Sylvia turned 18 months old ...

... and I didn't even take a picture! But here are some notes from the world of Sylvia.

1. She can sing! She sings along to the songs we sing her, usually some humming sounds and then the last syllable or word of each line. "Once Upon a Dream" is a favorite. 

2. She is saying more and more words, often in the right context. "All done" and "No" (now with very serious scowls!) continue to be favorites. Interesting additions to the list recently are "Hola" (from our Mexico trip), "food" (accompanied by a toddle over to the fridge to bang on the door), and "Ee-ee," which means "Edie."

3. She has put her own pajama pants on two nights in a row now, and she absolutely does NOT want help, thank you very much! This not wanting help thing is making everything take eight hundred times longer, but it's still so new and exciting that I just say "Keep going, you almost got it!" over and over and applaud like crazy. 

4. When we go for walks she puts her hands behind her and looks at the sidewalk, like an 80-year-old man. Or she skips and dances and shrieks with happiness. And sometimes faceplants, but she usually catches herself these days and brushes herself off and keeps going. 

5. "Ow!" means "I hurt myself and I need a kiss" or "I spilled water on myself" or "I spilled water near myself." 

6. Speaking of spilling water, if she asks you for some water -- "Wan' wow!" -- it's ten-to-one odds that she just wants to dump it on the floor. Consider yourself warned. 

7. She basically talks about Paul all day. She says, "Ah wan' Paul." And then I say, "Paul's at work." And then she says, "Oh" and chuckles a little. And then we do it again. 

8. If I'm trying to get her to do something that she doesn't want to do -- like get in the car seat or change her clothes or put on her shoes -- she fights it for about a second and then she says, "Ah wan' NURSE." Because it used to be my habit to stop everything for a nursing request. She is such a smart negotiator. I'm trying to outwit her but it's not easy.  

9. Every dog or picture of a dog gets an excited "Woof!" from Sylvia. Every engine gets a "Vroom!" 

10. I'm totally besotted. Can you tell?