Exciting Eighteen

Meredith turned 18 months old on October 2nd. She seems to be changing every minute of everyday. She loves to talk and has added quite a few words to her repertoire over the last several weeks including “Hi Daddy/Mama/Jonah/Riley”, “I love you”, “Night Night”, “I need go potty” (she likes to go sit on the potty over and over though she never does anything), “No, No, No” (her personal favorite), “More milk”, “I stinky”, and “Bye Bye Jonah.” She will repeat any word you say so she can say several animal names and their sounds, all her grandparent’s names and other family names.

Her personality is bigger than the state of Texas! She has never met a stranger and gives hugs and kisses to everyone. But when she is mad, WATCH OUT WORLD! She has quite the temper and is not afraid to show it. She was hit with a double whammy of the Schneider/Ranson temper syndrome. At eighteen months she has already mastered the evil glare. I try so hard not to laugh but it’s really one of the cutest things to witness. 

When she’s not mad, she is one of the sweetest, happiest, funniest little girls I have ever been around. Her laugh is contagious. Her smile infectious. And her eyes captivating.

She is the true definition of a Daddy’s girl and has her brother wrapped tightly around her little finger. She loves animals and Riley of course is her favorite. She feeds him, pets him, scratches his belly, throws his toys and runs around the house looking for him everyday when she gets home from school. That probably explains why he never leaves her side.

I am totally and madly in love with her. One of my favorite times of the day with her is when we are sitting in her room in her chair before bed. It’s just the two of us and we talk about everything. I share my day with her while I hold her in my arms. She lays her head on my shoulder and gently pats my back as if she is comforting me and letting me know everything will be okay. Then before I lay her down for the night she gives me a hug and kiss and says “Night Night Mama”. She never cries when you put her to bed. Even our nanny was surprised how easy it was to put her to sleep.

Meredith loves to eat and she likes to sit and savor each bite of her food. That’s not always good for a family that tends to live in the fast lane and is always rushing around late for school, work or a sporting event. But it’s who she is and when you try to rush her you better be ready for the repercussions.

Being the second child she gets away with  A LOT. Maybe that’s normal with the second baby. You are so tired and you just want to keep them happy so you let them do things that you would have never let your firstborn do. I’m very thankful that Jonah seems to “get it” and sometimes even he says “do whatever it takes to make her happy”.

She’s a lucky little girl to have a family that loves her to the moon and back  and wants her to be “nothing but happy.”

Happy Eighteen Months! We love you! 

 

{When I think about the trials and tribulations of each phase of our children’s life, I always tell myself “It won’t be like this for long.”  People say “It’s just a phase, they will grow out of it. One day I know I will miss these phases.}