Stone Soup...The Miller Family: Lauren at 19 months

Lauren is growing up and noticing the things that her big brothers and sister are doing. She, of course, wants to do what they are doing. If they are setting the table, she wants to help. If they are putting ketchup on something on their plate, she wants ketchup even though she has no idea what it is. If they are doing laps around the house, she starts running too. When I do Annie's hair in the morning, Lauren is frantically handing me the things I need to do her hair as well. When I finish with her hair, Lauren voices her approval by saying, "Veevee", which means pretty.

Her verbal skills have progressed. I now find myself having conversations with her. Below is an excerpt from a conversation we had this morning:
Lauren and I took an early walk because everyone else in the house was sleeping. We walked up to our new house and when we arrived ....
Lauren said, "Dada" (Oh, I know that place. It's where I see Dad a lot")
Me: "No, Dada isn't here right now."
Lauren: "Dada?" and she held up her hands the way she does when she's looking for someone or something
Me: "Dada isn't here right now. Let's go see him."
Lauren: "Dada nigh-nigh" (Dad is sleeping)

She has names for all of us and when she sees something that belongs to one of us, she will identify the object by its owner.

She loves to be outside. And she loves taking walks. Lately, Annie has been riding her bike around the block while I push Lauren in the stroller. Taking daily walks in the stroller keeps her happy. Often, the first words out of her mouth when she wakes up in the am or from a nap are, "bye bye?". And she really would be very happy to hop in the stroller or into the car at that moment.

We've gotten rid of the tray at the table. She wants to be a big girl and sit up to the table with a plate and silverware like the rest of us.

And she's still really stinkin' cute and we just want to eat her up!

She fell asleep on my lap on the boat in NC