For starters, Gretchen runs everywhere. She is a fast little girl, and quite graceful at times. She can find the balance that she needs if she gets going too fast.
She repeats words that we say, and although they don't sound exactly like what we're saying, it's pretty darn close. A few days ago I was reading about a speedy turtle that go, go, goes...and she repeated, "go, go, go" clearly. She's just so smart.
Gretchen is strong and can pull herself up onto the couch or into any chair. I have walked in on her standing up in our glider chair in her nursery before...almost gave me a heart attack. She is our little monkey.
Gretchen's favorite activity to participate in lately is reading. She will sit in her little chair in the living room, grab her big tote box of books and drag it over to her chair. She will then sit there for literally 20 minutes (no exaggeration). Nate and I are purchasing a nice plush low-to-the-ground rocking chair for Gretchen. It was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but we're thinking it will be a gift that comes sooner than that. She just loves to sit and deserves to have a comfortable chair she can sit in at her own house.
Gretchen's personality is hilarious, still...She will make you laugh within the first 10 seconds of meeting her. She has a scrunched up nose when she smiles and laughs and sometimes she even lets out a snort. She was just born to have fun - careless, silly, genuine fun.
She loves to carry handbags, tote bags, baskets and buckets on her arms. Then, she'll walk around the room shoving things into the bags, buckets and baskets. She'll remove the items, place them back in, remove, place them back in, etc. It is a very fun game for her and after reading about where she should be developmentally, it's actually what they say children her age should be doing! Too funny that children all over the world are doing the same thing in their homes.
She loves to dress up. Some days she will come out of my room wearing one of my shoes or a shirt of mine draped over her neck. She'll be wearing one of her hats or her bike helmet. She likes to wear bracelets, necklaces and sunglasses. I see a dress up box in her near future. I might try and grab a piece or two from each of her special family members to make the box extra fun and meaningful for Gretchen.
Gretchen ate peanut butter for the first time this month and had no allergic reaction to it. It was a relief that there was no related food allergy, because you hear all of these stories about how terrible it can be and how common it can be for a child to eat peanut butter. We can check that off our list of worries! She loves to eat peanut butter and crackers, which she'll cram together to make one peanut butter cracker sandwich! If you put two crackers together and give them to her then she'll twist them apart and lick the peanut butter right out. I love to watch her learn and explore.
She's on whole milk now, too, which is a big step. We're doing lactose-free whole milk, because she is lactose intolerant, but at 18 months I plan to try regular whole milk again in hopes that she has outgrown the lactose intolerant title. She loves cheese, but she can't eat it due to side effects. Hopefully she will out grow it soon, poor girl!
Speaking of "milk..." She actually signed the word in sign language today while I was getting her some milk. It's wonderful that she can communicate with us. She points to what she needs and we are able to easily meet her needs. However, if she doesn't get her way then she is quick to throw a fit...we're working on that. ;-)
She is drinking 16 ounces of milk a day and 3 solid meals, as well as 2-3 snacks per day. She really loves to eat now, but every day her tastes change, so it is hard to pinpoint what she might want to eat today versus tomorrow. Right now she loves (low sodium) ham, turkey hot dogs, and pasta. She loves grapes, blue berries, strawberries, bananas and olives. Raisins are a favorite, too.
Here are some pictures of our beautiful little girl. We love her more every day, she's amazing and fills a void we never knew existed in our lives before we met her. We love you, Gretchen! XO
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