Monday, January 12, 2009

16 months

I know I should be finding references for my bar application right now, but this is more important (and interesting, for me anyway). On Saturday, Erica turned 16 months old. To celebrate, we went to the zoo with our neighbors. The cute, dark-haired girl is Sydney, who loves to come jump on the trampoline with Erica. Whenever Erica sees her, she gets this huge smile on her face. Sometimes I wish Erica had been a second child for how much she loves other kids.


We also bought her this car. It is really a Christmas present from her grandparents, it just took us awhile to get it. Erica played with one of these cars at a friend's house and absolutely loved it. She loves any kind of car, motorcycle, train, airplane, etc. One of her favorite new activities is to stand behind the steering wheel of a real car and pretend that she is driving.


Despite some sickness and newly asserted independence, we are enjoying Erica more and more. She is communicating a lot better with signs, pointing and grunts. She loves to be outdoors and brings me her shoes a couple times a day. She takes one 1 1/2 hour nap a day and sleeps a solid 11 to 12 hours at night. Can't complain there.
She used to be a fantastic eater, but has suddenly become picky. I'm hoping it is just a phase. She also throws a fit in the bath now even though she used to love it. She insists on trying to do things above her capabilities and then gets frustrated when she can't do it (i.e., putting shapes into a sorter, stacking nesting cups).
She loves to read books, play peek-a-boo, swing, jump on the trampoline, watch movies, listen to music and walk around outside. We just started her in a movers and shakers class, which is a gym class for toddlers. It consists mostly of running around on a mat, crawling through tunnels and doing summersaults. She just went to her first one and loved it. I can't wait to go again either. It also helps that the class ends around dinner time and is only one block away from In-n-Out. Again, can't complain.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

She looks like she's having a blast in that car!

Mindi said...

Cute pictures. Her hair is getting so long!

The Jo's said...

I like the pictures of Troy, the little girl, and Erica- they are all looking in different directions!

MollyE said...

I really can't get enough pictures of Erica, too cute!!

MollyE said...

I really can't get enough pictures of Erica, too cute!!

Steve and Kalli said...

She is so BIG! So I think it's time we got together again...it's been too long!

Nicole said...

Oh my she is so cute. I love reading about what she's up to now!!

Holly said...

If it makes you feel at all better, Sydney has gone through MANY eating phases. All kids do it. As far as her establishing her independence - it's a good thing! It's just very hard for us to realize how much they've grown. We love doing things with you guys. The zoo was great. We should get the kids in their buggies and go for a walk on afternoon. Sydney would love to ride her bike and I'm sure the little ones would get a kick out of being in the same "ride".