Sixteen Months

This past month has gone by especially fast...it's hard to believe we're already at the 14th of the month again! Phoebe changes more and more every single day; I'm going to try and document a few more of the fun things she's doing now that she's a big sixteen month old.

Phoebe is...

• saying more words, including: all done, nay-nay (we are almost certain this is her paci), that, moo; she has also started repeating things more, something she wasn't interested in before. The sweetest word she has repeated? Kisses. Phoebe continues to be very communicative, if not using a great many words -- and has really started jabbering nonstop. It's only a matter of time before we understand her!
• 100 percent DONE with the b-o-t-t-l-e. She does still drink a few ounces of PediaSure or milk from her cup at bedtime.
  
• walking, running (!), climbing, dancing, and walking backwards.
  
• loving books even more! She is now willing to sit still in a lap for up to three (short) books on a variety of topics. Her favorites are still animal books, but one of her story Bibles has gone into the rotation as a favorite as well. She loves to flip each and every page on her own, too, and say "all done" when she is finished.
  
• specifically identifying pictures of animals, household items, etc. She loves to point out things that she knows in books -- bananas, strawberries, flowers, bugs, etc. She has also started using her pointer finger very intently, rather than just her whole hand to point.
• showing lots of body parts to us, such as her ears, nose, mouth, head, hair, tummy, toes, and knees. (These are the ones she does with some consistency.) She also loves to point out Mommy's tummy, and will kiss Nora at a mention of her name.
• still taking two naps a day, fortunately! We had some question of this in the middle of the month, but we have worked back onto a schedule of two naps. (Mommy is thrilled.)
• learning to eat with a spoon with great success. Forks are next!
• cracking us up by smelling things. She makes an exaggerated "sniff" and will smell flowers and pictures of flowers, and other "smell good" things.
  
• loving nature, animals, and being outside. She will gesture to go outside often, and we've added a morning walk to our routine. Phoebe carries her little bucket and collects nature items -- leaves, stones, etc. It's become a sweet part of our day!
• easily frustrated when she cannot "exert her independence". This comes when she gets stuck someplace, can't get to something she wants, or can't accomplish a task quickly. She has, however, developed a longer attention span for puzzle-type tasks.
  
• the owner of two more teeth this month, including that missing bottom tooth. It came in two days ago! (She also has one more top molar that is about halfway through the gums.)

Of course there's more, but the list has to end somewhere!

Also, for interested parties -- I have a Nora appointment tomorrow, so I'll give a newbaby update then!