Maddie Grace: 18 Months

The other day someone asked how old Maddie Grace was and Tom told them “18 months” (he always rounds up when I would say 17 months until the day she turns 18 months), but then turned to me and said “where did the last 18 months go anyways?” It’s true, it’s flying by and going faster and faster, and before we know it our little tiny baby is going to be a big sister!

Maddie Grace’s speech development is absolutely amazing to me. She picks up on so much, always understands more of what we say than I expect her to, and sometimes even seems to hold mini conversations with us. She responds to basic commands (Where is your eye? Nose? What does the cat say? Throw that away!) and will repeat just about anything she hears you say, so watch your mouth around her. Yesterday she dumped a bag of Tom’s chips on the floor and I said tell daddy your sorry, not expecting her to actually do it, but she repeated something that sounded an awful lot like “I’m sorry” and started picking up the chips.

Some of my favorite new actions of Maddie Grace’s are playing peekaboo (I think the way she says “peek a boo!” is the cutest thing) and blowing kisses. I’m actually not sure where she picked up blowing kisses from she just did it one day so I’m assuming she learned it at school. MG is also big on holding hands (she doesn’t like to go places alone so if she wants something she’s dragging someone along with her) and seems to like giving high fives again after hating them for a while. When she’s tired she will lay on the floor and fake snore, and she loves grabbing my phone to call her daddy at work and speaking gibberish to him. She’s also very dramatic and loves to put on what I call “shows” for people, particularly strangers, where she will hide something, make a shocked face at everyone, and then pull it out and giggle repeatedly.

MG still loves to cuddle and snuggle, especially when watching her favorite show Peppa Pig, but then has a crazy side that wants to run around in circles like a maniac. She thinks walking up and down stairs is really fun for some reason, and adores just about any animal she comes across. My mom’s dog Mr. Humphries was a big hit with her on our Germany trip. Music class is probably her favorite day of the week – both because she is obsessed with the class itself and because her best friend Briar is there. It’s so funny to me how even this young people just find other people they click with. Maddie Grace and Briar will spend the whole class talking to each other (do they actually understand each other?), dancing, and giving each other hugs. It’s just about the cutest thing in the world.

Maddie Grace loves school which makes me happy with our decision to put her in the twice a week 3 hour long 1 year old class. I love how much she loves it actually, even though I thought I would be sad if she didn’t miss me when I left. She gets excited to pack her book bag, carry her book bag and walk into school like a big girl. She absolutely adores both of her teachers, but even though she’s thrilled for me to drop her off there, how happy and excited she gets when she sees me walk in to pick her up make it okay. Her teacher did remark to me that she can’t believe MG doesn’t have older brothers because she likes to wrestle on the floor with the boys in her class so hopefully that’s a sign that she will love having a brother to play with!

I can’t believe my sweet girl has been a 1 year old for 6 months now and that there are only 6 more months until she is 2. Oh if I could freeze time right now I would, even though I say that every month. Here’s to enjoying each and every day with my little crazy person and seeing what tomorrow has in store for us!