Today our little self-feeding, yogurt-loving, mess-making monster turned 16 months old.  I truly have loved every stage, but she just seems to be getting more and more fun as time goes on.  Here’s what she’s been up to this past month…

Gracen loves:

• Pillows (they automatically make her roll around and rub her face into them)
• Being read to (she’ll often sit with you for 10 consecutive books if you’ll keep reading)
• Being in the bath (splashing is her new thing)
• Music and dancing (she often requests that music be turned on by doing an enthusiastic fist pump dance)
• Oranges (especially the baby sugar mandarins that seem to be everywhere right now – by the time we check out at the grocery store, she’s normally already eaten 3)
• Being a little helper (whether it’s making dinner, folding laundry, or unpacking groceries, she’s ready and willing!)
• Putting random things in bags and carrying them around the house like a purse
• Eating crunchy foods (crackers, seeds, and nuts are her favourite)
• All shoes (especially her gumboots)
• Lift-the-flap books (although we almost always have a couple “off limits” and  in need of repairs)
• Bowls (filling them, stacking them, emptying them, and just carrying them around)
• Birds (despite her run in with one earlier this month)
• Dancing (especially to Papa’s music)
• Sitting at her table and drawing or colouring
• Picking people out in photos
• Delivering things to the garbage and compost bucket
• Her Papa (everything is about Papa in this house – Grae wears her hat like Papa, dances like Papa, puts on her sweater like Papa, eats bars like Papa…)
• Watching Baby TV (ugh.)

She doesn’t like:

• Having to hold someone’s hand while walking
• Being told that she’s not allowed to do something
• Having her mouth pried open to brush her teeth
• Potatoes (so weird…)

She thinks it’s hilarious when:

• You put her in a plastic bin and zoom her along the tile floor
• You bend down to do something and she sneaks up behind you, lifts the back of your shirt, and blows bubbles on your back
• Someone is chasing her
• You hide around a corner and pop out just as she’s about to walk by

Grae’s new foods include:

• Baked yam fries
• Homemade chicken tenders
• Swiss chard
• Mediterranean chili
• Dill pickles
• Homemade tortilla chips
• Artichoke pesto
• Garlic scape pesto
• Homemade perogies
• Cabbage rolls
• All-natural turkey kolbassa
• Sour cream
• Red Thai curry
• Yellow Thai curry

The new words she regularly uses include:

• “No, no, no” (often while shaking her pointer finger)
• “Pillow”
• “Bowl”
• “Diaper”
• “Owah” – owie
• “Ummmm…” (the sound she makes while making a decision)
• “Dirty”
• “Kitty”
• “Owl”
• “Man-ma” – grandma
• “Pompost” – compost
• “Moo”
• “N-yeah” – thank you (I’m not sure how this one came about, but it’s been around for a long while now.  She started off saying “n-yeah” as she signed ‘thank you’, but now she often leaves out the sign.  If you say, “Grae, say thank you”, she immediately responds with “n-yeah”.  Nobody else knows what she’s talking about, but I guess what really counts is that we do.)

The new signs she’s using regularly include:

• Thank you
• Pencil / Pen / Crayon
• Mouse
• Kitty
• Bee
• Airplane
• Steam
• Sleep
• Pacifier
• Phone

She now:

• No longer wears diapers during the day (and has only had one accident in the past couple of weeks… Cross our fingers it continues this way because she is very sensitive if she does have one )
• Does the actions to ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’
• Loves being asked to point out different objects in books
• Regularly says/signs please and thank you
• Regularly asks for help instead of getting frustrated and whining
• Can follow multi-step instructions (like “go get your shoes and bring them to Mama” or “pick up your books and put them in the basket”)
• Can be transferred from the car into her crib if she falls asleep while out
• Chooses her pajamas and parts of her outfit everyday
• Loves milk (this took a while for us, but she regularly asks for it now)
• Is very sympathetic if she hurts you or makes you upset (immediate kisses to follow)
• Runs
• Has 12 teeth (8 in the front plus her 4 molars)
• Blows her nose when asked
• Blows on her food when it’s hot

Funny / Cute things she’s been up to lately:

• She knows all about camels (thanks to our Kuwait Christmas ornaments) and can pick them out anywhere
• She’ll also tell you that a camel says “t-puh, t-puh” (her sound for spitting)
• She shouts “Mama!” when looking for me in a loud voice with a French-sounding accent
• She acts like a little mommy to all of her dolls and makes sure each gets a turn being held, fed, burped, etc.
• She tries to wear Mama’s earrings by hooking them inside her ears
• She kisses random objects all around her bedroom before going to sleep
• She can point out the location of a washroom in a public place in a matter of minutes (it’s like she has bathroom radar)
• She loves to make choices and normally hums “ummmm…” while curling her hand below her chin while making them
• She kisses any “owies” you may have
• She’s ridiculously kissy and loves on you all day long

Big things that have happened this month:

• She was bit by a giant seagull while visiting Granville Island
• She visited the dentist for the very first time
• She met Canadian Santa (too many times possibly)

 

Let’s hope things slow down soon because if they keep up at this rate, she’ll be moving out soon and her Mama will be sitting in a heap on the front porch watching her drive away…