Mio turned 18 months old today, on October 2! 🙂 She is now one and a half years old – how time flies! Growing up further into toddlerhood definitely brings with it new challenges along with all its joys, and Mio has been exercising more and more of her independent will these days… she seems to be more sensitive and emotional lately, especially when she doesn’t get what she wants, but is also learning and picking up on new things every day. When did she turn into a little grownup?

The Rundown at Eighteen Months…

Stats: We can’t find an accurate scale in the house, but you have most definitely gotten a lot heavier since we arrived in Virginia. Neither Daddy nor I can hold you for more than five minutes without having to eventually put you down because you are getting so heavy (your squirminess doesn’t help!). We estimate that you weigh around 27 lbs or so, but we’ll find out once we get an 18 month old appointment scheduled with your new pediatrician!

Things You’re Doing Now: To add to your vocabulary that I posted about last month, you have also learned “ao” (Japanese for “blue”), “aka” (“red”), and today you signed and said “chou-chou” (“butterfly”) for the first time! Your eating habits have gotten pickier, and you often only want to eat the same things that we’re eating… and you’re constantly eating. (I swear we feed you five meals a day.) Your favorite thing to do lately is to brush your teeth. You do it three or four times a day obsessively, and get upset if we don’t put enough toothpaste on it. (It seems like you like the minty taste, because we catch you sucking on the toothbrush head between brushes.) You also get a kick out of rinsing your mouth with water and spitting the toothpaste out. If we left you alone, you’d brush your teeth all day long, and when we try to wrestle the toothbrush out from you hand, you collapse into a screaming tantrum! I suppose brushing your teeth is not a bad habit to be obsessed with, so most of the time we let you go to town with it, but I’m starting to wonder if you are developing a little bit of OCD. Another thing you are really into is slapping lotion/moisturizer/cream on your face and rubbing it around on your cheeks — you just want to do everything you see the grownups doing! (When we try to take the cream away, you collapse and scream, again.) It’s really stressful to go out to eat with you at restaurants, because you are always trying to stand up in your high chair, get out and run around everywhere — you’ve even run into the chef’s kitchen a couple times. These are all the growing pains of toddlerhood and seemingly a preview of the “terrible two’s,” and while there are times when our patience starts to wear thin, there are some really sweet things you’re doing lately, too. You’ve discovered piggyback rides, and often come over and put your arms over my shoulders when I’m sitting down so that I’ll carry you around on my back. You say “Mama” a lot more now, and in the morning, I hear you calling “Mama” from your crib in the nursery. You’ve also started calling Dan “Da-doo” instead of “Daddy” lately for some reason (does this remind anyone else of Animaniacs?) — not sure how this change came about, but it’s pretty cute. Lately, when you watch your children’s songs, you clap, gesture, and sometimes interject along with them instead of just silently watching the screen.

Here you are, doing the gestures to “ito maki maki,” one of your favorite Japanese songs lately. (Your favorite English songs are “B-I-N-G-O” and “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”)

Happy 18 months to our wild but darling daughter!