18 months

Yes... this is the face my daughter gives me on a regular basis. It's like "Really? You MUST be joking. I will not eat this chicken nugget and I already think you are kind of lame". Ha! I can't imagine what she will be like as a teenager.

Isabel is 18 months old now- (to people without kids that is 1 and 1/2. I always hated when I didn't have kids and I asked someone how old their child was and they would respond in months like "He is 30 months old" Then I would quickly convert it in my head and wonder why they didn't just say their kid was two.)

Every age (well minus the newborn stage) just gets better and better. I love how much our Bel has suddenly started talking. She suprises us with new words almost every single day. She still hangs on to her old faves like "More", "Mine", and "Juice" but she also has some funny new ones like "Noodle", "Bible" and "Oh Boy!". (That last phrase is repeated over and over and is pretty funny when she says it to the waitress at the restaurant who brings her her dinner plate)

What else is new? She is learning to sing. She has terrible taste in music (mainly Elmo and those creepy Wiggles) but she actually can sing a few words and "la la las" when listening to her "Best of Elmo" CD in the car.

She is really getting into her baby dolls all of a sudden- pushing them in a stroller, feeding them a fake bottle and dragging them around by their hair. She still loves the park, books, sidewalk chalk, and coloring with any pens, markers, or crayons. She loves boys and men- always flirting and waving hello but has gotten more shy around kids and adults she doesn't know well. She hangs back in social situations, observing others before she joins in. Jason and I are both kind of like that too so it is interesting to see her develop that shyer side.

It stinks being at work for most of the day so we try to plan fun things to do together on the weekends as a family. The weather won't be good for that much longer so we need to get outside while we can. This past long weekend we visited Randall Oaks zoo again and Cantigny Park. Here are few fave pics...

Oh yes... and I forgot to mention one of Bel's fave new toys.... a MOP. Yes....you heard me a toy mop. She loves this thing so much but we ended up having to hide it because she was swinging it around and hitting Lucky with it. So.. for a special treat- she can mop. :)