18 months

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here, but I wanted to share a few highlights of Gracie at 18 months.  She has grown to be a tall, skinny girl.  At her last appointment, she was 20 lbs. 8 oz. and in the 75th percentile for height.  I can tell she's getting tall because she's outgrown almost all of her pants in the last 3 weeks.  Her personality has really begun to show through in the past few months.  We have seen her develop quite a good vocabulary and unbelievable verbal skills.  She easily strings words together and repeats everything.  Ashamed as we may be, Ryan and I admit that she has repeated a few bad words.  I can't even blame them all on him.  I know... terrible!

Her favorite phrases at the moment are "Whatta doin' Momma/Daddy?" and "I d'know."  I noticed today that she is figuring out some of the smaller words in common phrases.  For example, she used to say, "Baby night-night?"  But today I heard her say, "Baby night-night go?"  She is getting all the words, just jumbled up a bit.  It's super cute to listen to.  Last night at bath time, Tysie rang the bells (her signal to be let outside) and Gracie yelled from the bathtub, "Hode on T!  Hode on!"  It made me giggle because I know I say that to Tysie all the time... "Hold on, T!"

She also really enjoys talking and singing about/to her family members.  We sing several songs about each member of her family, including The Wheels on the Bus (aka: The Grandma on the Bus) and He's Got the Whole World in His Hands (aka: He's Got Mommy and Daddy in His Hands).  Every family member has a part to play, including Step (Steph), Pop Pop (Grandpa Weaver), Aunt B (Brandi), Ky-Ky (Kyle), and Gigi (Kia).  We also sing about the dogs in our family.  God has them in His hands, too you know?!

She's totally into bubble baths, baby dolls, dressing up in high heels while vacuuming, and sweeping the kitchen floor.  Her favorite food continues to be fruit, all kinds, but especially "bew-brees" "own-jes" and "ray-zins" (any guesses?) .  She also enjoys some veggies and big hunks of meat on the bone... I have no idea!  Mealtimes are anybodies guess with her.  Sometimes she's an all star eater and other times she only eats the fruit.  It just depends.  Now Chinese food is always a sure-thing.  Our favorite lady at Chinese loves Gracie.  She is always so surprised by the amount of food Gracie consumes and she always gives her special treats when she's done.  Gracie seriously loves North Dragon!

For Gracie's 18 month pictures, we met Michelle Spinola of Spin Inspired Photography at The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art for an unusually warm December photo shoot!  She did such an amazing job!  If you're looking for an affordable photographer who captures your family being themselves, I highly recommend her.  Here are some of my favorites from our Minispin!