another six months in the books. my gal, as of yesterday, is officially one.5 years.

no. big. deal.

i mean…i've (and farmer) just managed to keep her healthy and happy for her entire life thus far. we're basically like…the best parents ever.

and what a balance her farmer and i strike.

i spoil the shiz out of her and her farmer tells me to stop spoiling her…but then is super happy when he sees a trampoline in our backyard.

mixed messages, farmer. mixed messages.

so our gal is 18 months and if you remember…we were worried a touch with her lack of verbal skills.

well…girlfriend is picking up the slack. finally.
i've heard 1,000 times that once she starts talking i'll want her to stop. no. i won't. i know i won't. i would like kaye to communicate so that she can replace the fit-throwing with words at least 50% of the time.

kind of the same as when people told me i'd want her to be an infant again. no…never would i want kaye to be an infant again. i miss that stage exactly 0%.

so anyway, our turtle is talking and it's the best. and when i say "talking," i mean it's a loose interpretation of the word.

hi, bye, berry, banana, berry, dog, cow, car, brody, mom, dad…and i know there are more. this next month we'll be working on please and thank you. our gal needs some manners.
so she says these words but nobody would understand by just listening to her. that's the norm, right?

some other skills we've picked up this month? opening every door in the house. back door, front door, bathroom door…you get the idea. basically, we've gone from never locking our doors to locking them out of necessity of an escapee.

we've also taken down the gates to our stairs. my dream is one day (very very soon) i won't be able to find her. i'll go downstairs and there she'll be, playing nicely with her kitchen, 4-wheeler, train set, and her 800 other toys. then maybe she'll look up and say, "love you, mom." and then go back to what she was doing.

this is my dream. girlfriend just needs some free access, so i know it's going to happen. so far…no near-death experiences on the stairs. success.
the very best thing our gal has learned this month? pat-pats. we were having quite the issue with some serious hitting. whenever she was frustrated she came up swinging. i can't tell you how many times i've had my face rocked by those little hands. after weeks of practice, she's finally getting the idea that hitting is not okay, but pat-pats are. she'll walk up to me at random times and very gently, very softly pat me on the shoulder. pat me on my face. pat me on my leg. while she's patting, she'll whisper "pat, pat, pat, pat." i melt every single time. it's typically followed up by the hardest of hugs and a super wet kiss. i can't get enough of those kisses.
oh sweetness. through all the tantrums and all the slaps in the face and even though you were epically horrific in california while we visited sister kelli and uncle rob…everyone loves you so much. i even had people telling me every five minutes on the plane what a good girl i had. i smiled and said, "thank you," but we know the truth. i think we'll make it to your two year birthday because when you're good, you're the absolute best. we'll run with that.

keep up your hard hugs and your sweet cuddles, my love. even though the hard days are so hard (so so hard), the good days make it worth it x 10 million.