For my sweet Kinley - 18 months

Kinley,

I can hardly even believe that 18 months has passed by so quickly. Today, my sweet baby girl you are 18 months old. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was pregnant with you and trying to cherish every single last kick I felt with you on the inside.

I remember that day in March that I had my ultrasound to find out if you were a boy or girl. I can't tell you how ecstatic I was to find out I was going to be having a baby girl. I was going to have a little girl!! That meant that I would get to buy lots of bows, pink stuff, and have a little shopping partner and best friend for life.  I was so in love with you before I even laid eyes on you for the first time.

When you were born I remember saying, "oh my gosh, look how tiny her feet are!" That was the first thing I saw. ;-) You were my tiny petite girl, weighing in at 6lbs. 12oz. You were just perfect!

You have always been such an easy baby. The first night I brought you home from the hospital you slept for 5 hours straight. I remember the next morning waking you up at 9:30am because you hadn't woken up yet. I have always been able to lay you down in your bed and you go to sleep on your own.

You now go to sleep at 8:00pm and wake up at 8:30am. You take 1 nap a day in the afternoon for about 3 hours.

You are so happy in the morning when you wake up. I sometimes don't even know that you are awake until I go check on you. You just sit in your crib and play. As soon as I walk in and say, "good morning, Kinley!" you say, "MAMA!!" and are so excited. What a way to start the day off.

You are a pretty good eater still. You don't eat a lot at one time. For breakfast I usually give you either blueberry waffles, french toast sticks, or yogurt and cheerios. For lunch you eat chicken nuggets, mac n' cheese, or grilled cheese. Usually something easy! For dinner I give you whatever we are eating. For snacks you love goldfish, honey nut cheerios, fruit snacks, and apples. You didn't like whole milk at all. You wouldn't drink it! I now give you 2% and you drink it. I guess you were worried about all of the calories in whole milk!? :-)  You still weigh right at 20lbs.

You wear size 18 months and most of the pants just fall off of you. You are so tiny! You are wearing a size 5 shoe. Oh, how I love buying you shoes. I knew having a girl was going to be an expense! ;-)

You are still wearing a size 4 in Huggies diapers.


You definitely have my attitude and temper. And that probably isn't a good thing. ;-) You don't throw tantrums, yet! You will stand there and scream and throw your hands, then you are done. I can tell the difference between having a girl and boy, girls cry WAY more!


You have my restlessness. You never sit still. Ever. You are always moving. Always.

You know all of your body parts, always pointing to my nose, ear, hair, mouth, teeth, and eyes. You even know feet and hands.

Your hair is getting so long! I can't believe how long it has grown in the past couple of months. It is already down your back. I'm not cutting it girl! We are growing it out long!! I remember your Aunt Mallory's hair when she was in preschool. It was so long and so pretty. I just love little girls with long hair. I can't wait to pull your hair in pony tails, do french braids, and curl it with the curling iron.

I paint your toenails for you because you bring me finger nail polish from my bathroom. You always notice my toenails painted and want yours done too. You have always sat so still for me to polish them. I just love it!!

You are talking so much. When we tell you what something is, you repeat it back to us.

You are such a little monkey! You still love to sit in the fire place. You climb on every thing you can get on top of.

You love your 'bubba' Austin. You and him play so well together. He loves you so much too. I just love watching you two when you are playing nicely! ;-)

I recently bought you a big girl booster seat for the kitchen table. You sit up at the table with us all for dinner and love it. You do so well. You have been using your silver ware since 15 months and do so well with it.

You still love your pacifier and even stand under the cabinet I put them in and say, "paci" and beg for one. You have to have your lovie (Bearington Bears Bunny) with you at all times! We have two - just in case!

You finally have all of your 1 year molars in and did so well. You love to brush your teeth and you stand up on the step stool for me to brush you teeth too.

We recently started you in Sunday school at church and you are doing so well. When we come to pick you up, you are walking around playing with the other kids. It's so cute!!

You love playing with your baby dolls, pushing your doll buggy around, building with the blocks, playing kitchen, and anything that Austin is doing!

I just love you to pieces! You're my sweet girl. I hope and pray that you and I are the best of friends some day. I can't wait to do all of the mother daughter stuff with you as you grow up. But, please... SLOW down. I will miss you being little.

I love you always,

Mommy

For comparison, my sweet baby boy Austin at 18 months old. Oh how I miss my sweet baby boy! Why oh why do they grow up so darn fast?!