18 months

There is no November 31st, so Lucy doesn’t technically have a half-birthday. So, sometime in the past few days, Lucy turned 18 months old.

First off, her stats from her pediatrician visit: she’s 32.5 inches tall (75th percentile), 27 pounds (85th percentile), and her head is off the charts. Both of my girls take after me, I’m afraid. Y’all will never be able to pull off hats – sorry, babies.

Meanwhile, her hair is epic.

Can we please discuss the back of Lucy's head? What on earth am I supposed to do with that???

Sometimes I can take to it with a Knot Genie and some No More Tangles and get it under control. And then it looks adorable.

"After" pic: I used No More Tangles spray & the Knot Genie. But it was matted up again by the time we got to daycare. Oy, this child.

It also lasts about five minutes before it looks like that first picture again. Sigh.

We are nowhere near being done with the bottle. I know. I KNOW. The pediatrician has already lectured me about this that we need to ditch the bottle soon, because the longer I let her keep it, the harder it will be down the road.

And I admit that this is an area where I’m weak. She stands at the refrigerator and screams, “Ba-ba!!” And I cave every time. Because I am a single mom, and I am exhausted, and there are two of them and only one of me, and look, let’s face it: the path of least resistance is often the path that I choose.

Look, Ma, no hands. (Also: most kissable belly ever.)

Honestly, pediatrician lectures aside? I just don’t care. If she still has the bottle in kindergarten, I’ll start to worry. I just cannot even fathom trying to tackle that one right now.

Also, if there was any concern that maybe she’s drinking too much milk and not eating enough “real” food? HAAAAA. Girlfriend eats everything. I cannot give her enough fruits and vegetables. Her normal breakfast is often a tomato or a pile of steamed broccoli. Yes, that’s weird, but she asks for it and I’ll be damned if I’m going to say no.

I figure that probably in a year or two, she’s going to refuse all healthy foods and live on a diet of hot dogs and air, so I’ll just load her up with all of the vegetables that she wants right now, and figure that it’ll all balance out in the end.

My parents are still her favorite people in the world, but so is her big sister. Every morning when she comes to get me, the next thing she says is, “Catie night-night?” Yes, baby, Catie is still going night-night. She’ll imitate me with her finger to her lips when I say, “Shhhhh!” so she doesn’t wake her big sister. We’ll head downstairs and turn on cartoons. Pretty soon Catie wakes up and we’ll all pile on the couch together.

Lazy Sunday snuggles. (Catie was kissing Lucy, not biting her.)

I love those few minutes of cuddling with both of them before we have to start getting ready for work/school/daycare.

I’m sure I’ve griped about it plenty, but the past few months have been really rough with Lucy and sleeping. I don’t know why, but she just cannot seem to sleep through the night anymore. I’m now working on sleep training her all over again, which is difficult. I spend a lot of time sitting in the hall, dozing off while leaning against the door of the linen closet.

It’s rough. And there are lots of tears on both of our parts. But hopefully we’ll get through this quickly.

I don’t know how to sum up how funny she is, but man. My mom said she once read an article about birth order, and it talked about how oldest children are often serious, cautious, and work hard in school (which is accurate for both Catie and my sister). And the second child is the “performer” – the article had a photo of a toddler in a top hat with a cane, and my mom said she laughed because that was exactly like me when I was a kid.

So in that sense? Lucy is pretty much my replica. She loves to entertain us by making faces and jokes and just being silly and wacky. Which is pretty much exactly like her mama.

Sometimes a girl just needs to run around in her birthday suit and some 3D glasses. Don't judge.

(Granted, I don’t usually run around naked wearing only 3D glasses. Anymore.)

(Or at least, if I do, you won’t find pictures of it on the Internet.)

She got sick over Thanksgiving (sinus infection), and it was bad because she was trying so hard to still be our little entertainer, but she could only do it for a little while before she’d collapse in tears. It was rough. Luckily she’s all better now. And thank goodness, because I really missed my little goofball.

Happy half-birthday, Lucy-goose. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

7 thoughts on “18 months

  1. Adorable!

    That’s how my two are, too. My oldest is quite obviously the more responsible of the two, & my youngest has already been voted “Top Entertainer” in his pre-K. He, too, kicked my ass with his refusal to sleep for months on end, & then he got sick & it seemed he would never sleep again, & I went to the pediatrician sobbing & waving medication weight guidelines I had printed from the internet & wailed, “I need to give him Benadryl! He needs to sleep or he’ll never get well, & I reached my breaking point three days ago! Tell me how much to give him or I will just continue to GoogleFu until I figure it out on my own.” He nodded, patted me on the shoulder & wrote down a handy-dandy Children’s Benadryl chart for me to reference (it basically stated that he could have the same amount of Children’s Benadryl as Tylenol or Motrin). I know it’s not for everyone, & I NEVER thought I would be one to recommend Benadryl, but I swear it reset his little clock. I gave it to him every night about 30 mins before bedtime–& only about half of what he could actually have, at first–& he went right to sleep & STAYED asleep. It’s like it was that little extra push he needed. We’ve had a handful of breaks in the cycle in the 2+ years since, but I firmly credit those few days with getting us over the hump. Here’s hoping you find that thing to get you guys through this, whether it’s Benadryl or something else! Good luck!

  2. The twins are down to 1 bottle a night. I don’t care. They might use it until kindergarten. But the sleeep! And we are all good. I’ll worry about it in a few months.

    Yay Lucy! <3
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  3. Cindy you are doing a fantastic job!! You are doing it alone so you are the One you need to listen to nobody else!!! It’s not going to hurt Lucy to have a bottle a little longer x hey my 2nd child is the goofball too lol xx

  4. That age is my absolute favorite. 18-22 months. LOVE it. They are just too dang funny and they don’t care if you laugh at them yet.

    On the bottle? Eh. I took my kids bottles away at a year. However? It was only because I was tired of washing them. Plus? Each of mine had a pacifier till a bit over three. I am like you, if it works, it works. Which is why my eight year old sleeps with me half the time. Ahem.
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