16 Months

It is amazing how fast this little girl grows and she is absorbing new things ALL the time it's hard to keep up! We love her more and more every day and are so thankful for a good spirited little one who brings such joy to our lives!

Here's what Riley is up to at 16 months...

• Sleeping 11-12 hours at night...if she gets a full night sleep then she is down to one nap per day from 12-2 but if mom and dad keep her out late then she will take two naps around 10 and 3...she's flexible and that's good!
• Eating well...she is more and more opinionated about what she will and won't eat...I think she's going to be a texture girl like her mom. For example, the girl absolutely LOVES pears and would heat a whole one if I let her but if it isn't real soft and juicy then she will start to chew it and then immediately spit the pieces out...stinker! She is also showing what a big girl she is by choosing to bite off foods on her own rather than pick up the nice cut up pieces her mom makes for her...so independent! She is getting better and better at using her spoon...sometimes she even picks up her food, puts it on her spoon, and then shovels it in her mouth...and sometimes it actually makes it inside!
• Talking like crazy and repeating what we say...at her 15 month well child check up the doctor initally asked about her verbal development and once the check up was over she laughed at how verbal Riley was...she is saying many many words in her own way...some of her new ones are "dinkie" (for binky), "thank you", and "cookie" (DiDi's dog)!
• She is able to play with her shape puzzle and get the shapes in the right spot...sometimes it takes a couple warm up tries but she will eventually figure them all out!
• She has learned to throw a ball back and forth with us...so fun! When she gets better at throwing the ball Hank will be her new best friend...he thinks we created Riley just to have another person to play fetch with him!
• Riley is getting more teeth...at least two of her molars are making their debut! She has felt these molars more than any of her other teeth...understandably!
• We are going through a good spell with baths again...mainly because she has had some bath buddies over the past month and LOVES them again! While we were in Florida Sydney and Riley took baths together...the dads supervised while drinking beer...and apparently she had a blast and since then she's also taken a bath with Gaby so we're enjoying this fun bath time! There is still screaming after the bath while we lotion her down and put on her pjs but at least she has fun playing in the bathtub! This morning she also took her little hands and washed her hair with me...such a big girl!
• Riley LOVES being outside and her way of telling us she would like to go outside is to walk to the door and twist her hand like she's opening a door knob and then say "please"...she's almost tall enough to get the doors open herself too...fun times ahead! She usually has a big fit when it's time to come inside...she'll love the California weather where we can play outside ALL the time! Taking walks are a favorite of hers but she always want to dart towards the road...why do all kids do that? We are teaching her that she has to hold our hand when we take walks but sometimes that is frustrating for her...another example of her independence making it's debut!

We love you Riley and are are enthralled with watching you learn and grow...we just wish time would stand still at times so we have the chance to take it all in!