18 Months Later

On Friday, Madelyn turned 18 months old. It is surreal how fast time goes when you have a child. She is doing exceptionally well. April 9th, she got her NG tube out, so she is now completely tube free. She moves quickly and talks gibberish a lot. She has a handful of words that she uses a lot and some catchphrases that are all her ("Oh poop", "Let's go", and "No way" are among them). She loves everyone she meets and often makes friends with the elderly. Today, after church, she walked quickly to get around a woman in a wheelchair and then stopped and smiled at her while tipping her head. Madelyn currently has 8 teeth and has been known to use them on her mother, specifically when she is trying to avoid falling asleep. She is very independent and likes to do things all on her own. She loves bath time and I feel like she would live in the bathtub if I would allow it.

Other facts about Mad Dog at 18 months:

1. She has discovered Sesame Street and Elmo. She will sit and stare at Elmo and then get up and wander off when characters that she doesn't like as much come on the show.
2. She thinks it is hilarious when I tell her that she smells like beef and cheese. She also thinks it is funny when we react negatively to her smells in general.  
3. She has begun hiding to poop. She will all of the sudden be silent (who knew that silence with a toddler was so suspicious) and be hiding behind the chair or in the corner and sure enough, she's pooped. 
4. Her favorite room in the house is the bathroom. She is constantly trying to lead me to the bathtub or trying to reach up to get her toothbrush. She cries when we take away her toothbrush sometimes. 
5. She eats pretty much anything, including non-edible things. She is definitely a chewer. 
6. Her favorite pacifiers are still the newborn ones from the NICU. Sometimes she will have a different one in her mouth and then find one of the newborn ones and she will trade for it. 
7. She has three pairs of shoes but will only keep her blue and pink sneakers on her feet. Therefore, she wears them with everything, including dresses. 
8. She is very, very ticklish. On her feet, the top of her head, her back, stomach, armpits, and neck. 
9. She loves spicy food. Even when her nose starts running and eyes are watering, she keeps eating it. I tried giving her plain tortilla chips one night and she cried until I gave her some more of my spicy chicken tortilla soup.
10. She loves playing with her kitchen. She has been carrying around a cupcake pan and spatula from her play kitchen for the last two days and I can only get them away from her after she falls asleep holding them.

I apologize for not keeping up on this blog, but will make more of an effort.

Lots of love to all our readers,

Mary