18 months

My sweet Neevie is getting so big! Her 18 month appt. has come and gone, and so now, a late and rambling update, mostly developmental stuff because the Grandmas want to know. Maybe I will edit this later, but if I wait until it's right, it will probably be published around her 18th year...

She is still tiny, but what she lacks in size, she makes up in personality!
She loves to say no. If you ask her if it is her favorite word, she will tell you no.
She is strongly opinionated about her outfits. Every day I pull out something appropriate for the weather, and every day she says "no, no!" and gestures to have it removed from her sight. I haven't figured out exactly what she does like, so I pretty much just let her pick if she asks nicely. She does love fancy shoes, skirts, layers, bright colors and patterns and anything with an animal on it. Oh, and especially anything that belongs to Kathryn. I will often find her putting on one of Kathryn's skirts, or putting the big shoes on over her own. (She once did this, then put mine over those!)
She is incredible at putting puzzles together. I didn't teach her or anything, but she is able to put even new puzzles together very quickly. I like to dump out three or four and have her put them all together at the same time.
She also loves building block towers. Anything she can stack, she will.
She still enjoys music and fingerplays. She can't get enough of the alphabet, counting, patty cake, a ram sam sam, etc... I can't believe I forgot to mention this months ago, but I think she has perfect pitch. She sings songs in tune in the exact key (for example, when she listens to her toy that plays the alphabet, later on she sings it with the same starting note). We just bought a piano, and not a moment too soon.
She knows her big letters and most little, shapes, colors and some numbers. I don't push it, and never did with Kate either, we just play and chat and she picks it up. If she doesn't know one, she will bring it over to me and ask. Inquiring minds want to know! I'm sure Kathryn's toddler school curriculum helped too.
She combines two to four words now- uh-oh dropped Lulu, go party, my mommy/sissy/daddy, hold me, all done etc... I like it, (or more often) I don't like it, I want Mommy, etc... she talks when it is quiet, and around here that is not often, but when she does she knows precisely how to get her point across.
Cute overload:
When she wants to walk and not be held she says "walka walka walka" (sounds like Fozzy Bear after a bad joke)
She calls me and her favorite dolls Honey sometimes
She is super attached to Kathryn. She calls her Sis, Sissy, Kathryn (sounds like Kasryn) and Kate.

Not so good- she thinks it is hilarious to run away from me, especially when I don't want her to, so we will need to work on that.

Otherwise, everything is wonderful.

It is incredible to see her as less baby, more big-kid.
Oh, and this week (almost 19 months) she started saying "I love you."