Penny 18 months

My sweet Penelope turned 18 months a few weeks ago.  She is definitely growing up and is her own little person.  She is very adventurous and emotional.  She spends most days between being super happy and silly, or throwing a fit on the ground.

At her checkup, Penny weighed 23 lbs 5 oz- 40%-ile, and was 31.5 inches tall- 50%-ile.  The appointment was very different this time- she was standing on the stool, and emptying out the drawer of books while I talked to the doctor.  She did not want to sit still!

 She went to nursery for the first time and did very well.  She just cried a little bit off and on but could be calmed easily.

 Penny thinks she is a big girl, and is too aggressive for her own good.  She constantly has a giant goose egg on her face from face planting while running at full speed.  This is a picture of her bloody nose and big bruise after falling on the kitchen floor.  Doctor said she might have broken her nose(!?).  Let's hope not!

 The next week, just when her bruise was going away, she tripped twice on the kitchen floor.  First resulting in the goose egg, second was a terrible cut on her lip and the return of her bloody nose.  I was worried she needed some stitches because it was bleeding so much!  We're lucky to have a doctor who can say she's fine.

 Her poor lip was so swollen!  A popsicle and some Elmo worked wonders!

 I love this series of pictures from getting ice cream where she figured out how to go up the tiny step by herself without using her hands.

Look at this proud face!

She is speaking so much and learning new words everyday.  My favorite phrase she says is "Bye, see ya!" when she leaves the room.  She also knows: all done/all gone, cheese (chi), noodle (no-nol), water (wa-wa), apple (ap-pa), dip- ketchup, guacamole, hummus.  She can say hello (hey-yo), bye, hot, cold, up, down, walk, dance (dan), yes, no, ball, baby, bed, mama, dada, dog, duck (for anything that flies), stop, set-go!, book (boh), tickle (tikki-tik), and body parts- eye, nose (no), hair, toes, belly button (but-but), arm.  She can say tons of animal sounds, and loves Frozen- especially Let it Go.  She sings it all the time and is obsessed with Olaf (Ola).  She randomly started signing "more" even though we didn't try hard to teach her it.  She doesn't discriminate between wanting more of food vs. more of something else- waves at the beach.  She loves playing with my phone and calls it "hello".

She has learned how to climb up onto the footstool by herself and thinks she's totally awesome.  She has started to say "cheese" when you take her picture and immediately after says "I see it".

Penny is curious and smart.  She has been carrying out the bathroom stool so she can reach things and cause trouble!

She LOVES water and swimming.

She loves dancing and twirling with Bridgette.  She has been upgraded in Bridgette's eyes from a baby to a play mate.  They LOVE each other!

 She also loves reading books.  She will sit and look at books by herself for 30 minutes, or read with Bridgette.  This is how I found them last week- so sweet!

Penny is a great eater!  Her favorites are noodles, cheese and strawberries.  She stole my big corn on the cob at dinner, after she had eaten 2 halves!

One day, she wouldn't let me put her in the highchair for breakfast, but when I looked over, she was stuffing her face with greedy little hands!  Stinker! 

This one is her 16 month picture, but it was too cute not to post!

We love you Penny, even if you are a stinker and keep us on our toes!