18 months!

Annabelle turned 18 months a couple of weeks ago. She is a full-fledged toddler, and I absolutely love this age when I'm not banging my head against the wall due to the screaming. It's quite the change from the sweet, calm, easy going baby that she was. Screeching aside (seriously, I don't remember birthing a banshee), this is a really fun age and I'm loving it. A few things I want to remember about this age:
She adores Mabes, and now that she's a bit older, Mabes usually loves playing with her. I love watching the two of them together.
She's really starting to pick up new words. I don't think she's saying as much as Mabes was at this age, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. She says Daddy, doggie, Mabes (Mmmmmae!), Mama, Rudy (Ru-ee, the dog we watched for a week), Annabelle (Baba), all done, more, milk, eat, ball, car, yummy, amen, me, baby, thank you, night night, and stinky (ginky, accompanied by patting her bum). If you ask her a question that starts with "Who" and say it with enough enthusiasm, she'll get really excited and yell, "MEEEEE!" (Yes, grammarphiles, I realize that's incorrect. I don't care. It's cute.) "Who wants breakfast?!?!" "MEEE!" "Who needs a nap?!?!" "MMEEE!" "Who loves Mommy?!?!" "MMMEEEEEE!" It's very validating.

I pulled out the camera and she totally turned around and posed.

She loves to dance and wiggle and run and jump. Well, at this point, she tries to jump. If she does manage to heave her body off the ground, she usually falls down, but she's quite proud of herself. She tries to sing the songs Mabes sings, including, "Baby, baby baby ooooooooohhhh..." (more banging head against wall). She loves loud noises and almost any kind of music.

If the dishwasher is open, she'll close it. If a drawer is closed, she'll open and empty it. She likes having her hair in pigtails when we got out, but as soon as we get home she makes me take them out and fluff her hair. She sleeps better than Mabes did at this age (and honestly, if one of them is going to get me up in the night, 9 times out of 10 it will be Mabes). She's not allowed to have her pacifiers during the day, but she loves cuddling up with about 4 of them and Murray, her stuffed lamb, at night. This is where I run--it makes 78 degrees and 92% humidity

before 7 am more bearable.

She's a cuddler. If I ask, "Who wants tickles?" she'll yell "Meee!" and then drop down on the floor and wait. She shrugs her shoulders and makes funny little adult expressions. She gives great sparkler hugs. She giggles in her sleep.

Is it just me or is this a Grandma Thurston face?

She had her 18 month check up almost 2 weeks ago, and is weighing in at 23 lbs 6 oz (45th percentile) and is 31.5 inches tall (50th percentile). She's been to the doctor twice this last week due to a nasty fever, and has to go back again tomorrow for another blood draw. For Becca and other medical nerds, her white blood cell count is really low, particularly the granulocytes. Following doctor's orders, she stayed home from church today since the wbc count indicates that her immune system isn't functioning as well as it should, but hopefully she'll be back to normal tomorrow. She's been really brave through all the blood draws, and though there were tears, the screaming was minimal. (But turn off the water before she's done playing in it, and look out!) She even waves to all the doctors and nurses on the way out. She's a sweet girl and we love her.