Dear Lucy,
It’s hard to believe my little baby girl is now 1 1/2 years old. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. You had your 18-month checkup last week, and you weighed 20 pounds and measured 31 inches long. You are still SUCH a tiny girl. You are wearing 12-month pants, 12-to-18-month shirts, a size 3/4 shoe depending on the brand, and we’ve been putting you in 18-month dresses so you can wear them longer.

You have QUITE the personality. You normally have a sunny disposition, and your laughter is infectious. It makes my heart smile. But, for the last couple of months, you have been throwing temper tantrums. We’ve learned that the best way to deal with those is to ignore you because you tend to throw them as a way to get attention. You’ve also reached the stage where you ask for something, and when we give it to you, you decide you do NOT, in fact, want it. That’s fun, too.

You LOVE to talk. You jibber jabber ALL the time. Among the words you say are ball, bubble, bath, book, dog, more, back, Dizzy, AJ, Elmo, Abby, nana (yogurt), abba (applesauce), yum yum, bye bye, hi, hi there, night night, uh oh, oh no, and hot. Daddy taught you to point at yourself when you say hot, which is adorable. You know all your body parts now. We recently taught you where your tush is, and it is SO cute when we ask you where it is and you point right to it. Your newest obsession is Elmo. You LOVE him!

We have FINALLY gotten you off the bottle, which we are so happy about. You now drink everything, including milk, from a straw cup, which you HAVE to open and close on your own. Your favorite foods are animal crackers, yogurt and applesauce. You’d be perfectly happy if that was all you ate for the rest of your life. You also have to eat EVERYTHING with a fork, including pizza, grilled cheese and donuts.

We’ve been told it’s too early to tell which hand will be your dominant, but it’s looking like you’re going to be a lefty. You eat and color with your left hand, which is odd to us since no one in our families is left-handed.

You are OBSESSED with balls and bubbles. If that was all you had to play with, you would be perfectly content. You are constantly throwing balls around the house, and when you are upset, you want bubbles to comfort you. It’s adorable. You also LOVE bath time. OK, love isn’t strong enough of a word. You would sit in the bathtub every day, all day if we would let you. You have SO much fun pouring water on your head, playing with your squirt toys and “reading” your bath books. When Daddy turns the water off, you stop what you’re doing, reach toward the faucet and say, “More!” You’re our little fish.

For the last few months now, you have been following directions. If we tell you to get something, you go pick it up and bring it to us. If I tell you to put the green ball in your bus, you pick out the green ball and put it in your bus. When it’s bath time or time to brush your teeth, you run right to the bathroom. You know where your room is, and you run into it when we tell you to. You LOVE playing by yourself, and you spend hours playing and reading in your room.

You have had two firsts in your 18th month: your first trip to the zoo and your first pool party. You loved both, even though it was WAY too hot at the zoo and you were scared of the water at the pool party (probably because when we first put you in you slipped and went under the water; but, you stood yourself right back up!). You just enjoyed being with your friends (and we did get you to go into the pool a little!)

Lucy, I can’t even begin to put into words what you mean to us. You are our sunshine and our beautiful little princess. I love you so much. I just wish time would slow down just a little bit.

Love,
Mommy