Sam - 16 Months

Our little girl is 16 months old today!  How did that happen?   
She is showing off her independence in a big way lately, and rarely allows us to help.  This makes mealtime interesting because we usually have to try to have something to eat that she can eat with her fingers.  We've offered her a fork and spoon which she is getting the hang of slowly.  She also loves to drink out of a regular cup, but hasn't gotten the concept of pulling it down from her lips when she is done and has drenched herself many times. 

She loves to pretend to brush her teeth, but will not let us actually get in her mouth with her toothbrush to actually get them clean.  The doctor said she should be brushing them regularly at 2 years old, so I figure we have a little time to get her better at actually brushing and not just sucking on the toothbrush.

She has grown in the last couple weeks.  We kind of skipped right over her 9 month clothes and is now in 9-12 month and 12-18 month clothes mostly.  She has one pair of shoes that fit her which are size 4, and I think we'll be moving out of those soon.  Apparently when I bought clothes early I bought in 12 or 18 months because her closet is overflowing with outfits right now.  We have to weed through some of the stuff she is now wearing and get rid of some of stuff that she has outgrown, there is no reason all the clothes she has ever worn just in case we have another girl down the road.  I have at least 5 tubs of clothes full and she has only grown out of 3 different sizes so far. 

I am taking Thursday afternoons off most weeks and really enjoy the time that Sam and I get to spend together on those afternoons.  Usually we plan something out of the house, but on days like today when we have no plans, we have so much fun hanging out at home.  BJ picks her up from daycare at 3:00 most days and they have 3-5 as their one on one time.  It's so much fun for me to come home and hear about all the stuff they did in those two hours.  BJ is such an amazing father and I love how their relationship grows from this time alone they get 4 days a week. 

Sam is still getting her last two molars in on one side of her mouth, so right now she has 10 teeth total with 2 more coming in.  The molars have been hard on her and she hasn't been sleeping through the night most nights.  The problem is that she can only sleep when she is alone, so if we bring her into bed with us, she thinks it's time for her to entertain us, and none of us sleep.  She has outlasted crying it out.  She is much more persistent than we are patient in the middle of the night.  We're working on the sleep thing and hope it's back to normal when those teeth come in finally.

She is so much fun to have around, she loves dancing, and will sing the ABC song with us.  She loves having an audience, and will do anything she can to get a laugh or reaction from us (good or bad).  We're pretty much head over heels in love with this little girl, and can't imagine how we entertained ourselves before she came along.