We were eating dinner last weekend and I looked over at our sweet girl and saw this:

“She looks like she’s being raised by wolves!” I exclaimed. Jonathan assured me that she did not, in fact, look like a homeless person or someone who lives in the wild, but I just couldn’t take it anymore. Our baby’s locks were out of control. I’d trimmed her bangs and yet it was still unmanageable at times and the wild look she was sporting pushed me over the edge. I grabbed the scissors, a towel, safety pin and the laptop computer. I told Beatrice she was going to get to wear a special cape and that she could see Minnie Mouse on the computer. As it turns out, Minnie Mouse is enough to keep her still! I pulled her hair into a ponytail, took a deep breath, and made the cut!

After four minutes of snipping and trimming, she no longer carries the glorious mullet of her youth. However, she doesn’t seem to mind and it is much easier for us to manage!

She also enjoyed sitting in the sink and taking photos with Daddy and Momma. We liked that part, too.

Hair grows back and for now, Beatrice has a cute little bob, in which she still tries to clip as many bows as possible some days. And I think I’m going to hang up my scissors and let a professional handle the job next time! Ha!

Beatrice you are now 18 months old (this post is a couple of weeks late, but still relevant as I’d like to remember some of these little things).

18 months old!

While you only just started walking at 16 months, it’s more as if you decided to show us you could walk at that time, for you never just took a single step, you simply began walking and running one day! We love it! Most afternoons, you wake from your nap and have a snack then proceed to make laps around the house. While you’re toddling, you most always sing a song. I love to hear you sing! So far, you’ve got a pretty good handle on The Alphabet Song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me, Praise Him Praise Him All You Little Children, Clean Up Clean Up, the Welcome Song from school, and a few others. You are also very good at memorizing things. You will repeat parts of books or bits from video clips we’ve watched and you say them almost verbatim.

On the move!

We go to school together once a week and you are really enjoying this part of our week! You are especially fond of the little chairs and tables. Each time we go, you walk all around the tables, pulling out the chairs and saying, “Just my size!” and then moving to the next table. During our two hours there, we have open play time, where you enjoy the rice table and trains and playing with all manner of blocks, cars, balls and the various art projects for each week. I think painting might be your favorite activity. Pretty much every art project is for Daddy. Daddy’s office is going to be full of your artwork by the end of the year!

"For Daddy! For Daddy!"

You are cheerful from the moment you wake up in the morning. In fact, if we hear you stirring and you’re fussy, we know you’re not ready to be up yet and we rock you a bit and have some cuddles. I love these times, but they don’t happen often. You play hard all day long, sleep well at night and wake up in the morning singing or saying “Dadddeeeee! Dadddeeeee!” in the most chipper little voice. Sometimes, I wish I could just bottle up your little voice and have you keep it forever. I do know this might cause you problems in the future both socially and career-wise, so I’m choosing to enjoy these days as they come.

Reading!

Books are some of your favorite things. This summer, the library had a reading program for preschoolers and the challenge was to read 20 minutes each day. We read about two hours each day. I am so happy you love the library and that you love books! We did have a little situation at story time a month or so ago. The librarian was reading a book and there was another child near you playing with a ducky toy that you were admiring. When that child got up to run around a bit and his Mom left his ducky unattended, you thought that meant you could go for it yourself. I had you stay on my lap as this particular librarian does not like it when children are running about during story time. You did not like this and proceeded to cry and cry. The librarian looked at me and said, “Uh oh! Some one’s having a problem!” which naturally embarrassed me to no end. For the next two weeks, you would say “Uh oh! Problem!” when we went into the library. I was a little afraid you were going to have some hard feelings about the library, but you seem to have recovered nicely.

You also really love letters these days! You are constantly asking to play “tomanagrams” (bananagrams) or “bagel” (boggle). You like yelling out a letter and then pulling each of those tiles into a pile and counting them up! It’s adorable.  A couple weeks ago, we were cleaning up after playing with Bananagrams and I noticed there was a tile under the coffee table. I picked it up and opened the bag to put the tile in and all the other tiles came rushing out! You stared at me and said, “holy smokes, Momma!” and it was all I could do to hold in my giggles. You graciously helped me to clean up again before we moved on with the next activity.

So sad!

The other milestone you reached lately is having your first time out. You were coloring with your crayons and the contents of the box had spilled out on the rug. While I was cleaning them up, I thought you were helping, but instead you were taking the crayon of your choice to the couch so you could draw on the cushion! I was so shocked, I almost didn’t know what to do with myself, let alone how to respond to you! I decided you would need  to sit on the ottoman while I finished picking up the crayons. I explained to you that you were in time out and that I really love you and I appreciate your adventurous spirit, but you needed to sit on the ottoman while I finish cleaning up because I can only be in one place at a time. You did not like this one bit. I believe you were mostly upset that you failed to get your ducky blanket to hold while you watched me clean.

Little helper!

In the last few months, there hasn’t been a day that goes by without you asking to go outside. Generally, the phrase is, “Go outside? Find some dirt?” We spend a great deal of time outside and it pleases me that you enjoy being outside whether it’s at the park or in our yard. And yes, we are often in the dirt. Lately, you’ve helped me to clear the vegetable garden in the backyard and plant some autumn flowers in the front yard.

Pumpkin time!

We sure love you, Beatrice! It is a joy to spend our days with you!