Branstad Family: Lainey's Favorite Things

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens...Okay, so those are not a few of Lainey's favorite things. But these are:

Pony tails - She loves playing with my pony tail. When I have one in she says "Pa-Tee" (yes, it sounds like potty but she definitely means pony tail), points at it and motions for me to lay down so she can sit on my back and swoosh my pony tail around. She also asks for one in her hair by saying "Pa-Tee." Then once it's in, she admires it in the mirror. If I don't have a pony tail in, which is most of the time, she repeats "Pa-Tee" over and over, trying to convince me to put one in, and really how do you resist that? She's using her words!

Repeating New Words: She's repeating words like crazy so John and I really have to watch what we say now. Her vocabulary is expanding faster than I can keep track of. It seems like everyday she's saying a new word to identify something. Some of her newest ones are tree, teeth, oma, kitty, auntie (Ah-ee), pony tail (pa-tee), bubbles, Elmo, snack, piggies (of the toe variety), hooray, knees, nigh nigh, ready, and bread. I am in love with her little voice and her ability to communicate with us. It's so much fun to figure out her new words and see her light up when we understand her! But my favorite of her new words is "La-yoo" (love you). Along with saying it back when we say it to her, she says it at bed time when she wants me to sing the Barney "I Love You" song and I about collapse from the sweetness.

My iPhone: My iPhone is not just a desired object by Lainey because she can press the button, talk to Siri, and chew on it. Now when I get my iPhone out to take a picture of her, she ~~asks~~ demands one of her two other favorite things or both:
"Ah-ee" (Auntie) so she can FaceTime with Auntie Andrea or...
"Elmo" so she can watch an Elmo video on YouTube.
She made these connections after only a couple times of doing either one, which was surprising to me. It doesn't usually go well when I tell her Auntie's at work or no Elmo right now. So, I've decided I'm going to need to use the regular camera a little more often. Even when she plays with her own toy phone, when we ask her who she's talking to, she says "Ah-ee."

Eating: This girl loves eating. And sometimes she eats... A LOT. One morning, I kid you not, she ate one poached egg, one slice of buttered toast, two pieces of bacon, one banana, and some milk. Total clean plate club too. Is that normal??!!? Then there will be meals where she's not as interested so I don't get too worried, but man, she can pack it away some times. We've always let her take the lead when deciding how much to give her. Her doctor confirmed at her check-up this week that she's measuring right on track and there's nothing to be concerned about. Here's her stats for those of you keeping track at home: Height - 32" (57%), Head - 18 3/4 (84%), Weight - 26 lbs (87%). Her latest favorite foods are pizza (well, duh) and clementines. She can barely contain herself while we peel a clementine and gobbles them up.

Singing & Dancing: Her greatest hits -
Ring Around the Rosie: Somehow we figured out when she says "Reeyoo" and swings her hands around she wants us to play Ring Around the Rosie with her. So all three of us join hands and around and around we go. Lainey is thrilled the whole time and always watches us and then waits to see if we fall down and then she does too. When we're turning around in a circle together as a family my heart swells. This is the good stuff. This is the life.
Happy and You Know It: Lainey's a pro at this one. Full claps, stomps, and now she doesn't just throw her hands up at the Horaay! part. She shouts it, clear as day!
Wheels On the Bus: Starting in on "The Wheels On the Bus" brings a giant smile to Lainey's face. She knows what actions to do too for the wheels, doors, horn, and wipers.

Bubbles: This kid loves bubbles. So, I was kind of a clueless mom (per usual) and didn't think to add bubbles to her bath until a few weeks ago when I came across some bubble bath in a tote of her things. Didn't even know we had it. Hmm, Lainey might like this, I thought. Uhhh, you think? Poor child, deprived of a bubble bath until she was almost a year and a half. But no more. I don't think she'll ever take a bath without bubbles ever again. She requests bubbles at least once a day (usually lots more) and we have to tell her to wait until bath time. She has so much fun with them in the bathtub - gathering them in her cup, putting them on her ducky, putting them on her hair and tummy, and attempting to eat them when we're not looking. And she sits so nicely in the tub now too! Seriously, how did I not think of this before?

Climbing: First it was standing on her rocking chair. Then she mastered the art of climbing onto the couch and ottoman. And now, much to our chagrin, the coffee table. But here's the latest: After she threw a bunch of legos and blocks over the gate and down the stairs, she decided she wanted those toys back. But how would she get herself over the gate to get them? Lainey had a plan: wait until mom and dad are distracted with dinner, turn the Hello Kitty bucket over, push it toward the gate, stand on the bucket, and heave herself over the gate. She was attempting to put her leg up when we caught her. What a sneaky and clever little munchkin. We're going to have our hands full with this one.

Reading Books: Every night before bed we read books to her. She usually picks the books and her recent favorites are "Brown Bear Brown Bear," "Little Blue Truck," "Olivia," "Llama, Llama Nighty Night," and "Goodnight Moon." She's very engaged when we read "Little Blue Truck." She says "oh no!" when the dump truck gets stuck and flexes her muscles when big strong toad shows up to help. She's been pointing at things in books and identifying them and even laughs at some funny parts. She pulls out books to look at when she's playing and jabbers like she's reading and points at and names things she recognizes.

So those are a few of Lainey's favorite things at 18 months. And here's some snapshots and videos of the little goofer over the last couple months: