Lily-
I know I haven't been great with keeping up here but you are keeping me so busy. Life with a toddler is challenging but so much fun. I have to say that this has been my favorite stage so far. You are, all of the sudden, a little person with your own set of quirks and funny nuances. I think to myself how impossible it seems that you grew inside of me.

You dance and "sing" all of the time. No, this isn't a new development but you have style now. You dance like a sumo wrestler. I'm being serious. You spread your feet far apart, crouch down so your butt is almost ankle level, and you sway back and forth. You simultaneously sing by humming a beautiful tune of "na, na, na, la, la, la".  Have I mentioned that you do this whether its actual music that you're hearing or even just a tv commercial jingle?

You are becoming every sense of the word "toddler". You are into ever.y.thing. A clean house is no longer an option so daddy and I pretty much give up on straightening up until you're in bed. You pull out photo albums, pens off of my desk, clothes out of drawers, cards out of my wallet, shoes out of my closet...and so on. It's a bit exhausting but you are a good girl...so far. You aren't rough or aggressive with anything yet, and although you are somewhat adventurous, loving bike rides or car rides on bumpy roads and flips in the air via daddy, you aren't reckless on your own...yet.

You have an interesting vocabulary, mostly one that still consists of your own language. You will repeat things when we say them but you say consistently:

• mama
• dada
• bop bop
• mowmow (Grandma Nichols)
• nana (pronounced "naaanaaa", a new development for Grandma Sandi)
• pow pow (for Grandpa Danny)
• nana (pronounced "nan-a" for banana)
• cow
• dog
• bow (for Bear)
• shoes
• socks
• waba (waffle)
• shheral (cereal)

You love to be outside, content with walking up and down the driveway, picking up mulch and throwing rocks. You are intrigued by bouncing balls and think that they are THE funniest thing on earth. You'll laugh until you're purple in the face if someone is bouncing a ball in front of you. You like to give kisses, but much prefer the "headbutt kiss" that Uncle Nick taught you. Basically, when someone goes in to kiss your face you give them a gentle headbutt instead.

You are now TERRIFIED of the doctor's office and everyone in there. You scream from the moment we walk into the  exam room until we leave, and sometimes you'll scream all of the way home. I honestly don't know how this fear was instilled in you already but I'm hoping to figure out a way to make you more comfortable there. Are you judging character already??

You are sleeping pretty good now, giving us 11-12 hours at night and two naps a day that end up to be a total of about 2 hours. This has made me feel like a well rested human being :)

I know these posts are somewhat repetitive at times but I need to capture every moment of this. It's such an amazing time and it's going by too fast. Here you are, almost 17 months old, and I'm sitting here looking at my photo calendar on my desk which boasts a picture from last Halloween when you were just 5 months old. It seems impossible that a whole year has gone by since then.

Don't grow up so fast, little girl. I want you to stay my baby forever.

Love, mama