It seems 18 months is so much older than 17 months

Hazel is a little riot. Words don't come close to expressing the joy she brings into our home. At 18 months old, she can say more words than I can remember. This week she said watermelon unsolicited. I got her to do it again so I had some witnesses and others to acknowledge that it's absolutely adorable. She also started saying garbage and loves to throw things away for me. Her first word every single morning is "shoes". She loves her shoes and wears them all day long. She loves them so much, she took a few bites out of them within the last few months. Awesome. After breakfast, I change her diaper, change her clothes and put her shoes on. When I stand her up, she says, "ready!" She is entering her phase of independence and is vocal when she doesn't get her way. She loves to walk around and says "walk" when someone's holding her and she wants to get down. She often walks around with her stomach sticking out along with a strut that makes everyone smile. The icing on the cake is when she begins to swing one arm back and forth while walking. The faster she walks, the faster that left arm swings. She loves gum and was so proud of herself for finding it in my purse and eating it before I realized what was going on.

She has recently started holding my face in between her hands and pulling me close to her face. I love it. I then usually give her some slobbery kisses and she smiles. When Emma and Lucas were in town, I got lots of one-on-one time with Hazel. It was fun to slow down and take a few extra pictures of her.

A few weeks ago, she bent down to pick up a water gun at my mom's house. My mom was in a different room but saw her stand up before grabbing the gun, start taking steps backwards while saying, "bug, bug". Right next to the gun was scorpion. Earlier that week, we had a scorpion in our garage that Jason had killed. He showed it to Hazel and said "ow" over and over and told her not to touch those bugs. I am always amazed (and in this instance very grateful) at how smart kids are at such a young age and how well they remember. This pictures makes me laugh. She was holding so still to avoid messing up the sunglasses. She wouldn't even  move her mouth.

She got one of her bottom canine teeth in a few weeks ago and the other last week. The top aren't far behind. We took away her pacifier and it made me sad. We got rid of Clara's between 9 and 10 months. With Hazel, I've been worried if I take it away, she'll resort to her thumb. Plus, she only got it at nap and bed time. The other night I couldn't find it and decided it was a sign. While she was still fussing, I found it, but within minutes, she'd stopped. I was proud I stood my ground. She hasn't really missed it since her being sad that first night. I'll miss her huge smiles and belly giggles when I'd take it from her mouth with my teeth, but I'm glad it's gone. I just hope she doesn't resort to sucking her thumb. So far, so good.

She loves to rub her food in her hair. Usually she waits until she's had enough to eat and then she styles her hair with whatever she's eaten for breakfast. She loves Jason and asks for him almost every morning. She always wants to check and see if he's in our bed. She is pretty happy and easy going, but I have the hardest time getting her to look at the camera, not to mention smile. The plus side to this is that I have hundreds of pictures that show off her darling little profile. She's got the same head shape as Steven and I and I can't keep my hands off it.

She is still a good eater and loves her fruits and vegetables (for the most part). 

She knows what money is and says "money" when she finds any type of money around the house, real or fake. She's really into doing things to get a reaction. She will fake laugh while she's on the phone to Jason, blow air out her lips pressed together tightly (almost like spitting) and pretend to fall down, doing a full roll onto her back. That last one is especially entertaining on the tile since she uses caution with the hard floor in mind which makes her fake fall more dramatic and in slow motion. She can climb into the car by herself and loves to walk out to the car and take the big step down into the garage all by herself. She usually says "step" before she does it. She's officially in Nursery and went happily for her first official day. Halfway through, Jason found her hysterical and went in and comforted her. I have mixed feelings about her being in Nursery that are no different than pretty much every other phase of a child's life. I love to see my kids learn and grow and advance, but a little part of me inside just wants to cry. But I don't because there is too much joy and cuteness to absorb.