Kate at 18 Months

She has teeth! Two of them! One on top and one on bottom ~ and two more on their way! Kate at 18 months is the happiest little girl!

She loves to dance and sing. Her dance moves include a shoulder shrug, a head bop (side to side), a penguin move, a flying move (arms out and swirling around), typical "white man" move (arms bent at the elbows, hands in the air, alternating pressure from one foot to the other while swaying side to side), and her own version of breakdance (typically in the downward dog position with her head on the ground and her hands up behind her pointing to the sky)! If you hum a song, she'll mimic you. Give a hoot, she'll echo you! Listen closely and you'll discover that she's almost always singing!

Words are popping out every day now! She has a few staples: Mama, Dada, Down, Cheers, Dog-Dog, Hi, Grandma, Grandpa, Night-Night, Tickle-Tickle, and Car (pronounced "Kah" and spoken super loudly when we're out front and the boys are riding bikes and a car pulls onto our street!). She now signs: Down, Please, Milk, More, All Done, Eat, and Bird.

She loves her bed. Our bedtime and nap routine are so easy! I can hardly believe how blessed we are! After a bath and cup of milk (cold! our first child to drink cold milk!), we take her to her crib, lights out, curtains drawn, and she literally dives into the crib for her favorite blankie and bunny. I pull the string on her music, she rolls over, and I say goodnight and walk out. It's that simple. Amazing and beautiful. Same for naps. Wow.

Kate adores her family. She's so affectionate, constantly giving us hugs and loves. She'll run from room to room, laughing and giggling, tackling each of us with big, grinning hugs! I love to observe her with the boys, enjoying the relationships they are building. The boys adore her right back.

Kate has (appropriately) a very different relationship with each of her brothers. Kate and Collin are always tickling, and he's always reading or explaining/teaching things to her. He almost always is the first one she sees each morning, and they spend 5-10 minutes chatting their good-mornings before I enter to get her out of her crib. Last night as we were driving home, I looked into the backseat, and Kate had her hand resting on Collin's knee. First she was bouncing it up and down to the beat of the music, then she was rubbing his knee in a "hand hug" (a family signature move), and then she eventually fell asleep with her hand cupped around his knee. So cute.

Kate and Owen on the other hand are always tackling and laughing. He's extremely protective of her and is the first to shout out if he thinks she's in trouble. He's "saved her life" on more than one occasion. ; ) They play together now regularly!

Kate is quite the dare devil! She's not afraid of anything! She's perfecting her jump (so stinkin' cute! hand is the air, knees bent, "jump!", and she's up on her toes!). She loves to practice her large motor skills and works hard to keep up with her brothers!!

Kate's favorite past times (besides playing with her brothers) are putting shoes on and off, trying on her clothes, and toting her purse around the house with Cars cars and old Starbucks cards in it. She's also very into playing with the cars (shooting them down the slide is her favorite) and coloring!

Eating. She eats everything. Literally!! She's a great eater, and -much like her mother- will clean her plate and everyone else's at each meal. ; )

So far, she's not allergic to anything except dairy -- she has to have lactose-free milk. Small amounts of yogurt and cheese don't seem to affect her.

Kate is simply a joy! She brings sunshine to our family, and as my grandmother said yesterday, "she just fits in her family so well!" Love you, Kate!!