18 Months!!

My God! Layla is 18 months old today!! I almost forgot!! I'm so sad that we cannot find our darn camera to post some updated pics. I'm going to search high and low for that thing this weekend and if I don't find it, Walmart, here we come. Son of a ...

Layla my Layla... you're growing too fast! I cannot believe how tall you are already. You can reach all the door knobs, the counter tops (when your on your tip toes), the top of our dresser and too many other things that I'm just not ready for you to reach. If anything is too close to the edge, you're going to grab it and pull it down - hot straightening irons, steak knives, open containers of food and / or liquid are all included in this category.

Your favorite thing to do these days is run. Run, then stop and turn to see if we're following you. The funniest part of this is that you don't really look where you're going. You just go full speed ahead and if you happen to notice that you might barrel into something, you just keep going full speed, put your head down and close your eyes (as if that's going to make whatever you might run into get out of the way).

MY favorite thing in the whole wide world that you're doing now: running full speed ahead at me when I get home at night, with your arms up in the air, laughing all the way, saying, "Mummy, mummy, mummy!" It's the most amazing thing in this world and I'd pay to get to experience that excitement and love from you every minute of the day.

Recently, you somehow learned that pirates say, "Arrrgggghhh". So, now if we ask you about pirates, you give us your best imitation. You also have a sweet fake laugh that gets us every time, although I'm not sure where you learned it or why you do it. Either way, it's still funny.

You're now wearing size 6 shoes. Your size 3T clothes are fitting you well, and we only have a select few pair of pants that we still need to "cuff" for you. You're still in size 4 diapers, and it seems that your rolls aren't as significant as they used to be. Yet, I've noticed, that when people meet you for the first time, they are shocked by how "plump" you are. Then they look at Jake and I and say, "Where does she get that?" (Thank God they don't say, "I see you have your mommy's figure"). Please don't let this comment hurt your self esteem when you hit your sensitive years. You're 18 months old and you're supposed to be pleasantly plump. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I am so excited to have Spring fast approaching as there's a whole new world for you to explore outside of our tiny little house. We've been taking you on walks around the block with the weather getting nicer, and you are almost to the point where you can go all the way without one of us picking you up for just a short time. You're VERY independent and ambitious... which is great, and a bit scary.

We love you little Beepa. As always, you brighten our days and give us something to look forward to when we wake up in the morning (and hear you chattering and clanging your nuk on your crib bars as if you were in a jail cell).