Vivian at 18 Months.

There is just so much that Vivian does that I absolutely love and want to remember forever so I thought I'd share them here so I can look back. 

We had a rough patch of sleep awhile back, but things have started to look up. We did try to "sleep train", but did it in a way we felt comfortable with. We would put her in her crib while she was awake and if she started crying, we picked her up right away and soothed her. When she stopped we'd put her back down before she fell asleep and of course she cried right away haha. We did that 10 times (!!) before I accidentally rocked her for too long and she fell asleep. She woke up and I repeated the process about 5 times with a little more fussing in between and on the 5th time she climbed out of her crib! I ran out of the room so quickly because I knew exactly what had happened. She was fine and her pacifier and blanket were on the ground so I think thats why she wanted to get out. So needles to say I finally moved the crib to the lowest level (I know… I should have done it a long time ago, but she seriously has never, ever shown any interest in climbing before!). She must have used her little money toes to help her get up there Because we don't have bumpers or anything. 

Now she sleeps with me in the spare bedroom so Kevin can get some sleep and she's only waking up once maybe twice. It just works out so much better, she is the biggest cuddler EVER! It's probably one of the best things to wake up and have this tiny little human snuggle into you and wrap her arm around you and fall right back asleep. As far as sleep training goes, we probably won't be doing it again. We don't like the idea of crying it out and while I know it's worked for a lot of people I know it's just not our thang ;) I don't complain about not getting sleep too much (except to Kevin haha) because I know we basically did it to ourselves haha. I think Vivian will sleep much better/easier if she was in a real bed so I've been looking at twin beds, that way I can lay with her until she falls asleep and get out easier than in the crib (how's that for a mental image? haha).

Just like every other child right now, she is in love with the movie Frozen. We listen to the Disney Pandora station and whenever a song from Frozen comes on she stops whatever she is doing and stares at the stereo then starts spinning with one arm out. That's how she dances!! Like a little ballerina. I don't dance like that and she won't dance any other way haha. 

She says "mama", "dada", "hi", and "bye" and that's about it for "real" words. But she says "dadog" for dog and a version of "dadag" for Grandpa whenever Kevin's mom comes to watch her (they either FaceTime him or he comes over while I'm gone). She can make an elephant sound (complete with an arm going up like a trunk), woofs like a dog, and moves her arms like a monkey. 

She is finally getting into books! She'll open them up and babble "baba bababa" while pointing to things on a page. She lets me read to her (longer than a sentence or two!) and gets into it. She knows what a lot of things are when I ask her to point them out. She has a Curious George book with shapes that pop out, I think thats her favorite. 

She understands a ton of stuff. We can tell her to "squat" and she does one (perfectly, I might add). She can throw garbage into the trash can, and often will do it unprovoked when she's done with a wrapper or something. She tells us when she has a dirty diaper and even has started walking to the bathroom when she needs to be changed. I set her on the potty just to get her used to the idea and I talk to her about it while I'm changing her diaper. 

Recently I've started to think she just might have a little OCD haha. When she walks into the kitchen and there's a drawer or cabinet at her level that is open she has to shut it. The other night we we're laying in bed with Kevin and she gets up to shut the bathroom door and then the bedroom door then crawled back into bed. Haha, I don't know if it's good or bad but it's cute. 

As always she likes to be outside, getting dirty or wet. She's loved playing in the leaves this fall and digging in the dirt out back. 

She has 4 molars, her 4 front, and two bottom teeth, and she's acting like she's about to get some more this week. 

Her hair is getting thicker and while I can kinda get a little pony put in, I'll spare her the embarrassment haha. 

She has her little diva moments when she lays on the ground and balls up, or makes the silliest fake sad/crying face. She can usually be coerced out of it with a quick distraction and she really only does this at home or at the Crossfit gym (her second home). 

I know everyone says "oh this is the funnest stage!", but every stage has been fun for me in it's own way. While I personally preferred the newborn "nap-all-day-every-day" stage, having Vivian communicate more and more with me is really exciting. She is so smart and funny.

 My favorite? When she leans in to give me a kiss when I say "I love you".