16 Months Young!

Paprika turned 16 months old on Sunday! Time is really flying. She is running everywhere, into everything, and is such a bright-eyed joy to be around.

She loves reading books- and can sit and read them for longer than anyone I know. Seriously. She would sit and read all day long if she had the choice. Before bed, we read books together for an hour straight, and she's not ready to put them down when we say it's time for night-night. She will let me read to her, but if I'm going to slowly or not doing it right, she'll take the book away from me and sit on the floor and she'll read the book outloud to me. Of course, most of the words are a little bit gibberish, but I know she knows what she's saying! And it sounds very conversational me. I sometimes wonder if all of the reading I did studying for the Bar Exam while I was pregnant with Paprika had an effect on her- she really loves reading!

In terms of words that she's speaking that I understand, there are hundreds. She picks up new words and phrases every day, and is able to put them together into sentences. Her new funny thing she's saying is "Oh, no mama!" which she says when she sees something going wrong. She puts her hands up to her face and gets a very concerned look- and then says it with the utmost seriousness. She says all sorts of other unexpected things, too- like today she pointed to a picture of a pumpkin and said in a very clear voice- "pumpkin"- I have no idea where she learned that!

She can name all of the farm animals, and what sounds they make. She knows her colors and can say pink, purple, and gold. She can point out and say all of the basic body parts- like eyes, ears, nose, hair, teeth, feet, hands, belly button, etc. She makes little sentences like "let's go outside" or "mommy, i go in car now!" or "let's go upstairs and take bath!"

She tells me when she has to go poop (or after she's already gone). That's proven to be pretty helpful, actually! I'm not planning on starting potty training for some time, though. We are still cloth diapering, and it's working out great. The fact that I don't have to buy diapers every week makes me less inclined to start. I think Paprika will let me know when she's ready. Right now she says "poo poo" and "pee pee" and wants to flush the toilet- so that's a good sign. But, we're in no rush.

Paprika is very outgoing and friendly to others, and is genuinely interested and excited to meet anyone and everyone. We've been noticing that she's started to get a bit more clingy to me. If I leave to go upstairs to get something, she will get upset and try to follow me. She only wants me to read to her at night, and is just very much a mama's girl right now. But, that's normal- and it changes weekly, it seems!

She is not afraid of anything, and is a true daredevil. For the past few months, she has wanted to walk down the stairs by herself- not slide, not go down on her bottom- but walk fully upright all by herself. Of course we are there to hold her and show her the proper way. But left to her own devices, she would bound ahead without fear. This happened last week. Mr. Mustard was helping her down the stairs to the garage, and she stood up and tried to launch herself down the stairs standing upright. Luckily, Mr. Mustard was there to catch her, but she came very close to falling head first onto the concrete floor in the garage. She gasped and I think for the first time really scared herself. Afterwards, she sat down and was much more cautious in going down the stairs. So, she's learning.

Paprika is also getting many new teeth! She has been working on her molars, as well as several other teeth, and is developing quite a smile. We're still nursing- and so far it hasn't been an issue at all, thank goodness!