16 Months

Today I have a sixteen month old, and she is delightful.  She is curious, chatty, energetic, messy, and still loves to cuddle.  Her brain development has been in overdrive this past month and it's fun quizzing her as she proudly points to body parts (yours and hers), animals in books, and follows commands.  This kid understands way more than we realize and that little mind is picking up on new things and constantly surprising us.  She loves to mimic language and it's hilarious watching her try to copy longer, trickier words.  She also loves to mimic our actions and can often be found wiping down her high chair tray (she sees me do it a lot), "talking" on the phone, and picking clothes out of drawers.

While she's usually very sweet, her stubborn side comes out too during this age and tantrums are a part of daily life as well right now.  Usually she's angry about what's for dinner, but if that silly girl would just TRY what we're having, she generally loves it and will keep eating.  Some nights though, she would rather scream in terror and push the food away, never giving it a chance no matter how delicious it is or that it's made of ingredients that are her favorites.  

Favorites: Running off with the remote control, her swing, going to bed (she gets excited when we put her in her crib at night and waves and says "bye bye!", ready to get rid of us so she can go to sleep), beat boxing, watermelon, oatmeal, her teddy bear, pointing at everything, checking the mail in the afternoon, shopping at Target (aka running up and down aisles), planting flowers (playing in dirt), and giving sloppy open mouthed kisses

Dislikes: having her hair washed, having her hair put in a ponytail, new foods, diaper changes, and when breakfast is not served immediately upon waking

Milestones: Kate still has eight teeth, we keep waiting and checking for those pesky molars due to break through next.  Kate's vocabulary is growing, but she has to be in the mood.  Sometimes she doesn't feel like playing "What's this?" or "Who is that?" even when we point to things she knows.  Words she has used correctly include: Mama, Dada, bye-bye, duck, dog, bird, ball, nose, uh-oh, milk, choo-choo, and when I ask what sound a cow makes she's very close to having perfected a "mooooo" sound, it's more of a cute, drawn out "mmmm!" sound right now.

I'm excited for the summer and all the upcoming chances we will have for Kate to play outside, go to the beach, swim, visit family, and continue learning and growing.  There's nothing better than her running towards me in the afternoon at daycare with her shirt covered in stains, her hair sweaty and curly from playing hard outside, and her huge grin excited to see me again with outstretched arms.  I love this stage and I love this girl!