Seventeen Months

Phoebe's past month has been one of extremely rapid change. (Do I say that every single month?) She is so much less a baby, and so much more a little girl. And what a great delight this little girl is!


Some of the month's highlights:

Phoebe is...

• talking much more, and with much more clarity. It would be ridiculous to list all of the new words she has uttered in the past month. She is also much more willing to repeat words when prompted. Words she uses consistently are juice, drink, "ruff ruff", shoes, "shoo" (stinky), fish, duck, and more. Phoebe also says a lot more words that we don't understand, although she is very specific with what she's saying, for sure.
• signing "thank you" (finally!) -- I should note that it is so my fault that she hasn't learned this before now... she learned it the day that I started using it consistently with her.
  
• reading, well, all the time. Her attention span for books (and sitting still, in general) has greatly increased. We will often read together for a period of fifteen to twenty minutes at a time, at several different intervals during the day. I mentioned yesterday some of her current favorites.
  
• climbing (with boundaries), and spinning when prompted, on occasion.
• loving games like finding missing objects (Lamby and our cup are often the subjects of this game), and is in general "playing" more. She is beginning to pretend with some of her critters -- feeding snacks to a plastic lizard, sharing a drink with Big Dog, etc. She also has several special "friends" that she likes to kiss, hug, and wave "bye bye" to.
• loving to seek out Nora...by trying to take off Mommy's clothes. No really.
• helping with lots of chores in a sweet way: feeding Jake, sweeping, wiping/dusting, mopping spots with a wet rag, picking up toys, throwing things away, and helping with supper.
  
• loving girly things -- accessories, shoes, dresses, etc. She also gets very excited when we put on shoes, knowing that means we're getting ready to leave for somewhere.
• currently cutting at least one tooth (her fourth molar). I can feel that one for sure; it also appears that she may be cutting at least one more on the bottom, her first canine. We'll see what pops up in the next few days!
  
• using forks and spoons with some success at meals -- we're not pushing this. She loves to eat cereal with a spoon, and if the food is appropriate, we'll bring out a fork. She's much more eager to try new foods when it's offered with a utensil, though!
• about to drop her morning nap. We are easing into this by shortening her morning nap, but it appears that we will be moving to one nap full-time by the end of this month. Honestly, I think we're both ready for it!

There's really so much more... it is impossible to express what a delight Phoebe really is. She is truly a blessing to both her Daddy and me. I can't wait to see what new things she'll do this next month!

(Also, I go to the doctor this afternoon for my 32-week checkup... praying for a routine and uneventful experience!)