Emily: Sixteen Months Old

Emily is 16 months old today, and you would think I had a 2-3 year old toddler on my hands! She is extremely active and energetic (code for: Mommy is exhausted) and loves to run, climb, go down the big twisty slide at the park, push her doll stroller up and and down the drive way, and generally stay extremely busy from the minute she wakes up until she goes to bed (kicking and screaming). We have established a very predictable routine, but sleep is still very hit or miss--we had three days in a row last week of straight 11-hour sleep (no crying out) and then last night she cried off and on for two hours in the middle of the night. So I never know what to expect. Emily likes: pushing her doll stroller and up and down the driveway for hours; going to the park; being outside all the time in general; putting on her shoes and socks, taking them off, and repeating multiple times; eating grapes and bananas with every meal; reading books; putting on my shoes and parading around the house (notice in the pic above that she is both wearing my shoes AND pushing the stroller)

Emily doesn't like: being told "no"; waiting to go somewhere; long car rides; napping in her crib; not having my full attention during play time

She's a handful! But she's amazingly smart and is learning new things every day. She saw a monkey on tv and said "oooo oooo" with her lips sticking out, just like a monkey! She can say "duck" (uck) and "quack" (ack) and dog (og) and woof (oof). Momma and Dadda are used ALL THE TIME! She is in the toddler room at day care now, so she's getting to play with kids her age and older instead of hanging out in the baby room. She's definitely more independent and tempermental.