Sweet Sixteen (Months, That Is)

Life with a 16-month-old is sweet, sweet, sweet. (But maybe that's just because this baby is so sweet)! A new favorite thing - putting on a pair of Daddy's socks (hey, they keep her feet & legs warm)
A bathtub tea party - so much fun!

At sixteen months, Claire is so much fun. She understands more, does more, says more, she is truly more of a blessing and a joy every day. Developmentally she has gained a number of new teeth, adding 3 molars in the past month and soon to add #4. She's a good teether - a little more restless at night, but generally I haven't had to deal with the fevers/diarrhea that I hear about from some moms. Her hair is also thickening up with a lot of new growth underneath. It was sooo dark when she was born, but neither of us is surprised to see it getting lighter as Geoff and I both had sandy blonde hair as kids. I describe her hair color as "honey."

She gives more kisses and makes kissy sounds at the dogs and cat - so very, very precious. She's very affectionate and loves to give hugs, sometimes clinging to Daddy's leg as he's trying to go to work. Her favorite person other than mom and dad appears to be her Aunt Lara who often helps keep Claire so mommy can go to doctor's appointments. When Aunt Lara goes to leave, Claire will wave bye-bye to mommy and try to follow Lara out.

Her vocabulary is astounding - not necessarily in spoken words, but in words she understands. She says words from time to time that we didn't even know that she knew. She seems a little self-conscious when trying a word for the first time. Often she will mouth it or whisper very quietly. What is astounding is the sheer number of words she recognizes. She loves flashcards and is quite capable of picking up the requested one out of a huge stack. We also discovered purely by accident that she has learned to recognize some of the letters of the alphabet - AMAZING! Her memory is powerful. Quote any part of any of her books and she will immediately go and get that book from the shelf and bring it to you.

Right now she's really into her baby dolls, which I'm encouraging. Our neighbor "Nanny Barb" gave her a baby doll carriage and she loves to take the babies all over the house in it. I can't wait to see how she'll do with a baby sister.

And on that note -

Evie is still doing great in the womb. Her C-section is now 15 days away. Her bags are packed for the hospital and I am so so so ready to meet this baby girl.