I owe this baby girl a long post dedicated all to her! I meant to do one for her 1st birthday, and still plan to post pictures of that...sometime soon - but for now I just want to record some memories of the here and now while the memories are fresh. All the pictures and videos are from the past month or so. I think 18 months is such a fun age! Sierra is learning so much and it's so fun to have little conversations with her as she learns what things are and how to communicate what she's learning. -So fun! I don't really know how to structure this because I haven't seen or done a post like this in a while and I am just plunging right in so it might turn out kind of random...
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| The cheesiest cheese-faces ever! |
Sierra is 18 months old. She is a character - so smart and silly and sweet! Yes, she is already asserting her independence in sometimes aggravating ways, but she is so cute and entertaining! Mike and I catch each other's eyes to smile over her many times a day! We are so grateful she is a part of our family! She makes us smile and laugh every day.
I can't remember what her first word was! I will have to check with Mike... It could have been Dada - though I don't know if we were counting that since sounds like that are hard to tell. Oh, wait - I remember! It was tickle, tickle! Ha ha! Fitting to our silly Sierra :) For a long time the main word she would use is: "this!" She could get a lot out of that one word.
I want this,
what is this? You get the idea... The other day Mike came to me all excited that Sierra had strung together a 3 word sentence. Lily was asking her dad to open a craft project she got off her prize shelf and Sierra was all excited too. She said:
"Please open this!" Love my polite little baby! She often says please when asking for things and signs it when she really wants it, and then says thank you after, too! It doesn't sound interesting or cute just typed out like this, but trust me - in person - coming out of my tiny little cutie - it just melts your heart!
When Sierra says "Yes." or "No." she means it. She never mixes them up, and she sounds so sure of herself and so serious it is adorable! She's a girl who knows what she wants. Wish I was that decisive!
Here's a little sample of Sierra talking, starting out with putting her Daddy's shoes away in our shoe bins :) We love the way she says 'yes', 'no', and 'sure!'
Sierra is a Daddy's girl just like her sister. Their Daddy is just SO much fun, I mean -- I love him too! I can't really blame them. But
I think she loves her mom a lot too!
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| What a face! - she had just woken up |
Sierra has been into stuff a lot more than Lily was. We have to keep a closer eye on her. She wasn't as interested in sitting still for a story as early on, though she has since gotten more interested in books. She learned to crawl when she was 6 months old, and started pulling up on stuff and standing shortly thereafter. She was full on walking by 11 months old. She sees something she wants to do and she tries to do it. She practices it, climbing up on something and back down, and up again until she has it mastered! She was working on her booster seat buckles today. It's so funny though, she does not do well going up and down the stairs - she wants to stop and look around at everything, and she does not really get the concept of not jumping headfirst into or off of everything - so we are still right behind her every step of the way!
Sierra thinks she's a big kid and tries to do everything the big kids do! She made it to the top of the wooden steps on our playground in about 3 seconds yesterday - good thing I turned around when I did!
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The indoor slide for when we can't go out - an old masonite drawing board
which has also served as a pretty fun teeter totter and mock surfboard! |
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| Biker chick |
Sierra has been a really good eater. I attribute it to homemade baby food and rice krispies. Rice krispies make everything taste better...at least according to Sierra. Yogurt, sweet potatoes, baby greens - anything! First we try giving a food to her plain, then we add a little rice krispies, then when appropriate maybe a little cheese. If she still didn't want it - it might help to let her try feeding herself. Whatever it takes to get or keep her interested! Lily liked to make faces on the spoon with the rice krispies - I think it's been more of a texture interest with Sierra, though lately she likes to arrange them more herself. Recently she's been getting a little bit pickier... She keeps thinking about cookies for one thing... and she learned a new phrase that she likes to use a little too often in connection with my delicious and nutritious, lovingly prepared meals: "Ew, gross!" "Where did she learn that!?" we said in disbelief the first time we heard her say it - as Sierra pushed her food away... "I know ---ME!" piped up Lily. We know too, Lily. We hear it from you almost every night at dinner! We didn't hear it when you were that age though! The major difference between a first child and a second child is - they have an older sibling. :)
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| She looked so cute climbing up into the big chairs and eating with her sister! |
Lily and Sierra are the cutest sisters! Sierra is about half Lily's size. They look a lot alike and they both like to have fun! They chase around and play together really well. Sierra might do something to annoy Lily, but as Sierra smiles up at her the frustration on Lily's face just turns into a smile right back. It amazes me! - my smiles don't work like that on Lily...it's definitely a baby sister thing. They have a nightly hug ritual now that makes me a happy mommy however tired I am by the time they are both actually going to bed ;)
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| Photo-bomb! |
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| Love those sideways looks! |
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| Mini marathon trophies (Lily's idea - note the 1 and 2) |
Sierra most loves to go outside and swing or slide. She will say: "Shoes, -side, whee!" to let you know what she wants to do. She plays with toys some, but is more interested in whatever her sister is into than anything age appropriate. She has a baby swing, but has started running and superman swinging on the regular swing. She has no fear.
Sierra likes to turn off the cd player whenever we want to play music in the front room. She loves to hug baby dolls, but she doesn't really have a doll or stuffed animal she is really attached to yet. She never really took to a binky either, but she does like to eat hair... We are constantly grabbing it away from her. It has gotten better, she now says:
"Ew, gross!" when she finds it and often hands it to us or puts it in the trash, but she's still eating it occasionally and I worry about it.
Almost makes me want to get her interested in a binky instead! But not really - I think she is outgrowing it. Sierra is really cute about putting stuff away where it goes. She understands and follows directions and puts our shoes away in the little pull out storage we have for them. She blows her own nose (which
I think is big for her age)
and throws it away in the trash! She likes to throw her tissues away so much she will get one and blow into it even when she doesn't really need it. She says "Tissue" like "Bless You." It sounds like 'tissue', but it sounds all sweet and soft like someone saying bless you. :)
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| Totally interested in computers and Ipods! |
Sierra loves Baby Signing Time, she will rock her arms to sign baby and ask for it. She also asks for Caillou by name! We don't like her to watch a lot of TV, but I think a little bit is good and has helped expand her vocabulary. Learning to sign 'baby' (she loves the theme song) helped her learn how to fold her arms to pray, and she says 'Amen' at the end of a prayer,
or sometimes at the beginning! She knows a lot of words and is repeating a lot of things she hears. She knows all the parts of the face, a lot of animals and their sounds, and will say opposite words when she hears a word she knows like on and off, open and close. She even asked for and pointed to a purple colored pencil the other day when I was trying to hand her an orange one! She says so many things so clearly, but she still says Watermelon like: "Lalalala (tongue waggle)." The other week my neighbor stopped by to drop something off for me. I didn't hear her because I was moving laundry over in the garage and Sierra came running to me like something was after her saying "Door! door!" all excitedly. It was hilarious. The other day she was closing the door to our bedroom
over and over while Mike stood on the other side and I kept reopening it from the inside. He said he wanted to see if she could open it so I stopped and stood on the inside watching her. She jiggled the knob and then I thought better of it and said: "Don't teach her to do that yet!" Sierra called out with a note of indignation: "Teach, teach!" She absolutely amazes me -this tiny little girl who is learning so much!
I am so grateful to be Sierra and Lily's mom, and so excited to see them grow! I love you more than words can say, baby girl!
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