Alaina at 18 Months Old

Dear Alaina,

A YEAR and a HALF!! I cannot believe that my baby girl is 18 months old! I truly still think of you as a baby. I think that's party because we don't have another baby on the way (well, hopefully there's a baby on the way to our family somewhere out there, but Mommy isn't pregnant), and partly your personality. Although, I also feel like, in a lot of ways, you're very much a toddler these days!

You have the sweetest little personality. You're happy and easily entertained. You're the perfect balance of cuddly and independent. You're fairly compliant, but you also have a stubborn streak. You're delightful, Lainey.

You're into everything and all over the place! We took the baby gates down when we put our house on the market, and you LOVE going up and down the stairs. It makes Mommy SO nervous, and I have to watch you very closely because you can get up those stairs FAST. You're very good at them. I "spot" you when you're going up, but you really don't even need me. I'll keep doing it anyway, though :)

You love playing with Aubrey and Jude. Lately, I've seen such a sweet little relationship forming between you and Jude. Up until recently, I thought of Aubrey and Jude as the "big kids" and you as the "baby." But as you've gotten older, the age gap between you and Jude seems to be getting smaller. You and Jude are actually closer in age than Aubrey and Jude are, and it's been neat to see y'all playing and interacting together. He calls you "Wayna" and is usually so sweet to you. You have no problems standing up for yourself when he's not so sweet, though! ;) When I picked you and Jude up from the nursery a few weeks ago, one of the nursery workers told me, "Alaina knows how to handle Jude. She handles him real well." Ha! That cracked me up. You do, sweet girl! You and Aubrey also have the sweetest relationship. She's very nurturing towards you and often takes on the role of your second mother :) I pray that you children are always each other's best friends and biggest fans!

You are such a good eater, and I'm SO thankful for that. You love bananas, Lara bars, applesauce, cheese, yogurt, oatmeal, and strawberries. You eat almost everything I cook, too. You're also a great sleeper. You've been sick recently, so sleep hasn't been the best, but normally you go to bed at 8 and sleep until around 7:30. You then go down for a nap at 1:00 and sleep anywhere from 2-3 hours.

You are very vocal, but you don't say a TON of words just yet. You definitely have words that you say regularly and you babble constantly. Aubrey's speech didn't really take off until she was about 18 months old, and she turned out to be a VERY verbal child, so I'm not worried. One thing having three children has taught me is that you will do things when you're ready and not to compare you to other children. You understand almost everything we say to you. I LOVE giving you little directions like, "Go find your shoes." or "Where's your paci?" and watching you scamper off to go find whatever it is I've asked you for. You're TOO cute! I can't wait until you start REALLY talking! Our already loud house will be even more crazy, but in the best way possible!

You can identify a lot of your body parts when asked, and you gives kisses on command. You also hug and blow kisses. Sweetest thing ever!

You're a pretty small little girl. You weigh about 22 pounds, you wear a size 18 months in clothes, and a size 4 shoe. Your hair is still blonde and SO curly. Your eyes are blue blue and so beautiful. I think you're the prettiest little one year old girl on this earth.

Alaina, we love you so so much. You are such a blessing to our family. We can't imagine life without you, and we are forever grateful that God gave you to us.

Love,
Mommy