Sweet Sixteen

After being so sick a couple of weeks ago, Elsa has been a total sweet pea - even with two molars popping through her gums (and I can't imagine that feels that great); so I've decided to title this post "Sweet Sixteen" in honor of her 16 month birthday!

We don't go to the doctor again until 18 months, so I don't have any official measurements, but there has been some fun developmental progress to report:

• Walking: This past month, she has gained a HUGE amount of confidence and skills when it comes to her walking. She zooms around the house, especially at about 5:30 p.m. every evening because Dada is finally home to play. I fully expect her to be running by the end of this month. 

• Dancing: She's started dancing more to music, which is just about the cutest thing ever. When I turn on the car, she immediately starts bobbing her head to the beat of the song on the radio. And when we let her cruise around the second floor of our house, she makes a beeline to our clock radio to turn on the tuneskies. 

• Word/Sound Identification: This past month, we also started to work more on animal sounds and body parts. She is close to saying "Moo" for cow and "Baaa" for sheep. And she can expertly point to her hair, ear, tongue and belly (she already knew eye, nose, mouth and toes).  

•  Communication: Elsa has mastered the skill of negotiation. She's now tall enough to see what's on the kitchen counter, which has started to create some interesting situations. For example, early last week, she eyed a bag of Cheerios on the counter. She immediately started saying "yum yum", signing "more" and walking toward me. She then pointed at me and then at the Cheerios while giving me what I have dubbed the "death glare". I'm fairly certain that if I hadn't given her some Cheerios, she would have found some goons to break my legs! And if these tactics hadn't worked, she would have moved on to her other approaches - an innocent smile, batting her eyelashes or even offering her treasured Lovey as a barter for whatever treat she's after.

And, as I'm sure you have learned to expect, I have to share some pictures of the Little Miss from her Sweet 16:

Cheese!

Turning up the tunes

No time for hair brushing... I just want to play!