Aydin at Eighteen Months

She covers her mouth when she smiles.

She has a somewhat maniacal laugh, almost deadpan-sounding.

She sometimes likes to walk in an exaggerated style on purpose, a la Monty Python.

She knows more words than I can count. She understands pretty much everything we say.

She says, "Kus" (pronounced "kush") for bird, since that's the word in Turkish. It's one of the first words I taught her over a year ago, only just now she's starting to pronounce it.

She calls herself "Ayda."

She likes Brussels sprouts. And broccoli.

She wants to be able to jump, but can only just rock onto her tiptoes.

She also wants to be able to put on her own socks, shoes, and zip up her jackets.

She still has a fairly wide force field / need for personal space. She gets very upset when other children get too close to her. She cries and makes a lot of fuss.

She loves her evening routine with Baba: tickle time on the bed, then a few books, then bath, then jammies, then a few more calming books, then Mama comes in to nurse before lights out. I love hearing the two of them laughing and playing in the bathroom.

Her favorite book is "Goodnight Moon." She goes crazy pointing out the kittens and the mouse.

We started swim class this week and she picked up kicking quickly (how's that alliteration for you all?!?!). She also swallowed water a couple of times but handled it ok. I think she's going to like the water.

Ditto with sand. We went to a sandbox last weekend and she really liked scooping it up and tossing it into the air (and her hair, her clothes, her shoes). She had sand in her diaper when we got home. How, I'll never know, under a puffy coat, a onesie, pants, etc...

She plays with stuffed animals, trying to dress them, kissing them, feeding them, and pushing them around in her mini-stroller. She talks to them in her own language, a dialect that tends to shift according to whichever letter she's working on at the given moment. Lately it's "f." So everything starts with f.

This morning she growled like a lion when she saw a stuffed lion in one of her picture dictionaries. It was the cutest growl ever!