at a faster and faster pace.  She still doesn't talk as much as I guess I expect her to, but her doctor wasn't concerned, since she clearly speaks well over the six they expect at this stage.  I've lost count, but I think we're at about 30 words, including a good 10 animal sounds.  Charlotte's favorite words are ball, cheese, cup, more, pain (bread in French), nigh-nigh, puppeh (puppy), and all gone.  Her receptive language is amazing, which makes me suddenly much more conscious of what we're saying.

Christmastime has been so much fun.  Charlotte loves turning on the Christmas tree lights; she'll try to get them on and say "ooooh" when they turn on.  She also loves making this little mechanized Snoopy play Christmas music, finding candy canes on the tree, eating her daily piece of chocolate from the Advent calendar, and dancing to Christmas (well, all) music and then shouting "yay" when the song ends.

Her new favorite bedtime ritual is putting Chris and me to sleep.  She pulls her blankets through the slats of the crib, proceeds to make us lie down, and then very meticulously spreads out the blankets on top of us.  Sometimes she even catches us off guard and tries to stick a pacifier in our mouths.


First, she spreads the blanket over Daddy,

 

Then Charlotte lies down on top of Daddy and goes "nigh-nigh" herself.

 

Then she goes through the same process with Mommy, usually by pushing me over, so I'm lying on my side.

 Charlotte really has developed a nurturing side.  Along with wrapping up her stuffed animals and having them go nigh-nigh, she loves babies.  Baby Samantha, Charlotte's birthday buddy, was over and Charlotte tried to put Sam's pacifier in her mouth.  She also brought over toys she thought she might want to play with.  I'm wondering whether she needs some baby dolls for Christmas? When I asked Chris, he said she needs more blocks.


Trying to scale her crib - luckily, she really hasn't tried getting out of her crib yet.

I was about to write how she continues to sleep like a dream, but right now I can hear her crying from her crib.  This happens about once a week or so. I take her out of her crib, bring her downstairs, and let her sit with me on the couch until she's calmed down enough to go to bed.  But really, she generally sleeps really well, and even if we sometimes keep her up past her bedtime, she'll actually let us sleep in.  For example, last night, she had no problem going to sleep, despite loud noises downstairs.  And she didn't wake up until 8:30, which was much appreciated by everyone (even me, who despite staying up late, can't sleep in past 7:30; at least I got to read in bed).
She's just the sweetest, most fun girl ever. We are so, so lucky.

We love you, baby little girl Charlotte.