16 Months

The major milestone of this month has been Isla's vocabulary development. She is literally learning new words every day and has started to consistently repeat things after us. The following words have been added to her vocabulary: bib, baby, Nana (for our friend Olona), up, amen, Bible, car, hush, bye, hi, bath, quack quack, wa-wa (water), wow.

She is also beginning to copy our actions more and more (it all begins!) She is like a little sponge. She often walks over to the couch and says "Uh" (up) until we put her up there and hand her a magazine. She was flipping through one the other day and came to a car ad and pointed at the car, waved and said "bye." She's really starting to "get" it!

Isla loves to go "Bye" and will grab her purse, fill it full of toys or books and wait by the door, saying "Bye" all the while. I've been working on teaching her to wait with mama when she goes outside because we were having trouble with her booking it for the street as soon as we opened the door...

Isla has developed the skill of walking backwards. She sometimes does it while towing her ducky pull toy but usually does it for no apparent reason at all. She'll just randomly break out and do her little version of the "moon walk."

After her 15 month appointment, she'd officially outgrown her infant bucket carseat (due to her height) and so we moved her to a rear-facing big girl seat.

Isla is so very, very busy. Usually she plays with a toy for about 1 1/2 seconds before switching to something else which means that we have a lot of toys and tupperware strewn about our house during the daytime. She has never been a cuddler for over the past week she's been asking to be "Uh" so I can hold her while she watches what I'm doing (especially when I'm cooking). There have also been 2 occasions where she sat for almost 15 minutes on the couch, reading a book and talking with me--I'm eating these times up! I think the key might be to have a blanket there for us to cuddle under.

Bedtime stories are a completely different routine. We get jammies on and brush teeth and then sit down in the rocker to read. She usually lasts for two words of a book before wriggling down and running for mommy and daddy's room (in attempts to avoid bedtime maybe?)

Isla is beginning to exert her independence more and more. She likes to do things herself and will often peel our fingers away if we try to help her push the stroller or help her hold her snack bowl so the food doesn't spill everywhere. I sense the need to start reading some books on parenting in our very near future!

Look at this hair! Enough said.

For a while now, Isla's been gargling in the back of her throat and saying "yuck" when there is something icky that she is touching (like the trash can) or when she puts something in her mouth that she knows she shouldn't (like pens). Sometimes she says it of her own accord while other times, she repeats after us.

She loves to be the center of attention when we sit down at the table for meals. She "talks" along with everyone and laughs at the appropriate times. She is a real hoot!

Isla is learning to do what the animals do. She tries to scrunch her nose like the bunny (but usually ends up squinting or scrunching her mouth). She also has been opening and closing her mouth like a fish for almost two months now. She barks like a dog and can make monkey sounds too.

What a joy, what a joy!