It’s amazing how different Maya looks in the tub now, compared to just a few short months ago!

Dear Peanut,

Just last week, you hit eighteen months, and I’m amazed at how different you are now from a few short months ago. But then, the six short (to me) months back to your birthday are a full third of your life so far, so it only figures!

As your personality reveals itself, I’m finding a little girl living with me (instead of a baby!) who has definite ideas about how the house should work, who’s considerate, who loves to kiss everybody (and everything) and who’s a nutcase. You make me laugh. You’re really funny, did you know that? Some days, you’re walking around with a dishtowel over your head, waiting for me to ask, “Where’s Maya?” Other times, you tease Clay with just a lick at your Cheetoh, then race away, hoping he’ll chase. When he (usually) does, you squeal and laugh with sounds that could make even the most cynical see hope.

You fixate on objects and tasks now, almost to the point of obsession. If you’re in a shopping cart or a restaurant highchair, you’re not satisfied until you figure out how the plastic buckle works. Um…oops…since you’ve yet to develop enough hand strength to buckle it yourself, that means you’re not satisfied!

You give love to the world, and lately, you kiss everything. Me (random toddle-by kissings of my legs), toys, animal cookies (right before you eat them)…you name it. You’re a happy girl most of the time, and when people make comments in a semi-negative tone like “wow, she must be a handful,” I want to clock them. What do they know?

You’re getting bigger and bigger…as of a week before your 18 month birthday, here were your stats:

Maya at 18 Months

height: 31.5 inches / 50th percentile

head: 17.25 inches / below the 5th

weight: 18 pounds, 12.8 ounces / below the 5th

Yup, you’re still a skinny-mini, but you’re gaining at a faster rate than most kids your age! As most toddlers’ growth curves level off somewhat around 12 months, yours is climbing — and getting steeper. In other words, you’re doing just fine!

Sometimes, you sleep all night in your own room. As much as I wake up feeling rested when you do this, invariably, I wake up in a panic around 5am. Is she breathing? Is she okay? Then other nights (most, actually), you wake in the middle of the night and cry as if your heart would break until I finally bring you to my bed. This isn’t so bad now — you’re still an awful bedhog (who knew a toddler could take up so much space?), but at least you don’t kick me all night anymore. When you wake up, you’re all smiles and giggles. You’re annoyingly happy in the early morning, but you’re also willing to play by yourself for a half hour or so before I get up, and for that, I thank you.

This pains me…really pains me…but I’m selling off Maya’s stash of lovely, fluffy diapers and returning to disposables.

It would seem that the house in the burbs has awful water. I’ve finally figured out how to get these clean and remove buildup, but it takes wayyyyy too much time and water.

Thirty total items are posted, mostly size M all-in-one diapers, plus a few covers. If you’re a cloth-diapering kind of parent, take a look…it’s nice fluff.

…over spilled milk. Maya doesn’t think so, anyway.

Maya dropped her full Nuby cup, and I didn’t have the lid screwed on correctly, so milk started to gush everywhere. I scooped up the cup, then re-screwed the lid and washed it off.

While doing this, I watched in wonder as Maya opened the rag drawer, took out a rag, and started to clean up the floor…no prompting whatsoever.

By the time I picked up my jaw off the floor (and grabbed my camera), she’d already cleaned up most of the spill.

Added: Scott returned today after a week in Arizona, and he and Maya are on the floor playing “kick the baby,” a game where he uses his leg to launch her into the air. As each round finishes, she wants (and signs) MORE. After one rep, though, she raced off to the kitchen and grabbed a rag instead of sitting down on Scott’s leg again. When we looked on the carpet where she’d landed, whaddya know, but there was the barest amount of spitup. Maya went straight to the spot and started to clean the carpet.

Maya and I had dinner out last night. As we left the restaurant, we encountered a family with a cute, blonde, curly-haired 20-month-old son. Maya told him “hi!” right away, then proceded to walk up to him (once I got the parents’ permission).

She gave him her best winning smile, said a few words in toddlerish, then leaned in and kissed him.

Uh oh.

She’s just not a baby anymore. Witness my first ragged attempt at pigtails (well, besides this one, anyway). Maya was instantly transformed from looking like a baby to looking like something…different. Not a baby, that’s for sure.

Yesterday, I took Maya to REI so we could spend my dividend on a new pair of shoes for the future — or so I thought. After I measured her feet, I realized why Maya’s been not too happy about wearing her size-4 Merrells. Um…she was pushing 4-1/2. Oops.

How did she get so big? Wasn’t it only a few months ago that she barely started to walk?

I am *so* glad that I have deadbolts.

Can you say, “mercurial?” If only I knew *why* she was so upset…

So sad.
So pathetic.
So over as soon as she realized I was holding a camera she could steal.

Could someone PLEASE explain to me why it’s always windy on Tuesday? You know Tuesday…aka, the day I put my trash out to the curb.

Added: I just watched my neighbor’s full trash can travel down the street. As I ran outside to try to catch it, the lid came off, and the trash blew ev-er-y-where, like to the end of the road within seconds. What a mess.

A box I’d set (with weight in it, even) next to my can is nowhere to be seen. Oh, well…at least I tried.

The entrance to my dining-room-turned-office has two arches, with a column in between. That column turns into Maya’s hiding place when she decides that running is MUCH more fun than coming to be picked up. (In this case, it was “let’s go change your diaper and get dressed, Maya!)

Oh yes, I definitely have a toddler.