tomorrow is ella’s 18 month birthday. she’ll officially be a one and a half year old, for all of you who hate the mommy math month breakdown routine (you know who you are!).

she’s gotten to be such a big girl these past few months, it’s amazing. her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. the other day she started putting word combinations together. where’s daddy? where’s mommy? where’s fargo? her nosiness runs in the family, so it was no surprise when she picked up on the “where” questions. she also enjoys looking out the front window and through the screen door to see what’s happening outside the house. i can’t imagine where she gets that from….

her hair is so long now! a full shag-do all around. at best it’s only a partial mullet. her bangs are finally starting to catch up with the hair in the back. we’ve taken to pulling it all up into a pebbles-style do on the top of her head. only people under three feet tall can pull off that look, so she’s going for it.

the best thing about her, though, is her laugh. she’ll get tony or me to chase her around the house so we can catch her. then we play tickle monster, which she loves. from there it’s all laughing until snot comes out of our noses, then it’s back to running around the house. she has a very specific pattern: downstairs it’s circle through the dining room, foyer, kitchen. stop to play in the pantry until discovered, then circle around again. the pantry is a favorite spot for humans under three feet tall, for some reason. i think it has something to do with the proximity to oreos, but i could be wrong.

the other best thing about her is her snuggles. every night i change her for bed, she hands me her blankie. then i pick her up and she snuggles the blankie and puts her head in the crook of my neck. all i have to do is turn my head and get a big whiff of baby hair, which is lovely (after a bath, not so much so on an ‘off’ day). she worms right into my arms and we rock and cuddle and say ‘ni-night’ before i slip out of her room. that’s the best feeling on earth, hands down.

mmmm. warm fuzzies everywhere.