18 months

Pancake has found her screaming voice and has opinions about everything. She's become a picky eater (though not every day). She eats cereal and milk every morning and sometimes again for lunch or a snack. She uses the spoon herself and though she still spills milk onto her chest she's getting better at using it. She started referring to herself by her name and identifying things that are hers or her brothers. "That's Pancake's water. That's Doodle's water. That's Daddy's beer."

Her temper has reared its ugly head. If she wants something that I won't let her have or if Doodle takes something from her she screams, "NO NO NO NO!" If you recall Doodle at this age he didn't have tantrums like that. If I, or one of his peers, took something away from him he would just play with something else. I used to bother me that he didn't stick up for himself, but I think I would rather have that mellow attitude than Pancake's screaming fits. At least I know she won't be a push over.

She gets into everything. We went to the fabric store to buy materials for Doodle's Halloween costume (he's going to be the Phillie Phanatic) and she found the low-to-the-ground candy, opened the Rolos and was eating one of them when I found her. Why was she not securely in the cart or a stroller? Because she refused to sit. She knows what she wants and she knows how to get what she wants. That's not to say that I let her do whatever she wants.

Her language skills are unbelievable. She speaks in phrases and sentences. She has learned the art that Doodle learned early on, how to use other words to explain herself if I can't make out what she's trying to say.

She loves to be read to and often flips through her books by herself, talking as if she's reading them. She knows the names (or has her own names) for her favorite books. She can follow directions well. She doesn't always say every number, but she can count to ten. She's getting better with her colors. She sometimes says green for blue, but usually she gets them right. The other day when she and Doodle were coloring she wanted me to get her the brown crayon. Only brown would do. I was having trouble finding any brown crayon, but she kept insisting on it until I finally came up with a broken light brown crayon -- like I said, she knows what she wants.

Despite her tantrums, she's a delightful toddler. It's hard to believe that she's not a baby any more. Her cute voice is so adorable I find myself smiling and kissing her countless times during our days together. With Doodle in school five mornings a week, we're spending more quality time just the two of us, which is great. Needless-to-say, she will always be our baby girl.

Both of these were taken on Sunday, Sept. 26th in Center City.