18 Months

Today, my little baby girl is not a baby anymore.  Today, my Frances Rose is 18 months old!  

These past 18 months have undoubtedly been the most challenging, fulfilling, and wonderful months of my life.  And, although there were moments when I wished time would go faster (the purple period of crying, teething, shots, sickness, etc...) I now look back wondering, "Where in the world did the time go?!?"   

She's 18 months going on terrible 2 and Todd and I are truly AMAZED at what this girl can do!  She has become such an independent thinker.  She is absolutely determined to do things on her own.  This includes eating (don't even dare come near her with a spoon or fork in your hand), getting dressed, brushing her teeth, reading, singing, cleaning up her toys, throwing away trash, talking on the phone, and the list goes on.  

Frances loves reading books (Thank you lord!), singing songs, playing at the park, drawing, coloring and painting pictures, and "simming" (swimming) in the pool (and bathtub).  

Books she reads over and over and OVER again include Goodnight Moon, Olivia, Where the Wild Things Are, The Little Blue Truck and Goodnight Gorilla.

You'll often hear her singing songs like, A Few of My Favorite Things, Here Comes the Sun, The Alphabet Song, The Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Toys she tends to enjoy playing with the most are her puzzles, cars, bathtub letters and numbers, instruments (especially her drums), plastic and wooden shapes and blocks.  And, it's so much fun to watch her cook in her little kitchen!

Her favorite foods include miniature dill pickles, whole-grain braided pretzel sticks, scrambled "eggies" (eggs), yogurt, salmon, "bawk, bawk" (chicken), deli-style turkey, meat of any kind, "nanas" (bananas), "boo-berries" (blueberries), "gapes" (grapes) and cheese  

Frances loves her crib and is always cooperative at naptime (1-3PM) and bedtime (7PM).  BUT, she has to have all of her furry pals and I love how she gives role call making sure each one is present, "Babbit (Rabbit)! Piggy! Oivia (Olivia)! Dog!"  And, although she's always excited to start the day (usually at around 7AM), she will often quietly entertain herself allowing Mommy and Daddy a few peaceful, extra moments in bed.

We have quickly learned that like her mother and father (especially her father), Frances is NOT a girl of few words.  She already has quite an extensive vocabulary and she has no problem with letting you know EXACTLY what she wants.  We have lots of favorite statements Frances is famous for using.  Among them are "num-nums" (yes, I'm STILL breast-feeding people!), "Daddy at wok (work)", "Chloe", "Peek-A-Boo!", "moosic" (music), "want more pickles", "want more pretzels", "want more watah (water)", "peas" (please), "dank-oo" (thank-you), "welcome", "I luh loo" (I love you), "Fances" (Frances), "F, wabbit, H" (FRH), "Gabba" (Gabrielle), "see ya", "twiangle" (triangle), "squaya" (square), "suuckle" (circle), "puuh hod" (pull hard), "Uh oh, sgetti ohs!" (Uh oh, spaghettiO!), "Oopsie daisy!", "Ready, set, GO!", "hep peas" (help please), "Night, night. Seep (sleep) tight".

Without a doubt, the most enjoyable part of these last 18 months has been seeing Frances' personality develop.  Our little baby has blossomed into quite the little lady.  Her soul is strong, just like her name. She is cautious in her endeavors, but not at all fearful. She's confident and easily holds her own.  Although she's quite the social butterfly, she often takes her time and really listens to and thinks about what others say.  It's obvious that she's introspective.  In fact, you can always tell when she's in deep thought because she'll have a pensive look on her face.  It's also pretty apparent that she's inherited the dreaded Saier (my maiden name) temper.  At times she gets easily frustrated when she's having trouble doing something on her own and she'll express her frustrations vocally in true Saier fashion. But, it also means she's passionate.  

In contrast to her serious side, Frances also has quite the sense of humor.  She keeps us laughing constantly and is quick to point out things that are funny.  The other day I was cleaning dishes and she came up to me enthusiastically saying, "Chloe funny!  Chloe funny!" I wasn't sure what she meant so, I followed her into the living room and found Chloe unexpectedly standing in the middle of the coffee table.

I love how she cracks up at herself every time she "toots".  And, she thinks it's hilarious and gets the most adorable sounding, deep belly laugh when we talk to her using puppets or stuffed animals.
At 33 inches and 27.5 pounds this brown-haired, blue-eyed 18 month old little big girl has filled her father and me with more knowledge, joy and love than we thought was possible and with patience we look forward to seeing what wonderful gifts the next 18 months brings us!

9 comments :

  1. Absolutely beautiful Erin! You are such a wonderful mama and Frances is truly an amazing little girl.

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  2. She is truly a blessing I am glad to see you so happy:)

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  3. Thank you so much ladies. Amber, that means so much coming from an equally wonderful mama such as yourself. Ellen, I miss you so!

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  4. I love this post Erin! The three of you are blessed to have each other! I'm honored to have been a part of your family beginning! (and glad to hear that num-nums are still a part of her life!) lol

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  5. What a sweetie...and wow home time flies! Lovely post.

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  6. Erin, What a wonderful chronicle of Frances so far. I wish I had done something like this with my kids. She will love reading this when she gets older. Beautiful blog!!

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  7. oh sweet! I just love watching her grow up!! She's becoming quite the little musician:)

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  8. Lisa, I feel honored to have had YOU help us with our first days of parenthood!

    Susan, "time flies" has NEVER been more true since Frances has been born!

    Amy, thank you so much! I have to say, I haven't been keeping up nearly as well with her baby book. :)

    Reeve, such a compliment coming from an awesome musician such as yourself!

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  9. okay, some how I never saw this post before!!
    This is beautiful. And I love that you took the time to document all this. Frances is AMAZING. She's got a delightful personality and I love that her brilliance is already so prevalent. We're so happy to know her (and you and Todd are the added bonus!) :)

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