How is it that I already have an 18 month old and am due with a little boy this coming December? Our fearless, feisty, beautiful, incredibly smart, and brave girl was 18 months on August 6th (and in the interest of being timely… before she’s 19 months… here’s her 18 month update! Also, I apologize in advance for the photo heavy post but these are my favorites of her from 12 months through 18 months!). So much has happened between when she turned 1 (see Amelia’s 1 year update here) and now! She was discharged from outpatient PT early in the summer and now only has early intervention PT once every other week, she’s walking great (and has been walking since a little before a year), saying so many words (which is doubly impressive given that the right side of her face is partially paralyzed), she LOVES to read and to give kisses, has absolutely NO fear and walks right into the ocean whether or not you are holding her hand… in fact, she’d prefer that you were not holding her hand! She is so fiercely independent (good or scary or both?). She’s seen so many specialists (she still sees Pulmonology- but hopefully only once a year with one sleep study a year as well, Cardiology- also down to once a year now since she looked so good at her February visit- they think her VSD is now closed!, ENT- every 6 months or so depending on how she’s doing, Audiology- every 6 months, Plastics- has been about every 6 months- we actually just saw her Plastics Dr. a few weeks ago and he said she is looking great- still looking at somewhere around 8-10 surgeries and we meet with the entire Craniofacial Team in February for a full day of discussing and planning, she will have to see Orthodontics and Opthamology at some point but I’m holding off as they’re not critical right now, she also will see a Speech Therapist for evaluation- just in case- in September, and I already mentioned PT) and still she is so happy, even smiling at the doctors through their poking and prodding (unless they’re trying to look in her ears, she hates that). She was 22 pounds as of a couple of weeks ago and is growing like a weed! Amelia also became a big cousin in June to baby Faith and she loves her! She always wants to help her Aunt Tara feed the baby and is always trying to touch her face (and steal her toys!) or give her kisses. She loves to dance, listen to music, eat (though it has to be on her terms… again with the independence… I think cheese is her favorite thing right now, and bananas), and she’s turned into a pretty good napper (she takes about a 2 hour nap in the late morning) and a pretty good sleeper, too! She can be a wild woman, gets into everything, doesn’t like to be contained (we have an enclosure gate that we’ve actually had to tape together because she is also an escape artist), and though sometimes I can’t wait to put her down for her nap, I also can’t wait for her to wake up (sounds backwards, I know).
Amelia, you have brought me and your Daddy so, so much happiness and joy. You inspire us daily to be better people for you, you make me second guess about complaining about the small things because I think about how much you have to go through and I just think about how lucky I am to have you. You bring smiles to everyone you meet and Daddy and I are beyond proud of how much you’ve accomplished and grown in such a short time. I feel like you’ve been with us forever and I don’t know what we did before you. I’m so excited to see you become a big sister in December! I know you will love your baby brother so much and will be the best Mommy’s helper.
12 months, 11 months, 10 months, 9 months, 8 months, 7 months, 6 months, 5 months, 4 months, 3 months, 2 months, 1 month, birth story
Remember our first photos as a family of 3 (thanks to Richard Barnes)?! And Amelia’s First Birthday and her one year old photos (thanks to Donna Billingsley)?!
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❤Britt
