16 Months

Hattie turned 16 months old on Sunday. I know I say this over and over again, but she is growing up too fast! Above is a series of pics I took of her one morning during breakfast. Eating always equals a good time for Hattie. Right now her favorite breakfast is strawberries and a piece of toast. This is why all of the peaches are still on her tray. She is a creature of habit, just like her mama.


Anyways, here are some recent developments of our 16 month old baby girl.

1.) Hattie is finally off the bottle, I think. I know that I should have taken it away from her about 4 months ago, but the bottle has been part of her naptime, bedtime routine since she was 6 months old. Hattie has never been the best napper, so I didn't want to mess with the routine that really seemed to help her nap. At first my plan was to wean her by 18 months when she would most likely only be needing one nap a day anyways, but the more I read about babies and their bottles, the more I found that the closer a baby is to 18 months-2 years old, the harder it is to take the bottle away. So I decided to try offering her the sippy cup instead of the bottle for her morning nap, which she rarely takes anymore anyways. I figured I had nothing to lose. To make a long story short, she accepted the cup of warm milk with ease and went right to sleep when I laid her down. She did ask about the bottle but didn't get upset about it. SO I'm not saying it's going to continue to be this easy, but we aren't turning back now!

2.) Hattie has reached an age where I can teach her fun little things and then let her show them off to our family. It's so fun, and I love seeing how excited she is to preform. Last week I taught her to say, "gobble, gobble" when I say, "What does a turkey say?" She can do this with other animals, too. Right now I'm trying to teach her to say "ho, ho, ho!" when I say, "What does Santa say?" but she says, "no, no, no!" She's also gotten really good at following directions. For instance, last week I bought her a pink little purse at the dollar spot at Target, and when Sean got home I told her, "Go get your new purse and show Daddy." She took off, on a mission, went around the corner, passed the kitchen, turned another corner, went into the den, picked up her purse, and then brought it back for Sean to see. I can't wait until she's tall enough to reach the ice maker, so I can say, "Go get Mama some ice water!" :0) - he he, only kidding.

3.) She is absolutley in love with the Wiggles Monkey Dance song. I happened to show it to her on youtube one afternoon, and she immediately became obsessed. She doesn't like any of the other Wiggles songs except this one. I might have to commit myself to an institution if I continue to hear a whiney request for "monkey, monkey!" about 300 times a day.

4.) Hattie is starting to talk about the potty. I, in no way, think she is anywhere near being ready for potty training as she wakes up with a soaked diaper, about to bust open, from every nap and every morning, but she says, "tee-tee, potty" several times a day, and she is obsessed with trying to flush the toilet, but I think this is only because she knows that I don't want her messing with the handle. She's quite hard-headed, oh, I mean determined and driven ;0).