Soccer Dad

16 months

At 1:15 AM this morning she turned 70 weeks old.

Though last month she had already started walking a bit, this month she really took off. And last week, after we bought her shoes, she has really favored walking. Sometimes she's still a little unsteady on her feet and will just fall down, but for the most part she's a walker now.

She loves walking with someone bigger holding her hand.

She does enjoy dancing. On Friday night when we sang "Shalom Aleichem" her older brother and sister started dancing in circles with her and she enjoyed it quite a bit.

Yesterday I took her for a walk. When we passed our next door neighbor's she let go of my hand and walked straight for the door. She had just been with there with my wife watching the dogs and insisted on going back. So we went in for a few minutes more. (Our neighbor is extremely gracious and doesn't mind when our children come over. In fact she seems to enjoy it.)

Even after we returned home, she headed back to the coat closet and reached out "asking" me to take her back.

I got her to respond when I ask "What sound does a dog make?" She opens her mouth, sticks out her tongue and starts panting. I can't quite get the "Woof" out of her, though she's said it once or twice.

Her communication skills are developing. When she wants something she'll reach out her hands and start grunting. We then have one or two chances to figure out what she wants before the grunts become kind of whiny.

Some of her vocabulary:

baby - baby - often someone 3 or younger. She loves seeing a picture of herself on my cell phone and will call it "baby."

coku - cookie - Her favorite food.

oggie - doggie - Her favorite animal.

Imma - Imma

Abba byebye - Abba left

ee-a - Her big sister

na-na - Night night. Sometimes accompanied by putting her head down on her blanket indicating readiness for bed.

yea - yes (She doesn't usually say "no" but she does shake her head.)

bobble - bottle

Savta - that makes my mother really happy.

(I consider this section of the posting open when I get reminded of some more words and phrases.)

We've had some adventures at the table recently. On Shabbos, we gave her an open cup. She actually handled reasonable well. Until she removed it from her mouth and spilled it over herself. A little later she thought it would be fun to shake the cup up and down. She's not entirely clear on the concept of liquids and gravity.

Last night my wife made spaghetti and meat balls. I asked if the baby would want any. My wife said "Pasta and sauce. Do you need to ask anything else?" It was fun to watch her eat spaghetti. (Even knowing that I'd have to bathe her later!) She reclined in her high chair and would take handfuls of spaghetti. (No she didn't wrap it neatly around her fork.) And then she take her open hand and bring it to her mouth.

Sometimes when she's eating she won't eat unless she has the item in both hands. Yesterday my wife gave her something and she kvetched until my wife broke it in half and put the new piece in her other hand.

She gives me a hard time when I'm getting her dressed or changing her. She won't keep still so I have a reputation of not buttoning all of her buttons. And while I'm changing her she often gets into these kicking moods. And she has pretty strong feet.

When she's excited she gives a full open mouth smile and starts shaking her hands (sometimes her whole body.) The enthusiasm is hard to resist.

Until next month.

Previous related posts: One month, two months, three months, four months, five months, six months,seven months,eight months, 9 months, 10 months, 11 months, One year, 13 months, 14 months, 15 months.

Posted by SoccerDad at January 7, 2008 4:53 AM | TrackBack