Letter to my 18 Month Old Sweet Girl

My Sweet Kayleigh Grace,

When you were a precious little newborn, I remember sitting in a friend's kitchen and listening to her tell me that each month would be more wonderful than the last. I thought she was crazy. How could the "Terrible Twos" be more wonderful than snuggling this precious, pink and wrinkly little bundle that smelled so good and felt so wonderful wrapped in my arms? In the months since then, you have shown me that she was right.

Each month, you add new and wonderful things to your ever-growing list of abilities, and each one is more exciting than the last. When you were six months old, you sat up and waved and we thought it was the most exciting thing on the planet. When you turned 1, you toddled around the house and bopped to your favorite songs, and we took hundreds of videos and played your favorite songs over and over. But now? Now you can dance. And you can tell me which song you want to sing. And you lisp your precious baby words along to the song, and it melts my heart.

My sweet girl, your are your daddy's and my greatest joy. Each night is filled with "Guess what Kayleigh did today?" and "Look at her! She's so cute!" Daddy and I love sharing in our love for you. We love your precious one-fingered kiss (no "blowing kisses" for you--you pop your pointer finger in your mouth, suck on it, and then send the kiss over to the lucky recipient. Don't stop that ever, please. I'll cry!). We love the way you greet us in the morning with so much excitement, and then immediately ask where the other parent is, too. We love your love for "pretty" things and laugh at the way you manage to carry a tube of Mommy's lip balm, a hair brush, and your plastic jewelry while pushing a baby stroller and acting like a mommy. We love your caring heart, and the way you greet kids with an exuberant "Hiiiiiiiiiii fennnnnnnd! (friend)" We love the way you get down on the floor to pat your crying baby friends on the backs and tell them "S'ok, beebee." We laugh every time we remember the day that Daddy was sick and you surprised us both by carrying his laptop all the way from the couch to our bed because you knew it would make him feel better.

Though you knew about 25 words when you turned one, there's no way we could count your vocabulary now. You are so intelligent that I don't consider there to be anything that you don't understand anymore. Many parenting books say to speak to your child in short sentences or one-word commands because that's all they understand. We disagree. If I say, "Kayleigh, where's your cup? Go get it--it's in the kitchen!" You'll come back with your cup. If I ask you to go get your shoes so that we can go outside, you come back with two matching sneakers and a big smile while squealing "Outside! Outside!" Your favorite is when we ask you to do something to be helpful. "Take these keys to Daddy, please," or "Can you please give this book to Mommy?" We've learned to watch the weight limit that we ask you to carry, though, because if it's too heavy for you, you sit down next to it and cry like you're brokenhearted about letting us down. It's sad and adorable at the same time--but it shows so much of your servant's heart!

Yes, we even love your "Stinkface!"

 You knocked my socks off the other day by counting to six when we thought you could only count to three, and since then, you've showed us that you can go all the way up to eleven. You love anything with color, and so far, you can successfully identify orange ("oink"), blue ("boo"), purple ("puhpul") and pink ("peek"). Your favorite is definitely pink.
Any time you find something pink (like my pink washcloth today, for instance) you get SO excited and point to it while dancing and saying "Peek!" so proudly. Ah, my heart. We love you!

Art is one of your favorite activities at home, and you get so excited when I bring out crayons, paper, paint, and glitter.  You decide who each artwork goes to, and you repeat their name over and over while you create.  "Ami," you'll say, looking into my eyes and nodding sincerely so that I get your point, "Ami."  Other current favorites are playing outside on our patio, where you love to play on the slide, decorate the brick walls with chalk, chase bubbles, talk to the flowers, listen for birds, and delight in our wind chimes.

Your contentment in your little world makes me so thankful, and I pray that you are always this joyful to spend time with your dad and mom.  You are God's greatest gift to us, and we are so thankful for you--for your beautiful heart and the glimpses we see of the loving young lady you will become. We praise God for you daily, sweet girl.





18 months in and I love you more than I thought possible when you were first born.  I only expect it to grow exponentially from here.

We love you!

Mommy