Andrea & Isaac : BRITTA: 18 Months Old

RICHLAND, WASH. -- Sweet Britta is taking on lots of personality and trying to hard to figure out how to move around these days. Though she doesn't walk, the girl can cruise confidently. Her physical therapist made her a set of parallel bars out of PVC pipes, and she can walk up and down them over and over again. She wants so badly to stand and walk. Her little feet are just too weak still to support her. But she's trying, and that's the important part.

Since she doesn't walk, and doesn't have much hair (poor kid), she seems more like a baby then she really is, I think. She is old enough now to go to nursery at church, so Isaac has been taking her the past month. Even though she can't really defend herself in there and will get plowed by some of the bigger kids, we felt like it was important for her to go in on time since mentally she is just fine. It's important for her to socialize with kids her own age and try to figure it all out. But we aren't quite comfortable leaving her in there by herself yet.

Eighteen Month Old Stats:

33 inches tall (82%)

18.9 HC (88%)

23 lbs. (53%)

Sleeping: Goes to bed at 7 and wakes up around 8 or so. Has a nap around 12:30 or 1 and sleeps for at least 2 hours generally, often three hours.

Wearing: 12-18 or 18-24 month clothes. Sometimes to match her big sisters, she wears a 2T, though it's pretty baggy.

Interesting Tidbits: Her favorite person lately is Paige. When she wakes up in the mornings, Britta will immediately say, "Pay?" She wants to know where Paige is. And if Isaac leaves the room she will immediately inquire, "Dada?" She wants to know where everyone goes and what they're doing. She doesn't say Marin very often and it makes Marin sad. Marin is super motherly to her and always wants to carry her around and help her.

Our favorite thing we like to do with Britta lately is let her ride her little bike. She has this cute little red ladybug bike that we bought for Marin (and Marin and Paige both hardly ever used) when she was Britta's age, that she can cruise around in like nobody's business. It's almost like it's her little wheelchair. She can maneuver the thing really well, but if she ever gets stuck she'll screech, "STUUUUUUH!" She wheels that thing all around the kitchen and all over the downstairs and loooooves it. She will often go so fast that she works up a sweat riding it.

She tries to say almost everything, but it's generally just the first syllable or consonant of any word that comes out, though her vocabulary is expanding pretty good and she's getting slightly more understandable.

Britta loves to laugh and be goofy with her sisters. But if she's tired or not in the mood, she likes to belt out a good screech and push away people who get too into her zone.

She's also super territorial and if anyone besides her climbs into my lap, she gets jealous and tries to push them out. So this next month with a new little sister on the way should be an interesting one.

The poor girl has had a chronic runny nose for nearly a year now. We've taken her to specialists and tried numerous things, but to no avail. Allergies and enlarged adenoids are suspect, but allergy meds don't seem to do a thing. So every time we go outside (which is her favorite place), her eyes immediately water and her nose grows increasingly runnier. Hopefully we'll be able to figure out the culprit one day.

We sure love this little girl!