Madeline: 18 Months

Madeline. 18 months and 3 days.

I promised a post and I'm delivering. 'Cause she deserves recognition for the major developmental milestone we've reached. Drumroll please. Ladies and gentlemen, Madeline Jane Lareau has slept through the night 4 out of the last 7 days!

Now before you start paging up screen and getting confused, yes, Madeline is A YEAR AND A HALF OLD. Some kids start sleeping through the night just a teensy bit earlier. Like, say, 16 months earlier. But that's cool. We have arrived and we are happy to be here. Just imagine the changes you may start to see in the Lareaus! The adult Lareau average bedtime may move from 8:30 to 9. Anything seems possible. And in all seriousness, everything they say about tubes/adenoid removal changing your life? True.

Front porch peek a boo.

Remember awhile ago when I posted about the boundless possibilities for the personalities of babies? How they're just a bundle of mysteriousness? Well, the mysteriousness is fading here and it is being replaced by big hugs, significant ornerinous, a huge sense of humor, lightning speed and lots of courage. She's at least as social as Meredith: she threw the doctor a fist bump today, unprompted. She also took 3 shots without a tear. She only runs, which means when she falls, she falls hard. We're working on learning to walk, if you know what I mean. She scales playground equipment that other children (we will not name names, but will whistle in Meredith's general direction) did not attempt until they were solidly 3.

The run. It is a serious run. If her shoulders are hitched up, she means business.

And did I mention that she snuggles? And puts her head on your shoulder, just like you used to imagine a baby would?

She likes to read often and repetitively and gets pretty mad if you don't acquiesce. She's an incredibly ornery eater and I spend far more time guessing what she might eat than actually feeding her.

The sense of humor.

Oh, and she loves her sister, especially delighting in picking her up after school. We walk around the corner of the building and our walking-training ends as she sprints to find Meredith and hug her.

There, a proper update. For posterity. For when she's president. Of a rock climbing club, or something to that effect.