LETTERS TO LIA | 16 MONTHS

I am so behind on your monthly letters, little girl. I had planned on doing them for just the first year then turning them into a book. But who am I kidding? You are so amazing these days, I owe it to you and me to keep up with these letters again!

The months seem to fly by. I can't believe you are so big already. Your second birthday will be right around the corner before we know it.

You are not a girly-girl. I read blogs of other little girls your age who like to dress up and wear their momma's jewelry and treat their dolls with care and love. That is not you! You are inquisitive and smart and so curious. You like to figure out how things work, open and close them, turn them off and on. You never stop. You are a bundle of endless energy, between your naps that is! You still love your Little People but any kind of balls and music are quickly becoming your favorite. We can't walk past the big bouncy balls in Target without you trying to take one out and lug it around the store. Any time you hear music, you start bouncing up and down and nodding your head. You sing in the car, too.

You are a very sassy girl with a very short temper. You want things your way, when you want them. Otherwise, you throw huge tantrums. We are working on that. You are spoiled by everyone, but we are working to make sure you aren't too spoiled. Your personality is huge! I look back on your baby days and everything was so different. I loved it and I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss those days, but babe, I love these days too. It's so much fun seeing how you react to things. Seeing you learn new things everyday and using words. Sometimes I feel we aren't doing enough for you, as far as teaching you things. I'm going to try hard to work on that more from now on.

You don't use words often to ask for what you want but you do know how to get your point across. You've figured out how to grab our hands and pull us in whatever direction you want to go. You stomp your feet when you want someone to hold or pick you up. You are very good at letting us know what you need.

I've been meaning to start a list of all the words you can say. For now, these are what I can remember!
Dog
Hi
Toby
Shoe
Mama
Sit
Stop
Dada
Three
Tres (three in Spanish)
Duck

We speak to you in Spanish and English. Well, daddy speaks to you in Spanish! I am hoping you grow up to be bilingual and speak both languages well.

You love all the dogs you get to hang out with in grandma's house. You can tell the difference between Toby & Chloe (two dachshunds) when we ask you where one of them is. You love playing outside. It's really hot and humid here in NC this time of the year so we don't go outside as often, but when we do, you have so much fun!

We went to the Strawberry Festival last weekend. We bought you a new bow and when we showed it to you, you put it on your head. You are so smart! They had some animals out there as well, you said "duck" when we showed you what a duck was and you got to pet the baby sheep. You were a little nervous at first but once you saw it was a sweet animal you perked right up. You kept saying duck and waving "bye-bye" to the animals!

You eat pretty much anything. You are off the bottle. We offer you one bottle of milk every night but you rarely take it. We only offer it because you really don't want to drink milk out of a sippy cup and you still don't understand that squeezing juice/milk boxes will cause the beverage to go everywhere! 

Your favorite foods are:
Bananas
Apples
Animal crackers
Mac and Cheese
Pasta of any type
Mandarin Oranges
Yogurt
Peaches
Pears
Strawberries
Cheese (you are famous for going to the fridge when someone opens the door and opening the bottom drawer and getting a slice of cheese out!)
Fruit pouches (pureed fruit)
Goldfish
Cheerios
Eggs

We try to get you good, healthy meals but you really aren't a fan of any meats. You will eat veggies and fruit and cheese all day long though, so that's your typical meal. We try to stick to water all day for you and one cup of juice diluted with water.

You are still a good sleeper. You take two naps a day (if we are home and on your schedule) lasting for 1-2 hours each. You are awake every morning between 6-730 AM and you go to bed around 8 PM. We don't have much of a routine for those. You get a bath every other night and you aren't into sitting still for books nor taking a bottle/cup of milk. We know it's nap time when you get overly cranky and whiny. When it's bed time, we offer you milk and snuggle in the chair if you take it. Otherwise, we grab your paci and you say goodnight to everyone and we lay you down in your crib. Lately you've been crying when you lay down for naps but usually you go right to sleep.

You still think Yo Gabba Gabba and dancing are two awesome things. You love being pulled around in your wagon. You love bubbles. You seem to be a thrill seeker at a young age!

Stats:
22 lbs
29 inches
You've got 11 teeth. 8 in the front (top and bottom), 2 on the left and right on top (I think they are molars) and 1 coming in on the bottom right (also thinking it's a molar).
Still wearing the size 4 diaper and shoe. Sadly, I gave you my high instep so not all shoes fit you.
You mostly are wearing 18-24 month clothing. A few 12 month things fit you and the same goes for a few 2T items.
Your hair is crazy long and I am counting the days for aunt Shell to come home and cut it!
You recently got new glasses, the plastic kind which I recommend to anyone needing glasses for kiddos! You wear them all the time, minus when you are sleeping. They don't see to bother you one bit and I know you see better with them on.

You are my sunshine and my rock little girl. Daddy and I love you so very much and we are so proud of you. Keeping rocking your amazing self, I can't wait too see how much you grow in the next month!