18 months

Dear Fiona: You are 18 months old!

Weaning has begun. You've reached the magic age (as determined by your friendly lactating hostess) where the 24/7 milk bar is starting to shut down. Don't get me wrong; I've LOVED nursing you. I love the quiet snuggle time. I love how it's an instant fix of all troubles. I love that if I just want to sit down for a minute, I can always offer you a nurse and get a break. But I'm ready to cut you off, just a little bit. So we still nurse before and after sleep times, plus during night wakings. All the middle of the day, Hey! It's 2:15pm time for a snack! times are done. I expected quite the fuss. But you've surprised me, sweet girl. You've adapted well, minimal grouching, and we've all gotten on with our day. So I'll give you another week or two, and then we'll be cutting off the night feeds. You and your daddy will get to hang out! Cheers!

Can we talk a bit about your looks? Because I think you are simply gorgeous! Like your brother, you've kept your big blue eyes and beautiful dark lashes. You have a saucy, mischievous smile with pretty pink lips. And I am surprising myself with the fun of dressing you up. I still have my limits. I don't like anything too fussy on you, and I want to you play and be crazy in what ever you wear. But we've got a couple of fun outfits. Our favorite is a yellow skirt with white polka dots combined with a black "Gritty Tacoman" t shirt. And you do love your shoes. Or Patrick's shoes. Or my shoes.

Your crazy climbing skills continue to astound friends and family alike, mostly making people glad that you belong to me and not them. You can, independently, get on Patrick's bunk bed, our playset, and to the top of any ladder we let you climb. Given 10 more seconds of negligent parenting, you would have swung your leg over the top of the Larson's chain link fence. It's rather exhausting. You combine mad climbing skills with a very strong will. So I remove you from a situation over and over again. Sisyphean to the extreme. We played this game at a consignment store today. You climbed into a baby swing. I removed you and walked back to the 2T section. Three seconds later you were running towards the swing and inside again by the time I reached you. The consignment store has been added to the list of places I will not be taking you by myself.

You and your brother have so much in common. Big personalities with major high energy. A 6am wake up time no matter what. A love of new places and people. But the talking thing is such a fun difference. I really appreciate the blessing of communicating with you. Some fun new words are: cake pop, digger, duck, Deigo. We love asking for hugs and kisses from you, then getting them!

And I'm sorry for the lack of pictures, my love. Our camera is broken, probably thanks to you. I think you picked it up off the table, turned it on, then dropped it. Even without photo documentation, we love you beyond all.

Love
Mommy