Sixteen Months (and seven days)...

Emmy is SIXTEEN MONTHS OLD! 

I know that moms say this every other day about their children, but I really can't believe that she is that "old". 

So what has she been up to...

She is become quite the skilled "animal caller"... it goes something like this:

Ryan/Katy: Emmy... what does a doggy say?

Emmy: woof woof (claps hands at accomplishment)

Ryan/Katy: Emmy... what does a duck say?

Emmy: woof woof (claps hands at accomplishment)

Ryan/Katy: No, Emmy... a duCK...

Emmy: Looking at us like we are crazy... woof? (claps hands at accomplishment) Sees that we aren't responding... Kack?

Ryan/Katy: Yes! A duck says quack!

While her "go to" response is usually "woof woof" she does know that a cow says moo; cat says "mee", and this week we have added a lamb saying "baaa". Not always right the first time, but we are getting there.

Every afternoon I pick her up her teachers tell me how much she "talks" so I will have to get them to write down what she "says" one day. I did get out some bubbles the other day and she ran up to me saying "bubble, bubble" which is a word I didn't even know she knew! :) Happy, bus, and Pop (for Pops) have also been added to the vocab list. I must admit, that I have to remind myself every kid is different when it comes to what she can say compared (ahhhh, there is that awful mom word) to Radley at this age.

But.... what she lacks in words... she makes up for in motor skills....

This girl. She matches drink lids, animal magnets (we have the fridge farm), and seems to "get" how things work more than Radley ever did. She is also fearless, climbing on tables, couches, stairs, playgrounds, slides and whatever else she encounters. She is such an independent player (as long as mom or dad is in sight) and is happy to explore her surroundings.

She has been pointing to her nose, eyes, ears and mouth for sometime now, but this month she has decided that she loves her teeth. When you ask her to show you her teeth she squinches her face and smiles as big as she can to show off those almost 8 pearly whites. Her top/bottom 4 teeth are almost completely in and she is actually getting both of her back molars. Crazy. She also likes to show us her tongue - sticking it out with a "phhhht" just for effect. Silly girl!

I think my favorite "milestone" this month has been her interest in pretend play... she has been playing with cars/trains/blocks/etc... for some time but dress up, dolls, and picnic/dinner are being initiated by her. She loves to put necklaces on herself and any other person that will sit still long enough to let her. She loves to hug and kiss her baby doll (before she throws her down... baby steps), and while I don't really desire a house full of barbies, it is fun to see what she is interested in.

Oh... and CLEAN UP! Wahoo... just like her dad, mom and brother, Emmy likes to clean up! And she is organized about it! We were putting up the blocks the other night in their giant bin and she would gather them up, take them apart and then place them in the bin. Somehow a renegade magnet made its way to where we were so I just put it in the bin, too. Well, Emmy immediately took it out. I put it back in to see if she would do it again, and she did. She knew it didn't "belong". By the end of clean up, all the blocks were nicely separated and in their bin. The magnet lay beside the bin on the floor along with two car cones stacked on top of each other.

A girl after her mommy's heart.

Love you, sweet Emersyn! :)