Despite the enormous vocabulary she displays, Frannie still has one word that we can't understand at all. It sounds like "lello" or "lallo," but seems to be mostly used to mean "my turn," "I want that," or "Mom, you're doing this all wrong!"

Monday, Frannie had her 18-month appointment. 31.9 inches tall (50th percentile), 22.5 lbs (19th percentile). So, average height and lean. Still a big headed kid, too.

She wasn't terribly compliant for the check-up, but we brought along her doll, and once she could see what was going to happen to her first, she was better (not perfect, but what can you expect at 18 months).

Oh. My. Goodness.

We are in a word explosion from Frannie!

She's been pretty chatty ever since figuring out "uh-oh," but in the last week, we've been hearing multiple new words, every day. Today it was "pumpkin" (a book), "push" (wishing the door would open), "mayo" (tomatoes in our garden) and "Datie" (my name, sort of). We had the idea on Friday to start keeping track, since her 18-month appointment is coming up soon, and were quickly floored by the number of words we were adding. We're definitely not worried about her language development!

Sleep for Frances

Naps and bedtime have suddenly become easier for all of us, though whether the change is because of Frances' maturity or our tolerance for whining is certainly up for debate.
This means we have our evenings again, and I am definitely not giving those back.

Frances has begun prefacing every request *cough* demand *cough, cough* with "I need..."
This means that "I want water" comes out "I need water,"  I want more as "I need more," and the regular request for a cookie as the 2,000 decibel "I Need Cookie!" At least, that's what it feels like.

Thankfully, the request for cookie is met by cereal, so we aren't yet raising a future sumo wrestler.

She has also started using her own name when describing what she wants to do, although almost exclusively in the context of sitting down/getting up on the couch. Since she hasn't mastered the "fr-" combination, her name comes out as either "San-ces" or "Ses-ses," but the sight of her proclaiming "Frances sit down" as she gazes plaintively at the empty sofa next to you would melt the heart of the most hardened individual.

A-choo!

or, possibly, shoe. It's nebulous defining words around here these days. Sort of a craps shoot, really. Back when she only had 30 words to her credit, telling what she was saying was simply a matter of deciphering "more" from "apple." Now, apple sounds like open, which sounds like help, and often is a close cousin of up. Pretty much the only word that doesn't get confused is nurse, which is accompanied by manic signing and even more manic grinning.

Frannie has been walking around the house with a remote control in her hand, usually up on her shoulder. This evening, I noticed that she was repeating, "hello, hello" with the remote on her shoulder - I'm pretty sure she thinks it's a telephone. That, or she's learning to do imaginative play, which would be adorable.

It's worth mentioning that we don't have a land line at all, and our smart phones look nothing like the remote control, so her actions of punching the remote buttons and then propping this huge thing on her shoulder must be learned elsewhere - if she were copying her parents, she'd be holding an Altoid tin and sticking a piece of dental floss in her ear!

Last Friday, we were counting the number of steps Frannie could take in a row before plopping to the ground. (9 was the record at that time) Tonight, she's practically running to the stairs when "Bappa" opens the door, and walks all over the house. What a difference a week makes.

Frances has adapted the sign for "all done" into a one-handed, dismissive wave. This has the effect of making her look less like a communicative toddler, and more like a displeased monarch, sending away a particularly unpleasant subject.

Last Thursday, Frannie took her first steps - and I was up on stage, cleaning up from a choir concert! She took two steps that night, and four more the next, but then I got "greedy," and tried to convince her to keep going, and she fell down flat. Ever since, she's really much more interested in walking with a finger to hold.

We were keeping track of Frannie's words informally, in our heads - and then Sarah wrote the list down, and we realized her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds.

Her most recent addition is "book," which is used with increasing frequency now that her books reside in the living room, near her play area. With a two-teacher household, we suspected we'd be raising a bookworm, but had no idea she'd be so book-crazy before she was 1!

Reading "Happy Birthday, Little Pookie" in the car - on the drive home from the bookstore.