18 Months!

As of today, August 20th, there really is no more denying that my sweet baby girl is now a toddler.  She is a year and a half old!  I am so torn in my emotions about this.  On one hand, it breaks my heart to see her lose so many of her baby traits daily.  On the other, I have never been so filled with joy as I am watching her discover the world around her and soak everything up like a little sponge.

Physically, Brianna is growing taller by the second!  She is getting tall and skinny... well... you can see every rib in her body when she stretches to reach something but has luckily kept her little chunky thighs... but man, there is no denying our girl is tall!  We don't have her 18 month visit to the doctor for another couple of weeks because I am in the process of switching her primary doctor and I decided a little bit of a week for a doctor that I have loved is definitely worth it.  I'm excited to see where she falls on the little growth chart.  Michael and I have decided that we definitely need to get a growth chart on the wall, sooner than later.  There are some mornings we sit and look at each other, puzzled, wondering how it seems that she has grown two inches overnight.  I'd like to have something tangible on the wall to mark the progress.  I'm trying to figure out if I should pretend I'm crafty enough to do something off pinterest or if I should just find one online to order.  Another thing I've noticed about her physical appearance is her face looking thinner and more grown up.  There are still plenty of cheekers to smootch on but she definitely is looking more like a little girl than little baby.

Now onto the fun part... Emotionally, Brianna has grown leaps and bounds in the past few months.  She is starting to put two words together.  She wants to constantly tell us what something is and who it belongs to.  "Mommy's! Car!, Daddy's! Shirt!, Bri Bri's! Milk!" She does this all day long, every day.  She just started calling me "Mommy" this past week.  Until now, she has called me "Mama" or "Mom Mom".  I promise, she has said Mommy 500 times a day since she started.  And I love it!  She also started asking for cuddles...  this is adorable and I love it but this little girl is a smart cookie.  She knows if she asks for cuddles it buys her a good ten minutes that she doesn't have to go to bed.

Other funny things keep happening.  One morning this weekend I was getting her milk right after she woke up (she asks as soon as I walk in her room) and I dropped the lid from the gallon.  Brianna picked it up and handed it to me.  I lit up and said "THANK YOU!  You are such a good helper!".  Brianna smiled and then started jumping around the kitchen.  I then realized, she thought I said "hopper".

I keep telling everyone I want to freeze time RIGHT NOW!  I can't wait to see her in the morning and I miss her when I put her to bed.  As you can tell from recent posts, working has been terrible.  Between changes at work and missing my girl, I would do anything to get to stay home with her.  Stupid student loans and fear of losing all of my certifications... UGH!

Yesterday we were leaving my aunt's house and she was in the back being very quiet.  When I got to a red light I turned around to see if she was asleep.  I realized she wasn't asleep, she was just staring at her Mommy and when I looked at her she broke into a giant smile... LOVE! She is always studying.  She watches what we do, what we say and is very into how we are feeling.  She is also a sensitive little person, no surprise :)  If you say something too sternly it hurts her feelings and she will cry.

Michael and I tell each other a hundred times a day how much of a joy our girl is.  We truly can't get enough.  Baby Girl definitely has it made but... Michael and I?... we are the lucky ones!!!

Happy 18 month birthday, Brianna!!!