16 Months

My baby girl is growing up so fast; I would be extremely sad about it if she weren't so stinkin' cute.  Her laughter and giggles is to die for, her happiness is contagious, and her smile is enough to melt your heart.  I am so in love with this girl..., but really who isn't??

 

First, some growth stats:

 

At 12 months:

Height: 2' 4.9" (40% ile)

Weight: 19 lb, 2.2 oz (only 1.4 oz heavier than 9 months) (40% ile)

Head Circumference: 18.31"

 

At her 12 month check up, the doctor was worried about her slow growth, so I had to come back in for a weight check.  She seems normal to me so I'm not worried - she's just a bit on the lean side which isn't a big deal.

 

At 15 months:

Height: 2' 5.92" (30% ile)

Wight: 20 lb 8.4 oz (40% ile)

Head Circumference: 18.5 " (83 % ile) - she's so smart!!

 

Second:  A synopsis about the Cakes

 

•  She WILL NOT drink milk!  Not at all.  I have tried multiple times a week for the past 4 months to no avail.  I have tried chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, whole, 2%, 1%, skim, mixed with water, mixed with yogurt, carnation instant breakfast, Enfamil milk substitute, Pedisure, half and half, almost everything, and she won't drink any of it.  The first time I gave her milk in a sippy, she took one sip, spit it out while sticking out her tongue and saying "blah" and threw the sippy on the floor.  If something even looks like milk, she won't even try it.  She will eat products that have milk mixed into it as long as she doesn't actually see me pouring the milk into it.   She knows what the carton looks like, and turns her head away from it every time.  What is a dairy farmer supposed to do??  Her favorite foods are yogurt and cheese - she even loves ice cream - so I'm really not sure why she won't drink milk.  Any suggestions??  Instead, she drinks a lot of diluted juice, water, lemonade, etc.. anything except milk. 
• She is allergic to peanuts.  After she broke out in hives two times after eating the smallest amount of peanut butter, I had her tested for allergies.  She was such a champ at the allergist - she didn't even cry when they pricked her with all those needles.  She whimpered a bit and looked up at me pleading for me to take the itchies away.  Sure enough she tested positive for peanuts.  No peanut butter sandwiches or peanut butter candy for her.  The doctor said there is a 20 % chance she will outgrow it later, but a greater chance that she will develop more food allergies in the future.  I'm grateful that it is only peanuts she is allergic to - they really are the easiest to avoid compared to soy, wheat, milk, or egg.  However, I do have an epi pen now, and I pray that I will never have to use it.  Bruce and I still eat peanut products, we just make sure that she doesn't ingest any. 
• She has become a picky eater.  Some days she completely devours a dish, and the next day she won't touch the leftovers.  She wants to feed herself and eat with a fork or spoon.  She hands me her spoon or fork for me to put food on it; then she does the rest herself.  Clapping for herself usually follows a successful bite.  She will always eat peas.... but she will only eat them right off the table.

She will take her peas off her plate, put them on the edge of the table, eat them with her mouth, then smile and giggle at herself.  Hey, at least she eats her vegetables. 

• She loves being outside - going for walks, going to the park, playing with the rocks on our back patio.  At the beginning of August, our neighbor gave us her son's old Power Wheels.  It is one of Eliza's favorite things to ride.  Every time we pass by it in the garage, she has to get on it and ride.  I was amazed at how quickly she picked it up.  When I first put her on it, I told her to push the red button with her thumb.  I demonstrated for her one time, and then she took off on her own.  Because it is old, the steering is difficult to maneuver.  So we still have to steer her in the right direction.  This video was taken the first time she rode it (about 3.5 months ago)

She enjoys visiting Maisie on the farm.  I think this picture with the farm's newest calf is absolutely adorable. 

• She loves "helping" mom in the kitchen.  I use this term loosely because although she acts like she wants to help, she really wants to snack on whatever I am making. 

When I take her off the counter, she goes through her routine.  First, she takes all the food off the bottom two shelves of the pantry.  Next, she heads to the fridge and slides all the magnets onto the floor.  Third, she heads toward the drawers and starts pulling out dish rags, and throwing all my Ziploc bags all over the floor.  Then, she pulls out my cookie sheets and cooling racks from the oven drawer.  Finally, she throws all the plastic Tupperware all over the kitchen floor.  When she is finished "handing me dishes," she wants either hugs my legs or begs to dump ingredients into or stir the contents of the bowl.  She is a great helper - things just take two times longer.  She thinks she can do everything I do.  What a cutie!!  She also like to "help" do the dishes.  Mostly she pulls the dirty silverware out of the basket and tries to eat with them.  YUCK!!

• She loves riding in the car.  Now that it's cold, she gets so excited whenever I pull her jacket or coat out of the closet.  When she gets in her car seat, her hand immediately goes toward the snack tray - there is usually something (crackers or pretzels) left in there from days before, and she starts munching right away.  She reads books to herself, and dances like crazy to the music on the radio.  She also enjoys snuggling with teddy in the car.   

• She knows the following body parts:  head, hair, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, cheeks, shoulders, belly, arm, hands, fingers, elbow (yes, she knows elbow!), back, knees, feet, toes, leg, ribs, and armpit.  For some reason, she still struggles with eyes (she wants to point to her ears, then cheeks first).  Ask her where these body parts are, and she will point to them - it's the cutest thing.  She can also do all the actions to the primary song The Wise Man and the Foolish Man - she loves when we sing it in primary. 
• Her favorite things to play with are not toys, but CD cases and books.  She loves flipping through the pages.  I read about 20 books a day to her, and she reads about that many to herself. 

I absolutely love it when I find her flipping through the pages of any book, and "reading" them out loud.  Her sweet little voice makes me smile every time.  She doesn't say any real words yet, but she sure thinks she has a lot of important things to say.

I really don't mind picking up dozens of books every day because she pulls them off to read them.  I'm glad she enjoys reading as much as I do.  Lately, she will sometimes put one book away before pulling off another one, but that doesn't happen every time. 

 

Her favorite book to read is the Book of Mormon.  She will listen to dad read from the BOM for a little while every night.  But before she can go to bed, she has to read a couple of verses herself.  She will grab it out of Bruce's hands, open it up, read some verses, smile at us, look at the picture of Jesus in the front, read a few more verses, and then put the book back on the table.  She then grabs her sippy of juice, and folds her arms to wait for family prayer.  I don't think I have ever seen anything as cute as that!

  (Ignore the wild hair, she doesn't like to keep ponytails in anymore, and her hair is getting so long.)

However, she likes shooting baskets with her dad. I love that she cheers for herself!! 

• This is her favorite seat in the house.  She will sit here to eat her snacks, read her books, practice standing, or just to sit.  Before this picture was taken, she was "helping" me fold laundry.  She likes my purple shirt and decided to put it on. 

•   Although she likes to wear my clothes, she doesn't like to wear her own.  I wrestle the clothes on her every morning because like most toddlers, she doesn't like to sit still.  She often takes her shirt off, and has been known to take off her diaper if she runs away before I can get her pants on.  Last week at the grocery store, I turned around to look at her after I loaded all of my groceries on the conveyor belt, and she had her shirt half off.  I told her that not everyone wanted to see her belly, and that seemed to fix the problem until we got to the car. 

 

• Although she has been "walking" while holding our hands for 2 months now, she will not walk by herself.  She is too cautious and hesitant to venture out on her own.  Considering how she didn't start crawling until 13.5 months, I don't think she is necessarily in any hurry.  With in the past month, she has started walking around while holding the furniture.  She tries to stand up on her own, but she starts giggling so much that she can't stand for long.  She won't walk if I am only holding one hand - she has to have both in order to go anywhere.  Once she starts, she tires easily and wants to be carried.  On one hand, I don't mind that I'm not chasing her around everywhere; but on the other hand, I am getting tired of toting her everywhere.  Her problem with walking is that she is much more interested in "dancing" than she is in walking.  She usually does some kind of dance move with every step she takes.  The girl is a dancing queen.  Any sound of music or beat and she really gets her groove on.  
• She loves to play the piano.  She provides daily concerts complete with page turning and singing.  Once Bruce asked if we should sing a song for family night.  She slid off my lap, crawled into the living room and sat up at the piano to accompany us. 

•  She is so silly that she sometimes turns around and plays with her hands behind her and sometimes with the back of her head. 
  
  
  
• She is full of personality and has the funniest facial expressions.  She knows what she wants and where to find it.  Even though she doesn't say any words, she does and excellent job of letting me know what she needs and wants.  She answers most of my questions with a nod of the head - she loves nodding yes! 
• She's full of hugs, kisses, loves, and smiles.  She loves playing with her daddy, and we are both completely in love with her!!