1 1/2

Time for a little Gigi update.

Lil' muffin is 18 months old.

And yep....I missed the monumental milestone when I left her for 10 days!! to go secure our new home  in Thailand before our move there in January.  It was the longest Ive ever been away from any of my kids and the difficulty of that was multiplied by the fact that Gigi picked this time to come down with a nasty cold and a double ear infection.  It was such a helpless feeling to have baby dear thousands of miles away and know there was nothing I could do about it.  Good thing Grandmoni raised 11 kids of her own....Gigi couldnt have been in better hands.  And sweet auntie Josie missed over a week of sleep staying up with a hacking, feverish baby!  

Not such a great way to celebrate turning 1 1/2!!

Ever since she turned 1, Ive been dragging my feet about her graduating to a "big girl" carseat.  I LOVED her pink frilly infant seat and just wanted to hang onto that last bit of "newborn" about her.

1 week old newborn seat

18 months toddler seat

And....the toddler carseat we have has been through quite a bit of wear and tear and abuse over 10 years of kids.

One of my vendors Kristin who owns Ever Sweet Baby Boutique set me up with an awesome carseat cover.  

Metamorphosis!

She loves her sweet new ride - can ya tell?

Got to recommend these great covers.  Find a cheap carseat at any Goodwill or garage sale and then spice it up with one of the dozens of patterns to choose from..  Ever Sweet Baby Boutique has designs to fit almost any model of carseat.  

In other news, she's not always as sweet as she looks.  

She may be cute as a button, but we have a piece of work on our hands.  

Im talking T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!  She was recently compared to a pterodactyl by a complete stranger when he heard her high-pitched shriek when she didnt get her way.  It is not a pretty sound.  In 10 years of parenting, Ive never had a child who knew how to pout like this.  We have had to implement some discipline measures as of late due to a very strong willed little curly-top cutie.  Can I just say how much Im not looking forward to an exhausting 36 hours of travel with a very vocal little 18 month old?!!
She may be a handfull, but she's the most snuggly baby ever when things are going her way.  The highlight of my day is holding her sleepy self and watching the sun rise each morning.

Halloween

She remains the apple of our eye.  She delights us daily with her giggles and grins and mischief.  She's pretty proud of her newly acquired skill....using her pudgy finger to move the slider and turn on mommy's iPhone.  She got a plastic Tinkerbelle phone for Christmas and isnt nearly as entertained pushing musical buttons as she is scrolling through my iPhone photos:)

She doesnt talk much.  You dont have to use too many words when you have 5 siblings anticipating your every need.  However, her vocabulary has grown to 4 words.  "Dada", "Thank You", "Doggie" and "Bye" with the longest southern accent you've ever heard.