Our big little girl

Hadley is fast approaching the 18 month mark. I try to fathom what it will be like to have a 2 year old, but it just doesn't register. I compare her now with 2 year olds and try to picture her growing and developing so much in the next 6 months, it's simply amazing to me.

I love to watch her funny expressions every day and hear her laughing so hard she can barely breathe. She runs in circles and dances in circles. She shrugs her shoulders with the cutest smile ever! She'll also run down the hall with her eyes closed, sometimes running into the wall, which is hilarious!  Hadley has no fear...well except viciously barking dogs. She can climb up on things now so we occasionally find her sitting on the table next to our couch.

She seems to be more gentle with other babies and toddlers. Although once in a while she likes to point out that they also have eyes and puts a little too much effort into it. She didn't care much for her Halloween costume but she enjoyed the decorations and loved trick or treating. She pulled the candy in and out of her little bucket repeatedly.

Hadley still LOVES to read. Sometimes she'll go in her room by herself and pull book after book off of the shelf and sit there, flipping through the pages, reading out loud to herself. I do have to say she has learned a lot from books and can now identify things when asked where they are. I realize some of that is memorization but she memorizes really fast. She's learning how to say new words every week it seems. Her latest ones are 'nope' and 'bye.' It's so cute how she uses different tones and expressions when she's babbling too, like she's having a real grown-up conversation.

I think she is going to be a rule-follower like her mother. She seems to learn pretty fast what she can and can't do. Sure she still tests the limits from time to time. But even things like her cup falling over (her sippy cups spill when they tip...seems to defeat the purpose, but they do nonetheless) she knows she needs to pick it up. This also goes for any sort of bottle that she sees tipped over. She says, "uh oh" and turns it up right. I predict she's going to have a certain way of doing things and a specific place for things as she grows older. Sometimes I'm a little nervous about our 2nd kid....are they going to be complete opposites?

I am extremely grateful and humbled that I get to stay home and watch this little girl grow up into a big girl. She's absolutely precious!