Eleanor at 16 months

I think 16 months is my new favorite age. We are enjoying our days so much right now with this on-the-verge-of-toddlerhood girl (I should probably just accept that she's a toddler already but I can't yet).  Eleanor is much more independent and her personality is coming out more and more every day.  I really enjoy playing with her and don't feel totally exhausted by the end of the day.  We are happy!

At 16 months old, Eleanor is...

-officially walking!  She took her first real steps at 15 months and then started really walking at 16 months.  We really really wanted her to walk by our camping trip at the end of May so I followed her around and put her on her feet anytime she tried to crawl.  It worked and she was fully walking by our trip.  And now in the last two weeks she prefers walking over crawling 100% of the time.  She gets entertainment from just walking from room to room and this is her favorite way to play now. I just stare at her and say, "How did she get so old??"

-loving Itsy Bitsy Spider and Popcorn Popping.  When she wakes up from her nap, I pull her out of the crib, sit with her on the rocking chair and sing a couple rounds of each song.  She'll join in the hand motions sometimes too.  So so cute.

-finally getting more hair!  The pictures here don't show it because of the headband but she usually has a big curly piece flipping out behind either ear (insert heart eyes emoji).  Pigtails are not too far away!

-opening and closing any door with a lever handle.  We usually spend 20 minutes every morning like this: she closes herself in a room, I knock on the door and say "Hello? Anybody in there?," she giggles, she opens the door, she smiles real big (proud of herself for opening the door) and runs into my arms to give me a hung.  Repeat 50 times (and I love it every time).

-obsessed with our shower.  We started bringing her in the shower with us in the morning and she loves it so much that she constantly tries to sneak back to play in it during the day.

-wanting to read books just as much as ever.  She holds them and really studies the pictures before turning the page.  She also loves gnawing on the binding and picking it off, which is not so great. Current favorites are Peek-a-Who?, The Wheels on the Bus and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

-sporting 4 upper teeth and 2 lower teeth

-always excited when Daddy comes home.  She'll hear the garage door open and then perk up.  I'll say, "Eleanor, guess who's home??"  And then she'll get this super excited look on her face and say, "Daa-ddee!"  She'll start walking towards the door and just wait there till he comes in.  Sometimes she'll even knock on the door now.  It is my favorite part of every day, for several reasons (everyone loves when daddy comes home ;))

-taking one nap a day but occasionally will do two when she's extra tired.  If she's really ornery around 10 am then I'll just put her to bed and then she'll take another nap around 3 pm.

-going to bed at 7 pm and waking up at 7 am (mostly).

-eating pretty well.  She LOVES strawberries.  We give her a glass of milk with a straw in the morning and at night.  Breakfast is usually a green smoothie (I am so sick of scrambled eggs, ha).  Lunch time is usually leftovers from dinner the night before.  For dinner, Eleanor is pretty good at eating whatever we are eating (as long as I didn't let her snack too much during the day).  Her favorite right meal right now is salmon, brown rice and really finely chopped spinach mixed in.  She still loves sweet potatoes and avocados a whole bunch.

-copying everything we do.  If I dip a chip in hummus then she wants to dip a chip in hummus.  If I try to clip her toenails then she will grab the clippers and try to do it herself.  If I'm brushing my teeth she insists on brushing hers too.  She found the gift bags and has started walking around with one on her shoulder as if she was carrying a purse!  It's adorable and terrifying.  We must be on our very best behavior at all times ;)

-waving hi and bye, pointing to her nose/belly button/head, twirling her tongue in her mouth, blowing kisses

-saying "maaa-meee" and "daaa-deee" very clearly and in a sing-songy way.  She also says "hiiiii," "byyyye," "ba" (ball), "bay" (baby), "Maa-llee" (Molly), "whaa-zis?" (what's this?), "whaa-sa?" (what's that?) and "this."  She uses her pointer finger to point out everything as she talks.

-developing strong opinions and expressing them.  We usually get a tantrum around 4 pm when she's hungry and I'm trying to hold her off for dinner. She loves to throw herself on the ground dramatically and hit her head against the floor several times for extra effect.  I put her on her first time-out the other day and it actually worked surprisingly well.

-doing chores! Kinda, ha. I have her put her blocks back in the block bag and she's loves it.  She also tries to unload the dishes with me but this usually results in all the clean silverware on the kitchen floor.

She's not the easiest person to take pictures of right now so this was my attempt to snap photos of her as she moved around our guest bedroom...

^^This is classic Eleanor.  She loves to kind of hunch over and walk with her hands up.  I don't know if she is trying to sneak around or not but that's what it always looks like to me. 

We love love love her.