Checking in, every once in a while

At her 18 month checkup, Mads was 27.4 lbs and 35.5 inches tall.  She's huge.  She's smart.  She's full of personality.  She talks like crazy-- last night she said "Noooooooo.  I don't want that."  Clear as a bell.  I know she's my very own but I'm still totally impressed.  She loves books and music and babies and animals.  Her favorite foods are pasta, cheese, and a mash of beans and rice together.  She asks for "mas" cheese sometimes and it cracks me up every single time.  Also, she's very much in a monkey see, monkey do phase which means I constantly have to tell Animalia not to do certain things because the baby is right behind her, immitating her.  Like "please don't do a handstand because the baby is going to hurt herself copying you."  Animalia is mostly patient with this.

Animalia is amazing and hilarious and lovely too.  She's an excellent big sister most of the time.  We still work on the sharing things occasionally but she loves her "Teeny."  She's creative and smart and interesting.  Last night, she wanted me to tell her a bedtime story.  The story was about four princesses who slept when an evil princess came and said "You will sleep for a thoooouuuuusand years."  She even titled it, "The story of the four princesses who slept and came before the Sleeping Beauty legend, writed by Maya Manow and illustrated by Amalia Castillo Manow and Herminia."  By the time she was done describing the story, she was almost asleep.  A couple of words from me and she was snoring.

I can't believe how quickly time passes.  I'm just getting to that dangerous point where I hardly remember holding a tiny baby and where smaller babies make me pine a little.  But just a little.  I can't imagine having three to get ready in the mornings and still be able to get to work on time.