Tenley Louise || 16 Months

It's happened again, Loulie Girl - you're another month older!  Every month you grow and change and add things to your personality that we never saw before, it's so fun!

This picture is what I see multiple times a day - two middle fingers in your mouth, same corner of your snuggle up by your nose (you like the tag and embroidered flower I guess).  Every time you get upset or mad or scared or tired you grab your snuggle, pop your fingers in your mouth and come find me.

You love to eat and snack!  You have recently become a picky eater, though.   No more veggies for you and some main dishes totally turn you off as well.  But, give you all the meat, fruit and pasta and you are totally happy.  And milk, don't forget the milk!  I've been trying to get you to drink more water but you just don't want it so I flavor it with a little apple juice to get you to drink it.  We'll get there.  You figured out how to use your fork this month!  It's adorable, you patiently work at stabbing your food and then slowly bring it to your mouth.  Way to go, Big Girl!  Your favorite snacks are raisins, goldfish crackers and blueberries.  You love a good banana anytime of the day and for breakfast oatmeal goes down pretty quickly.

Your speech is really taking off!  You voluntarily say words now, not just when prompted.  Milk, snuggle (your blanket), Daddy, Tate and Mommy are your current go-to words.  You also moo at the calendar right now because the picture for March is cows.  The other day you were quacking at your stuffed penguin (close!), you answer with yes or no depending on your mood, and you say 'hop hop hop' when you see an Easter Bunny, which comes out more like 'pop pop pop'.  :)  I can ask you if you've pooped and you will tell me yes.  And I can tell you to lay down so we can change your diaper and you always find the perfect spot and then lay down and wait for me.

You repeat almost anything I ask you to say.  You sing Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and your ABC's through the letter G fairly clearly, which totally surprises me!  You love to sing and hum and you are quite the little dancer!  We are working on counting to 3 - 1, 2, 3!!!

You know where your nose is (see the picture below: I asked you where your nose was and there that sweet little finger went to show me!).  You can blink your eyes when asked or point to them.  You open and shut your mouth when I ask where that is.  You know where your bow goes (in your hair) and can run your fingers through your little bit of hair when I ask where that goes.  And you sometimes says 'pretty' after I put your bow in like I always do.

Speaking of your hair, it is finally starting to fill in!  I was cleaning out a drawer where I was putting past pictures and found your 6month baby pictures - you were bald as a cue ball!  So I guess after seeing that I can now see that yes, your hair is growing and filling in ... FINALLY!  Just look at that little curl at the very bottom - adorable!  And you can see it has a couple of inches of length on top, it's just still very thin and patchy so still no piggy tails. They'll come, though, you can bet on that!

You are such a girly girl (Daddy calls you Pinky Pink) but you can wrestle with those brothers of yours no problem!  You love it when Aiden grabs you and falls backwards and then tickles you while you lay on top of him.  The giggles!  You love chasing Brennan and Tate all over the house, too.  You like to find Tate's trucks and drive them around the living room, complete with a motor noise sometimes.  And if you time it just right you like waving bye-bye to Daddy out the front window in the mornings and watching him turn his flashing lights on that are on the top of his work truck.

But then you go and grab your baby dolls and feed them a bottle or something with a fork.  You play with your princess castle and run your 'lipstick' over your lips.

You love watching the opening to Daniel Tiger because of the song - you come running when you hear it and stand there with a big smile on your sweet face and sway and bounce and dance to the music.

You are a champion at blowing kisses and when you so choose you give the sweetest little kisses on the lips.  Your baby dolly always gets a kiss when I ask you to but about 50% of the time when I ask for a kiss for myself you sass at me and turn your head.  But I ALWAYS get one before I lay you down for naps or bedtime.  And we are working on hugs - you quickly lean in but there is no arms around the neck or squeeze ... yet!

You are so sensitive and sassy!  Tate really gives you a run for your money, constantly taking toys from you. We are working on this but I don't see it stopping anytime soon. I balance between letting you tough it out and getting the toy back for you.  But man does it make you cry!  Or if you fall over you cry.  Or if you are hungry you cry.  Or if I'm not quick enough to get you your milk you cry.  I make it sound like you cry all the time but you don't, and when you do it's short lived especially if I get you your snuggle. Boy can you be sassy!  And then you turn on the charm and are so sweet.  Your daddy always says your personality reminds him of someone else, then turns to look at me.  I hope you don't mind being like me, Lou, because I really love being similar to you. :)
 

You have the prettiest, brightest eyes and I love how your smile reaches all the way to them! They are the most unusual color, I haven't been able to label it yet!  They are green around the edges then they zig zag into a hazel color.  The zig zags are almost a blue gray color.  So beautiful!

You have finally decided that sitting on my lap to hang out is an acceptable way to spend some of your time - hallelujah!  The deal is, though, that I can't play with you or your hair or really touch you in any way.  Ha!  I'll take what I can get (and try to sneak quick smooches on top of your pretty little head).

I didn't weigh or measure you this month and your clothes and diaper sizes are all the same as last month.  We did switch to Target brand diapers and so far they seem to be working well for you.

I love you more than words can say, Tenley Louise!  You are my sweet little precious pink princess and I am so so grateful that God blessed me with you.  I love being your mommy!

*Disclosure: Some of the pictures I took while you were having a snack, thus the chipmunk cheek look. :)