More milestones: 17 1/2 months

Keifer is now saying "please" at the table when we're eating; it's so very sweet to hear. It sounds more like "piece" in all reality, but she's trying. She also says "Amen" at the end of her Thank You Prayer" book that we read every night as we tuck her into her crib (sans bottle (baa)) YAY!. She also says "excuse me" when trying to get by us or the dogs, although we're probably the only ones that can translate her language, and she often tells us "bless you" in her own language when we sneeze. I love that she's learning manners.

K has been a dickens lately at Elaine's: biting the top off of a marker, and getting the marks all over her body, clothes, the floor, her shoes, and her pal, Alex. Elaine has had to remind her many times to stop her whining and use her inside voice, which we also have been working on. Our girl loves to test the limits with her screeching, and sometimes when I'm driving with her in the backseat, she'll start screaming and then stop and smile when I look back at her. Of course, I tell her that hurts my ears, it's too loud, and I model quiet or whispering voices to her, while reminding her to use an "inside voice". However, this morning while I was showering, I wondered suddenly, does she really know what "inside" means? Hmmm. I know she knows "outside" - she begs to go outside on the deck on a nightly basis. I think we're going to have to start narrating "we go INSIDE the house now", to let her know her concepts of places.

I think that K is too smart for her own good, and all her whining and fussing is because she is just so damn curious about how things work and she so desperately wants to be independent, so of course she doesn't want us ruining her fun. I can imagine this age is a hard one to be: your little brain is working overtime learning new things, and suddenly you have all these big people putting restrictions on your fun!

Another past time of K's lately is climbing up our stairs at home to the second or third stair, and then turning around to smirk at us. We remind her to sit down or hold on to the railing and mommy or daddy with her other hand, but we get a lot of resistance with this activity. I just have visions of her tumbling down the stairs and cracking her head or breaking her neck. *sigh*.

Brushing teeth has been getting better. For some reason, our girl will let her daddy brush her teeth to no end, but mama has to struggle with her to get all her teeth. Is this as sign of our relationship to come? LOL.

K has also been much better about using her fork and spoon while eating. She is so obviously proud of herself when she's successful in spearing a piece of meat or veggies. We often tell her "good girl", so now she'll beam like the sun when she's got the food inside her mouth and then say "good girl" about herself. She hears us tell Sager that sometimes, so she is now familiar enough with the phrase to say it herself. Come to think of it, K has been more and more like a parrot these days. We have to start monitoring our language (giggle). I've caught myself slipping a swear word in here or there, and then hoping our girl hadn't heard me. Mama needs to watch out!