16 Months

Emma you are 16 months old!

This month:

~ you've started doing the most adorable thing EVER!  Whenever you're asking where something is, you'll put your hands out to the side as if you're saying "where'd it go?"  It started when the dogs were gone the weekend we were heading to Wimberley.  We walked in the door at one point and you put your hands out and said "woof woof?"  I think I laughed and cried at the same time because I was sad for you but it was oh so cute!

~ you learned where your ears and belly are.

~ you tried raisins for the first time on August 2nd.  The verdict: you LOVE them!

~ you had your first major sickness this month.  Boo!  Like I already wrote about before, you were originally diagnosed with strep on August 2nd, and then officially diagnosed with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease on the 3rd.  I'm so glad you're all better and I hope we don't ever have to go through that again.

~ one good thing that HFMD resulted in for you was your first and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th popsicle! (sugar free of course!) You ate that thing like a pro!

~ you started imitating one of our after-bath routines.  I've always sang a silly song to you whenever I'm rubbing on your lotion, so I was just waiting for the day that you would join in.  You'll get each cream from your diaper caddy, pretend to put it on (you just touch it to your hand) and then you rub your hands together and say "rub."  It's one of the cutest things I've ever seen and it makes me laugh every time!

~ you've started trying to put your socks and shoes on.  You're no where close to being able to do it, but we love to watch you try!  Sometimes you lose your balance when you raise your foot up in the air and I can't help but smile.

~ on the 18th you put your first puzzle piece in all by yourself.  Despite my efforts, you haven't ever been too  interested in puzzles, so this made me happy.

~ so I know I've already said that you've done "the cutest thing ever", but THIS is seriously the best!  Your Daddy can whistle really well (unlike your Momma!), so he taught you to "whistle"!  I have got to post the video because it cracks me up!  Your "whistle" is more like a high pitched hum, but it's the best!

~ on the 23rd you were officially tall enough to start using your princess ride-on car.  You know how to turn it and back up all by yourself.  Literally just 2 weeks before you were still about a half inch too short to reach the floor, so you would just push it everywhere, but not anymore!  I really think you've grown the most in the past month than ever before.

~ you can now correctly point to all of the Sesame Street characters, even Snuffy!  

~ 2 new teeth popped up!  Your Daddy and I are actually a little sad because they're on the bottom next to your middle teeth.  We love your 2 tooth smile!

~ you added a new sign to your collection: "book."  You like to look at books when you take a bath, so after one night of showing you, you were doing it the next night.  It took me by surprise, but once I realized what you were doing I got so excited!

~ you also added several new words this month: "go, gripe, up, mas, goldfish, gracias, banana (mamana),  rub, there he is, no"

~ the biggest news is you're officially a walker!  You started with one baby step on your 15 month birthday,  then on August 1st you took 3 steps!  From there you took 7 steps on the 5th and 9 steps on the 14th.  After that we stopped counting and on the 18th the game changed when your Daddy saw you stand up all by yourself without holding on to something.  I saw you do it on the 21st.  You continued to practice standing up by yourself and by your 16 month birthday I considered you a full time walker.  On that day you walked more than crawling and would stand up each time you fell.  We couldn't be any more proud of you!

Emma,

I just can't believe how fast you're growing and how smart you are.  You are literally learning new things every day and you are just amazing.  You bring so much joy into our lives and I don't know what we did before you.  I love you mucho, mucho, mucho!  

Momma