Baby Fig Newton: 16 Months and Counting

Wow- its hard to believe Dyllan is already 16 months old! I remember thinking it was so silly when people referred to their kids by "months old" after 1. But now I understand. Each month is really so different from the one before. 16 months is so much different than 15 months.. I can't believe how quickly they can change.

As I'm sitting here typing this- Like and successful woman- Dyllan is multi- tasking - coloring with her colored pencils in her notebook while playing the keyboard, talking to herself, and watching Hi-5.

This month has definitely been a fun one- with lots of changes and a new sense of independence and freedom. Dyllan can now push just about any object across the room- using it as her walker. Some of her favorite objects to push include chairs- her bug scooter, her horse scooter, her walking toy, the laundry basket, her toy box.. She doesn't let carpets or walls get in her way- in fact she has become quite skilled at maneuvering her walking devices around. Her little abs have to be working on overload! She cracks us up when she cruises down the driveway- doing little peel-outs to avoid running into things.

Dyllan is learning and talking. One of her favorite activities is reading- especially when it comes to learning new animals and their sounds. She now knows what a snake says... "ssssss", a Bear "rarrr", a dog "ufff ufff" (she says this one ALL the time! She loves dogs!)- a tiger also "rarrrr"- She can say "boo", "dog", "dada", "mamma", "whale", "uh-oh", "dis". She sings herself to sleep most nights. I can usually hear her chirping away for about a half hour before she drifts off to sleep. I still give her a bottle (with water and a splash of apple juice) at bedtime- I know I need to stop it.. but its become a big part of her bedtime routine- she grabs for the bottle- and is happily lying down drinking when I turn off the light. Maybe I should phase out of this habit- starting this month. She knows how to drink out of a sippy cup- and most of the time she drinks from that during the day.

Dyllan saw herself in the camera- and gave herself a smile.

Dyllan is mommy's little "helper". She enjoys sitting on the counter "helping" prepare dinner- or just eating whats on the cutting board- and making a mess out of the ingredients. When she isn't on top of the counter- you can find her in "her cupboard" which is the big corner cupboard with all kinds of neat things- beans, cans, crackers, baby bottles, sippy cups, raisins, pretty much anything thats not breakable- that goes in a pantry. She enjoys pulling each item out- one by one.. Her other favorite spot in the kitchen is the Tupperware drawer- although she's smashed her fingers one too many times shutting it- and its close to the oven- so I usually try to steer her toward her pantry.

Dyllan wheeled her bug over to her cabinet so she could sit down while playing. Smart girl.

She will play in her cabinet for a while- then this is what happens....

Climbing up me...

Monkey climbing a tree

This is what I get - a little green bug clinging to my legs.

Back to work.

Busy again.

Dyllan also loves to "help" with the laundry. Her favorite is when I dump a whole basket of laundry out- and let her sort the clothes- she usually starts by putting them on her head (her favorite is my underwear)- then transfers them back into the basket. I am not sure if she's trying to dress herself- or just being silly. But she does the same thing every time. Dyllan is also really helpful when we put on her dvd's. She will press all the buttons on the TV, DVD player, and remote if she can get to them. I have put up a barricade so that she can't get to them as easily. She still sometimes worms her way through.

Dyllan is a climber. Stairs, tables, toys, she climbs them all. She's gotten pretty fast at climbing the stairs- and if I don't look out- she is half way up them by the time I get to her. Although she knows how to back down the stairs.. I don't trust her yet. More often than not- she tries to go face forward down the stairs. She has no fear. Yet. Having said that though- she's been pretty lucky in the way of staying safe. She'd only had one big fall- and that was at kids club about 2 weeks ago- when she climbed up on top of the little picnic table- and fell off face first- landing on her nose. She got a bloody nose- and had a little cry- but by the time I came to get her she was happy as a clam- so nothing major yet- thank god.

At Monday playgroup- Dyllan surprises everyone with her energy. Having come from and hour and a half at the kids club straight to playgroup- you'd think she might slow down.. just a little. Nope. She doesn't stop. And lately, she doesn't even want to sit still long enough to finish her lunch. She prefers to eat on the go- a fist full of food while driving her mini car- or pushing her walker toy around. One dad told me something interesting this week at mom's group (well I guess its not mom's group- its playgroup- cause there is oneDyllan is working on that- but she cant purposely put them together. She kind of accidentally does. Then claps for herself and fake laughs! Hah. Another thing Dyllan has picked up: fake laughing. Its soo funny. Who is she trying to fool?!

Dyllan loves praise and attention. She looks for praise in everything she does. And if people are too slow to give her praise- she simply gives it to herself- by clapping her hands and laughing with bright happy eyes.

I would say her favorite part of the day is her bath time. She has learned to put her face in the water and blow bubbles. Each time she dunks under and blows a bubble- she pops her head straight back up- looks right over at me and smiles with this look in her eyes- as to say "ohmygosh, isn't that the coolest trick ever?! Aren't I amazing!! " so I clap and say "yay!!" and she claps too- so excited she could just squeal! She loves to splash- and make lots of waves in the tub. As you can imagine- I don't stay too dry. We have 3 books (all suuuupppppper boring!!) that go in the bath. They are each about 6 pages long- and only have 1 word on them. 2 of the books are aquatic animals (that don't make sounds- so I cant really teach her any new animal noises with these: starfish, seahorse, whale, fish, penguin, etc) and the third book is some baby bear who goes on a car ride. She has learned to do "fish lips" though!! I better see if i can find some new tubby toys. I am getting bored- but Dyllan is not the least bit sick of them. Ugh- same goes for her books on her book shelf. She wants to read them over and over and over again... Its time to hit the garage sales in search of some new books (cant really trust her with the library ones anymore- after "the incident".)

Just another Pig - out.

Dyllan's hair is finally starting to come in. She still gets mistaken for a boy- almost daily. Even when dressed head to toe in PINK. Are people really that dumb?! Just cause she doesn't have much hair- doesn't make her a boy. haha. It blows my mind.

Favorite foods: Pretty much anything she can feed herself. Avocados are still her favorite. She loves sweet potato fries, vegetables (any- as long as they are somewhat fresh and/or somewhat warm - or frozen), chickpea burgers, spaghetti, mushrooms, sushi (LOVES sushi!), popcorn, sandwiches (tuna melts, pb and jelly, avocado and Tahini), pizzas (apparently at daycare she asked for seconds! embarrassing.), anything from Yunny and Lozzo's house- cookies, muffins, bread, raisins.. I guess shes a pretty good eater. Although- when she is full- or done- or doesn't want something- she makes a spitting noise and shakes her head viciously in disgust. She will NOT eat that. She is stubborn in that way.

Dancing is one of Dyllan's specialties. She will pull out her sesame street keyboard and DJ while dancing for quite a while. Its so funny to watch her. Dancing doest stop with the keyboard. Whenever we are driving- and a song she likes comes on- she casually bops her head.. then gets into it- bounding and swaying to the beat in her car seat. Its so funny- but as soon as I go to take a video of photo- or even if we look at her for too long- she stops and pretends she wasn't doing anything. Maybe shes a little self conscious.

Although shes close- Dyllan is STILL. NOT. WALKING. 16 months. Almost there- but still not walking on her own. I tell the other parents at the park that she's too busy doing math problems and reading to waste her time and energy on immature things like walking. That usually shuts them up.

Dyllan is becoming more and more of a little person- with a mind of her own- will of her own- and a little sense of humor. She makes us laugh every day. Its hard to imagine life without this little clown.