Talkin and Walkin and of course Throwin some SERIOUS Tantrums!

Caroline is 16 months! I had to document her current development because she has hit some huge milestones this month and is really growing up so quickly...

First off, Caroline's walking has taken off! She walks everywhere now, even on the uneven ground in our backyard. She runs in the house and tries to run outside, but often loses her balance in the grass if she gets going to quickly. She likes to chase balls. When she grabs them, sometimes she'll just carry them around, but she also loves to kick and throw.

She loves splashing... and on this particularly warm evening after Gwen was already in bed we went outside to enjoy the evening...and she ended up in the pool with her clothes on. She was so happy, we just let her play!

 She loves to play chase and get tickled or given a ride. Eric spends many an evening chasing her around and around the 'circle' from kitchen to dining to living room back to kitchen! She can't get enough! She'll start giggling and run away from you, then hang back with a coy grin to see if you're going to be goaded into following after her... and usually we are bc she is just irresistible when she's in a good mood! If she's having fun, she'll exclaim "WhEEEEEEEE!" it is super cute!

Of course, when she's NOT in a good mood, you do not want to mess with her. She is a masochistic tantrum thrower, slamming her head on the ground, thrashing her entire body...she always hurts herself and then cries more. But she hasn't learned her lesson yet, because she still does it....daily. Sometimes (like the third hour of church), she'll throw back to back tantrums with only brief content periods for as long as an hour. That usually means she is exhausted. She sure knows how to punish everybody around her if she's having a grumpy time.

 Now that her hair is longer, you can see she does have some curl in the back. But it grows out straight in the front, so I wonder what it'll be like when she gets older? Curly or not? Maybe just slightly curly?

Caroline's diaper is ALWAYS full. I have to change her hourly or she will leak out and pee all over the floor or the lap of the person she's sitting on. She hates it when that happens. She drinks a ton. I mean a TON. 24 oz of milk a day isn't enough to satiate her thirst, so we offer her water to the tune of about 40 oz. Yes, you read that correctly. She consumes an average of 8 8oz bottles every day, about 64 oz of fluid. Now you know why she pees so much. the negative: we have laundry issues, diapers make up an expensive part of our budget, she wakes herself up in the morning when her diaper is saturated and her clothes are soaked, and sometimes we think she'd eat more solids if she weren't so full of liquid. The positive: she is well-hydrated, her kidneys work great, and her pee is not stinky. :)

She is trying out tons of sounds, just chattering and talking to herself constantly. She has tons of new words that vaguely resemble the actual word, but really are only decipherable because they are accompanied by the sign or context. Milk, shoes, grandma, grandpa, mommy, daddy, Gwen, car, poop, diaper, ball, book, cold, hot, beets, cauliflower, broccoli, peas, zucchini, cheese, no-no, and help are some of these "words" that she'll attempt to verbalize. Some are more intelligible than others!

Her signs have really taken off this month too. In addition to the signs listed above, she signs: please, thank you, sorry, doll, book, phone, bear, sleep, bath, blanket, pjs, shoes, socks, hat,  flower,  airplane, train, bus, boat, cold, hot, cat, frog, dog, turtle, fish, monkey, horse, bird, duck, porcupine, bug, outside, cloud, sky, diaper, poop, wash hands, more, all done, eat, drink, water, peach, apple, bread (meaning sandwich), cereal, strawberry, pear, watermelon, pumpkin, cheese and crying. and though she doesn't usually sign these back to me yet, she recognizes balloon, bubbles, yes, friend, share, happy, smile, coat, and goat. I love that she is eager to learn new things. She doesn't perform, though, so I can never get her to show off all the signs she knows. You'll just have to take my word for it. :)

Well, there you have it! Our lil girl is officially a "toddler"!