The England Family: 18 Months!

Time has flown by so fast! I can't believe we have an 18 month old at the house. I took her in for her 18 month appointment a week ago and here were her stats:

26.8lbs (80%)
32 inches (60%)

She has changed so much over the past 6 months, both in personality and looks. I am afraid to say this out loud, but I think we are entering into the terrible two stage a little early. She definitely pushes our buttons with her whining and crying.

I know every mom says this, but she is so smart. It is unbelievable how much she understands. I guess that is why she whines and cries all the time, because she can't communicate with us fully yet. She does use sign language, but doesn't know a ton of words. She follows directions well, and is genuinely a little helper around the house. She will throw things away, pick up items, fetch things, and knows exactly what we are saying to her. She does say quite a few words though, like: ball, dog, baby, duck, Bee (for Toby the dog), mommy, daddy, poppy ( my dad), lynna ( my mom), nana (for Derek's mom...her name is supposed to be gramma, so we will work on that), nanny (banana), car, choo-choo( for train), up-a (for pick me up), no, please, more, all done, ewww, mmm-mmm, poo-poo, and I am sure there are many more I am forgetting this late in the evening.

She loves to play at the park across the street from our house, and has made many friends. Unfortunately, she likes to take the other children's toys (yikes). We also got her a push behind car, and she absolutely loves to ride in that. She also loves "little" chairs. She has a "club chair" with ottoman in the living room, as well as a pink wing back chair in her room...loves them. She is becoming a bit of a daredevil, and loves to jump and bounce on things. We think we have that taken care of....that will come in a later post. :)

She still sleeps from 7 to 7, and takes about a 2 hour nap each day. She is a really good eater (thank you lord), and can't get enough fruit. She will give you a hug and a sweet kiss if you ask for it, and boy is that the absolute best feeling in the world!

This rocking horse was mine and my sisters when we were little girls. This reminds me that Jocelyn can do all sorts of animal noises: horse, dog, cow, sheep, lion AND she can point to several body parts: hands, feet, head, hair, ears, nose, mouth.

This is Jocelyn throwing a fit because I wanted her to smile for the camera.

This girl LOVES to read. We read several books every night. I just can't say no when she says more and uses sign language to tell me she wants to read more books. So sweet!

When she wants to sit in your lap for comfort or to read a book, she will back up into your lap?!? It is so cute, but sometimes I want to make the beeping noise...you know, when something is backing up?

Jocelyn's precious wing back chair, where she likes to sit and read....but more specifically jump on. :)

I took a picture of Jocelyn's current "favorite" books. She literally has 8,000 books, yet we read these 5 every single night, and several times each. The book of songs is really cute, she absolutely loves it...but unfortunately it is really long. Sometimes if I am in our bedroom (which is right below hers), I can hear Derek singing to her...it is so cute, and he has no idea that I can hear that (until he reads this post...hi honey, I love you).

This is Jocelyn throwing a fit on the floor after I wouldn't let her touch the books that I was trying to take a picture of. See the theme? Screaming, high pitched, no talking any sense into her fits....on a regular basis. I don't know what to do about them. Half the time, we just let her lay on the floor until she realizes we aren't going to react, then she gets up and goes back to normal?