Little Shay 18 months Today

Wow this is a big milestone for our little one. She is so active and really coming into her own now. Everyday it seems she's saying something new. Usually needing a little translation of course. My favorite now is how she says Cora's name. She calls her Coco...which is pretty appropriate and actually goes together with her full name Shayniqua....(Just kidding). She is really into phones right now and I love it when she opens her play phone and says helwo. Funny thing how "they" always talk about the terrible 2's. For both of my girls right around 18 months is when they have a hard time getting their point across and start throwing fits. Right now if Shay doesn't get her way or if I'm not understanding her, she literally throws herself on the ground and starts fake crying. She loves her older sister and tries to emulate everything she does. She always is seeking approval from Cora, I guess because it seems Cora is always mad or frustrated with her for messing up or taking one of her toys. She loves a good game of chase and I just love they way she runs right now. She basically has one arm still while the other is going back and forth as fast as she can move it. She does have a favorite blanket that she calls gunk gunk...hmmm, I don't know where she got that from, but that's been what she's been calling it for awhile now and it's stuck.

One of the cutest things I love the most right now is one of Shay's bedtime rituals. Before Darryl left for Iraq last March we all went to Build-a-Bear as a family. The girls each picked out an animal (Cora picked Shay's since she was only 7 months) and then Daddy recorded his voice and a special message for each of them. Shay liked her lamb before we saw Darryl on R&R, but now it's like she cannot get enough of hearing his voice. I lay her down with her lamb, we say prayers, and then she wants me to play Daddy's message about 3 times. Then I go into Cora's room to say her prayers. And to our surprise everynight Cora and I hear Darryl's voice trailing from Shays room a couple more times. She's figured out how to press the button. It's So sweet and I love how she wants to hear his voice.
Even with Darryl experiencing less than half of her 18 months on earth, she still is Daddy's little girl. I can't wait to see what wonderful things she's doing when he gets home right before she turns 2 yrs old. ;)

*Shay reading to her Daddy Build-a-lamb.
PS Happy Birthday to my Dad yesterday!