18 Months

At a year and a half, Aspen can take herself quite seriously. Her furrowed brow is actually "her" look,  it's something she's done since the day she was born, and I actually don't think it's quite as stern as it looks, it's just a default position she goes to when she's thinking.

But she is sweet and snuggly, too.



And inquisitive, she's getting more and more mobile, climbing, running, and figuring her way out through the world. Fortunately, she has a good mentor.



She can be silly and playful



...and demanding. (Daddy's apples are a favorite treat.)



It hurts her feelings more and more to be left out of the big kid games on play dates. She adores her big sister, and wants to do whatever Sabine is doing, and be wherever Sabine is. Big sister is quite indulgent, but does occasionally take a little time for herself, much to Aspen's chagrin.



One of their favorite pastimes is dress-up. Both girls love accessories, and I think Sabine is finding that the best accessory is a willing mini-me. They often have pulled out and tried on every hat and shoe in the house before 8:00 AM.



Besides Sabine, Aspen loves all things Elmo (especially Band-Aids), she loves vitamins, her stuffed goat, cheese crackers, Baby Signing Time videos, her babysitter Amanda ("DA!"), and playing in water. She and Sabine share a shower most nights, and they have a good time arranging shampoo bottles and wash cloths. Aspen's vocabulary is increasing, her new favorite word is "mine," and she is enunciating more and more. S's still give her trouble, so we haven't heard "Sabine" yet, but it's got to be coming soon.

Aspen has also recently developed a passion for rocking chairs. She will sit in one any time, anywhere. It's a good thing, in many ways, that Sabine's preschool days have come to an end, one of those reasons being the kid-sized rocking chair near the door. It's become a daily battle to get Aspen to leave that rocking chair. She's now immune to my threats of leaving her behind.



She seems to be coming out of a separation anxiety phase, she said "bye bye" and waved happily the last time we left her with a sitter, instead of crying. We rock her to sleep, we have her whole life, but just the other night I tried to sit down with her in the rocking chair and she sat up and pointed at the crib and said, "Nigh Nigh!" (night night) so I put her in the crib, fully expecting her to play for a minute or two and then cry to be picked up, but no, she just rolled over and went to sleep! (Since then she's let me rock her again, but we're wondering if it's a sign of a new phase.)

Both girls' hair seems to have gotten lighter this summer. Aspen is basically blond right now, and Sabine has lots of blond highlights. They both love being outside, and we take our three watering cans out every day. Mommy waters the flowers in the pots, Sabine waters her fairy garden and the grass, and Aspen waters the sidewalk. Everyone has fun!



It's been fun to see the girls grow and develop together. We are so happy they are so close and play so well together. It's been a good summer, and I think they are going to miss each other when Kindergarten starts on Monday!



P.S. We had Aspen's 18-month check-up a couple weeks late, but here are the official stats:

Height: 32" (51%)
Weight: 19lbs 13 oz (11%) YAY, double digits!
Head circ: 18.75" (82%)

Not too dissimilar from Sabine at that age.