LBD at 18 Months: Happy Half Birthday!!!

"Lila B is the sweetest child I have ever met. You need to clone her." --my totally unbiased mother-in-law : )

Lila B is 18 months and I want to cry. With joy over how happy she is and with anguish over how fast the time has gone. Here's the DL on LB.

--33 inches according to your doctor (though I think you are only 32). At 33 you'd be 77th percentile

--25.5 lbs, 70th percentile

--96th percentile noggin. They had to measure you twice because the first time you were off the charts. Are those bobblehead stats?!?!

You ain't starving. Your body is still shaped like an S curve. You have lost a little chub but still rocks your "Chubbu" or "Chunka" status with pride.

--You adores dogs. You are like a dog groupie. You literally shriek with excitement when you see a "Ruh Ruh."

--Your favorite book is "Ruff Ruff Where's Scruff." Kallie gave it to C and D when they were little and it was their first favorite book. They loved it to pieces so I bought another one for Lila a few weeks ago. The first week I read it to you no less than 8 times a night. I would get to the end and you'd yell "Ma Ma! (Mas mas!)" and try to flip the book back to the beginning. If I tried to open another book you'd close it with her hand and shake your head. You giggle when I read it.

--Your other favorite books are Where Does Maisy live? (There is a dog in that too), Brown Bear Brown Bear (though less lately), Goodnight Gorilla (you particularly likes when you can roar like the lion, when we imitate the gorilla's yawn, and the noise I make on the page that is all black with just a pair of eyes), and any book with a picture of a dog in it. (Clearly the love of dogs is not an inherited trait :))

--You climb anything and everything that you can...up on tables, up slides, onto beds, you name it, you try to climb it.

--Your "words" include:

• Mama, Dada
• Ma! (Mas, more in spanish)
• Agua
• YaYa! (Lila)
• Ruh Ruh (doggie)
• Bye Bye
• Bye bye Ruh Ruh (my personal favorite)
• MINE! (a recent but handy addition)
• Hi
• Ball (still loves balls)
• Boo Boo (usually she points to a place and wants you to kiss it)
• Animal sounds including roaring (her fav), neighing, mooing, baahing, ooh, ooh, ahhing, cheeping, and of course, ruh ruhing

--You are tough. And relatively aggressive with other kids, probably because she likes being 'the big kid'. I have to chase you around at things to make sure your don't grab onto another kid's face or arms. It isn't meant to hurt but I am not sure why you love to grab noses and it is getting to be a bit of an issue. Especially when I'm around mothers with only one kid--they don't take that stuff very well.

--You love vitamins (yeah, i admit, I give her one). Mostly because I love to yell "Lila, would you like a vitamin?" and hear you run from anywhere in the house towards me clapping your hands and yelling "Yeahh!!!"

--You love to comfort your sisters. If you hear one crying you forms your mouth like an "O," and run to find them. She then tackles them with a hug and tries to kiss them. Ok, sometimes she grabs their hair too but most of the time she tackles them with a hug and kisses.

--You adore your sisters and they adore you right back. Comments they have made recently include:

D, talking to you at breakfast one day: "Lila, you are the loviest Christmas present I ever did get!"

L, asking me: "Mom, when can Lila start sleeping in our room?" or "Mom, can the three of us all sit in one row in the car?"

They fight to sit next to you at meals, and I don't think they are just trying to compete with each other. They just love you about 95% of the time. They don't dig when you pull their hair but even then they just scream for me. They almost never try to hurt you back. Their patience with you most of the time is astounding. I am sure this will get really old on this blog, but I am in awe of the love you show for each other.

--You are starting to get particular about what you wear and I need to try to figure out how to stop it. You like your socks to not match, you like a certain sleep sack (the one with animals), you are very particular about the shoes you wear and you loathe hats.