18 Month Old Emily

Eighteen months.  A year and a half.  WOW!  Little Emily isn't so little anymore!  If you could spend a day with her- you would realize what a determined, loving, crazy, persistent, beautiful, sweet, sneaky, smart, and 'way ahead of her age' little baby girl she is!  Emily watches her siblings all day long.  Her approach to life?  If they can do it- so can I!  She attempts things that make my heart stop beating only to see that somehow- she didn't hurt herself doing it!

Emily disposition is very sweet.  She is a lover.  She loves to give hugs and kisses and gets very upset when someone around her is either crying or sleeping.  Yes, you read that right.  Sleeping.  When Emily sees the face of someone who is sleeping she gets hysterical!  It started when she saw Matthew sleeping once in church and since then- she freaks.  Try being on a night flight with her when half the plane is sleeping and I am trying to walk her to sleep.  I had to keep moving her so she couldn't see the sleeping passengers faces!

Emily is into everything these days.  She is starting to be a better listener now that her receptive language is better.  She understands most everything I say which has lifted the burden of frustration off both Emily and my shoulders.  She still has a hard time telling me what she wants but at least she understands what I say.  That doesn't mean that she listens all of the time but we are making progress.  Right now she loves to get into anything the kids are doing.  You know she is a Lego monster, but she also likes to wrinkle and rip the kids homework pages, empty my purse onto the floor, destroy Claire's little creations, press power of the video game console while the kids are playing it, and we are doing a tad bit of hitting and the occasional biting, too.  This might sound like she is bad girlie but the truth is- she is great!  Most of the time she does the above mentioned things to get attention.  I just correct her and make sure she understands that what she did wasn't okay.

At her eighteen month check up, Emily got a great report.  We still have not had a repeat UTI since she was hospitalized at two months of age.  Now that we have some perspective from that incident- we now realize that her infection was most probably a fluke.  Thank goodness!  She weighed in at a healthy 32 pounds and is now 35 inches tall.  Emily has officially nabbed the title of 'Biggest Swendsen Kid' which she stole from her sister, Claire (at least at this age).  Emily did have to get a shot and she knew it was coming.  When I was dressing her that morning, I told her I was going to take her to Dr. Safir's office.  She looked at me and said, "Owwww!"  She is no dummy!  She was completely on edge the whole appointment and just as she feared- she got a shot.  Emily was so upset.  She held her arm the whole way home and every time she looked at it, she cried.  Dr. Safir also noticed that she is getting eight teeth right now.  That might help me understand why she has had some trouble sleeping soundly!

Emily is running (scary fast these days), climbing, talking, and developing a great sense of humor.  It is funny to see her 'get' jokes and then laugh dramatically.  What she can't say with words, she will communicate to me with hand motions or just physically dragging me there.  She loves 'playing covers', sliding down the hall with Claire on a princess blanket, being chased by her brothers, having Matthew play 'Where's the baby' with her, loves dance parties, playing in the refrigerator, helping me upload the dishwasher, loves being my laundry assistant, taking out the recycling while I take out the garbage, helping someone when they need a 'little helper', is always game to game to go shopping, and mainly loves being around her family.  One of her favorite moments of the day is when Michael and Claire come home from school.  The hugs she gives them are amazing!  She is also pooping and peeing in the toilet when we put her on there.  I can't even imagine being out of diapers.  Go, Emily, Go!

We are loving our girl.  Yes, she is a lot of work but she is well worth it!  Watching that curly head run around the house and create havoc is entertaining and we wouldn't know what to do without her!  Her smile is out of this world, her eyes are so beautiful they are hypnotizing, the looks she shoots (my favorite is when she wrinkles her eyebrows and looks up at me) are hilarious, and her refusal to not be excluded is awesome.  What are you going to be like as you grow older, sweet Emily?  You are talking quite a bit.  You love answering Ya-Ya (yes), yetsh, and mo (no).  You have been copying what I say and remind me that I must say um a lot!  Everytime I say it- I can hear you (wherever you are) saying um, too!  New things you are saying are poo, gug (bug), taw (top), nut, yeah, hello, go, boo (boo-boo buddy), bye-bye, um, dan (down) and many more that I am sure I am forgetting.  Add these words to the words you already had mastered and you are a little communicator. 

A year and a half.  Our girl . . . growing by leaps and bounds.  We are so proud of you Emmy and want you to know the joy you have brought to our family.  We love you!  I couldn't help but post this picture I found of you today.  It almost brought me to tears.  You are growing so fast!  This was taken just nine months ago!  You are now and have always been so precious to us.  Happy 1 1/2 Years Old Emmy!