Amalia is 18 months old! This post, and posts like it are mostly for me to look back and read about what my kids were like when they were little.

She is still super clingy to mama – she won’t let me out of her sight for one second. Sometimes its hard for me to get anything done with her hanging from my hip. She has stranger danger and doesn’t like when people she doesn’t know or isn’t as familiar with come up to her and try to interact. She buries herself into mommy or looks away and pretends she can’t hear them. She does like to wave at people as they pass by at the store though.

She has blossomed so much here recently, saying words and playing new games. Her favorite toys are her babies. She loves to put her dollies into their little cradle or car seat. Repetitive games are her favorite. She loves to do the same thing over and over – especially when it involves taking out and putting back. She puts her baby into the cradle, covers them with a blanket and then takes them out to feed them – and then she does it one hundred more times. She loves peek-a-boo and when I pretend that I can’t see her anywhere. Her little “Ta-da! Here I am!” look is absolutely adorable. Amalia loves to boogie. Musical toys are also at the top of her list of things to play with. Buttons are her jam. Anything with buttons that are within reach are her favorite. She says mama, dada and calls both of the boys sasas. Papa and nana, dat, sheese (cheese), and key (kitty). Baby, puppy, bye-bye, and night-night. She says other things too that are a little bit harder to understand, but she uses consistent sounds when she references them.

Amalia is going through somewhat of a picky phase. She prefers to snack all day rather than eat a meal. She likes macaroni and cheese and will usually eat a bowl full of that, but everything else that we have for dinner is picked at. She picks the cheese off of pizza, occasionally eating a whole bite but not often. She picks the cheese from the middle of quesadillas. I did make a sausage pasta the other night and she ate the tortellini shells. She loves crackers and yogurt. I have to ration her on yogurt because she would eat a whole box in a day if she could. She also likes dry cereal with marshmallows. She doesn’t care too much for applesauce but loves the baby food puree packets that you can get in the baby food aisle. She likes the blueberry apple and avocado or something with carrot and fruits. She loves fruit leathers too – I get a couple of boxes at Aldi and she loves those. and they last quite a while because there’s so many in a box. Her favorite drink is mango juice. She’s never been too keen on milk, but sometimes she drinks it. I’ve recently switched to Fairlife milk to see if she likes that any better. I have her take a gummy vitamin to help make sure she gets everything she needs.

Her little personality reminds me so much of myself. My mom tells me often “there’s her mommy” when she does something or makes a face. She has recently started rolling her eyes at us. The first time she did it, she threw her cup across the kitchen because it had water and not juice. I growled at her and told her we don’t throw things. She absolutely rolled her little eyes at me. I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. She did it again to her daddy the next day when he asked her to get her coat on and he had to get after her for not coming to him. Its a regular thing now. #miniteenager Maybe I should start to worry about her tweenage years.

I feel beyond blessed to have this little girl in my life. My little sassy ray of sunshine. I love you Amalia Marie.