It’s horrifying. Well, horrifying is a strong word. But I am somewhat aghast that I spent the last twenty minutes trying to find a recent update I wrote about Kensington since she turned one, and have found none. I managed to slip in an announcement she started walking but that’s it. So in honor of my baby, the second child who is renowned to be jilted on the memory-keeping, this post is a summary of Kensie Jane over the last 6 months because she is, as of January 29th, 18 months old!

To start, here are a few progressive pictures.

At 14.5 months she started walking and is now running. With a big brother chasing and tackling her (which she enjoys most of the time), she’s gotta be quick on her feet.

She’s my shadow and follows me everywhere. As moms all know, we inevitably gain bathroom buddies when we have kids, and well, this picture happened to be taken in the bathroom. Before you get to thinking she’s crinkling her nose for a legitimate reason, don’t. This is her normal crinkle face I was happy to catch on camera.

This picture was taken by Julie as Kensie was coming around a corner. It tells you a lot about my girl. First, she loves to wear hats. Anything that remotely looks like it can be put on her head lands there. Second, Kensie beats to her own little drum. Case in point: she’s always preferred to suck her paci upside down. I don’t know why, but even when I try to take it out and fix it (which I’ve ceased doing), she takes it out, flips it around and slips it right back in her mouth.

Some things to note about my sweet girl:

• She’s fairly fearless. She doesn’t hesitate to climb; will choose to go down any slide, the faster the better; loves to swing; doesn’t hesitate to hold a ladybug; rides horses; didn’t cry at the Rainforest Café with Popsie and Mees; and loves to be tossed high up in the air by Daddy. I have to make sure to buckle her in the grocery cart and her booster seat or else she’ll make it a point to stand up the whole time.

• At her 18 month checkup she weighed 23 pounds, 11 ounces (40th percentile) and was 33 inches long (85th percentile).
• She’s lost the strawberry coloring in her hair she had as a baby; now it’s full-on bleach blonde.
• In the last two weeks her vocabulary catapulted. Some of her regular words are bird, good girl, granola bar, hello, all done, bye bye (said dripping like a southern sweet-tea drawl), dada, momma, nigh-nigh, sky.
• On this day, February 5th, she told me, “love you” for the first time.

• She’s crazy about her Daddy, who takes her on dates like the Chick-fil-A Daddy-Daughter Date Night and the Daddy-Daughter Dance.

• When you tell her to take a picture, she nestles right into the person with whom she’s taking a picture and puts her hand around their shoulder.

• When Matt declares it’s time to take a bath or brush teeth, she’s the first one who dodges to the bathroom. She has an unusual love relationship with her toothbrush.
• Most of the time, she and Brennan play really well together, something that’s blossomed over the last few months. Brennan calls for her to come and stay upstairs with him to play. More often than not it ends in tears, but they get a good twenty minutes of happy time together. Her brother makes her world go round. He has no idea how enthralled she is with him.

• Kensie is ready for school; she’s a natural as she walks into Brennan’s classroom, confident in the routine and thinking she belongs there. Brennan’s teachers make Kensie feel very welcomed, pulling up chairs for her next to Brennan and kindly recognizing how she longs to be a part of his school. Always in her hand is his lunchbox which she carries in and out for him (also to note is her first official pigtailS were February 12th).

• She’s a girly-girl through and through. She loves to carry purses; wear hats; play dress up; rub lotion on her face and hands (an activity we could do together for a LONG time); sit and let me brush and fix her hair; and even let Brennan put makeup on her. One day last week she didn’t want me to put her tennies on, she specifically picked out her dress shoes (I’m in trouble!). She dresses much more fashionably and cuter than I ever do because 90% of her clothes have been graciously given to us by my good friend, Leah! I constantly have people compliment me on Kensie’s clothes. It’s mostly Leah’s doing, and I’m bound and determined to hire her as my own personal shopper soon as well.

(Brennan as a makeup artist.)

• While she’s a girly girl, she likes to get down and get dirty. She doesn’t mind dirt and playing with a bunch of dinosaurs, trains, and can hold her own with Brennan in a roaring contest. She loves to join in and play ball. I alternate between throwing the ball for Brennan to hit and tossing her the ball to catch. This is her ball stance. And catch and throw she does!

• Every time we get her from her crib, Kensie brings along her “Little Bear” and her blankie. If we’re in a store that has stuffed animals, they secretly call out her name to be loved by her.

• If she’s done eating, the meal is expected to be done for all. She’s not into lingering. Her dishes and placemat are immediately pushed aside while she declares, “All done.”
• Tuesday and Thursday mornings are Mommy-Kensie time while Brennan is at school. If it’s a pretty day, we usually have a picnic together. The prayer garden at Brennan’s school is our most favorite place to eat. If we need to be indoors, we usually eat in the entry way to Brennan’s school where they have an awesome aquarium and Noah’s ark art around the whole building.

• Much of the time you’ll find Kensington with a snack in hand; she’s a much happier baby with a full belly, and she constantly wants food. She’s more picky than Brennan was, but you can’t go wrong with cheese or yogurt. She’s my dairy queen. Bananas are her favorite fruit. She LOVES Chuy’s chile con queso.

• She has all of her teeth! Sometime this past fall, she was miserable and fussy All. Of. The. Time. Upon looking in her mouth, I was astonished to see she had grown EIGHT teeth in a matter of weeks! I couldn’t believe it. They all came in at the same time.
• She’s a chocolate fan. But I only know of a couple of people in the entire world that don’t like chocolate. She’s eager to grab any Starbucks drink I have knowing it’s hot chocolate.
• Thankfully she’s still a great sleeper through the night and takes 1 nap a day, about 2 hours long.
• If you catch her in the mood for it, she’ll snuggle with you. One of my most favorite things ever is she’ll be heading somewhere, either out the door to play or upstairs and I’ll say, “Bye bye.” She'll say, “Bye bye” back to me, wave, and swing back around to me for hugs and kisses.
• Kensie Jane is my imitator. Anything she sees me do she wants to do it: clean, give Molly water from her water bottle, put makeup on.
• The girl is low in drama (so far) and very even keeled.
• She loves books like her big brother.

• She and Ella Kate, a good friend next door, have a blast playing together and are sweet to each other.
• Little girl loves her Molly!

• Kensie Jane clearly knows what she likes and what she doesn’t, and she’s not afraid to let you know her opinion. She’s pretty independent and likes to try things on her own. Whereas Brennan is mostly compliant and eager to please, Kensie is going to be the one that pushes the limits to see how far she can go while she looks mischievously out of the corner of her eyes to test what our response will be. Oh, yes, she’ll be that child.

This picture, taken by a gentleman at our church, captures her so beautifully. My baby girl is now 18.5 months old. She’s full of sweetness and thoughtfulness. I’m beyond thankful for her joyful spirit, tiny dimples, wide smile, and soulful eyes. She’s pretty irresistible!