18 Months of Joy!

It's completely nuts to me that Lily is already 18 months old.  I still look at her in awe and wonder and think to myself, "Is she really my little girl?"  I don't know if the amazement at becoming a parent ever wears off, but I definitely still feel shocked sometimes!

Milestones at 18 Months:

• Talks and talks and talks and talks.  Around the 14 month mark I counted up words she would say and it was over 100.  I haven't even attempted to count them since.  She says everything.  She is starting to string 3-4 words together at once which is so cool but she's sounding less and less like a baby all the time!  : (
• "Open it!"   - she uses this phrase even when it's not because she needs something "opened" but just when she needs help working something
• "Help you" - she means "help me"
• "Stam MUP!" - stand up
• "Daddy working" - she says this every morning first thing when I get her up
• "Thank-you-welcome!"  - like it's all one word
• "_____ right THERE!" - fill in the blank with whatever she sees (bird, bug, cycle, Bronco)
• "See it?"  - if she hears an airplane (planeplane) or a motorcycle (cycle), she asks to see it
• She is bilingual!  She understands everything said to her in Spanish and responds appropriately.  For some things, she uses the Spanish word almost exclusively (otherwise she mostly speaks English at home and Spanish with the babysitters, Ana and Maria):
• Leche = milk
• Mas = more
• Pan = bread
• Liquado (quado) = smoothie
• Mano = hand
• Agua = water
• Cuidado (dado) = be careful
• She is the pickiest eater EVER.  She loves yogurt and applesauce and fruit and of course all kinds of junk food.  Most of the time she'll eat peas and corn on the cob, but that's about the end of her veggie list of likes (unless you count french fries and ketch-mup (ketchup)).  She won't touch meat with a 10 foot pole (except an occasional hot dog if you can call that meat).  She does not eat mac and cheese.  She does not eat chicken nuggets. Maria told me recently that she's doing better and eating tortillas and quesadillas for her.  But she won't eat that stuff at home.
• She's smart.  If she asks for yogurt or crackers or something and it's not meal time or snack time, we don't let her have it.  But she knows if she asks for leche, we'll go to the fridge and give it to her almost any time unless it's too close to bed time.  So she asks for leche and when we open the fridge, she grabs a yogurt and makes a run for it!  I guess I should be grateful that it's yogurt and not cookies.
• She's obsessed with Dora.  And Elmo.  And cell phones.
• She still sleeps with Ellie the El-pha-nent (and poor Ellie STINKS - like 18 months of baby slobber but it has a music box inside it so I can't wash it)