Bao Bao
Bao Bao, the National Zoo's youngest giant panda, turned 18 months on Monday. Smithsonian's National Zoo

The National Zoo's youngest giant panda, Bao Bao, has reached a very important milestone in her life. Bao Bao turned 18 months on Monday and will soon live on her own. The zoo in Washington D.C. has been weaning Bao Bao from her mother, Mei Xiang, for a few months and the giant panda spends around six hours alone, the Washington Post reported.

"They [Mei Xiang and Bao Bao] will spend increasingly more time apart until Bao Bao is living on her own. Bao Bao has been doing well during the time she spends apart from Mei. Our panda team expects that the process will be complete in early March," the National Zoo explained. Bao Bao was born on Aug. 23, 2013 and was Mei Xiang's third panda cub birth. The zoo artificially inseminated Mei Xiang using Gao Gao, a giant panda at the San Diego Zoo, and the National Zoo's Tian Tian, and tests proved the latter was Bao Bao's father. At the time of her birth, Bao Bao weighed 8.4 ounces. When she turned 100 days old, she was officially named Bao Bao in a public ceremony.

The zoo's giant panda program is part of the Giant Panda Cooperative Research and Breeding Agreement. The giant pandas are on loan to the zoo from China, in what is known as "panda diplomacy." "Many people don’t realize it, but there are actually two Chinese ambassadors in Washington: me and the panda cub at the National Zoo. The cub, which on Sunday was named Bao Bao, is the first baby panda blessed by the first ladies of China and the United States on the 100th day of its birth," Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the United States, said in an op-ed published in the Washington Post.

To celebrate her soon-to-be freedom, let's take a look back at some of Bao Bao's best moments. The giant panda has a penchant for falling and, if you want to be a bit harsh, maybe not being the sharpest bamboo in the forest -- as some sites have implied. You can watch the National Zoo's Panda Cam here.

Bao Bao's First Snow Day

Bao Bao's First Birthday

Bao Bao's First Steps

Bao Bao Meets The Press (And Falls)

Bao Bao And Mei Xiang