Hannah Sixteen Month Update

I figured it was time to do a Hannah update. She is growing up more and more everyday. She is definitely a toddler and not a baby anymore.  She is such a sweet, happy and smart little girl with a really sharp sense of humor and a mop full of curly hair.

Eating
Hannah continues to amaze us with her hearty appetite and her universal love of every food she is offered.  Her recent favorite foods include arroz con pollo, Halo mandarin oranges, and blueberry mini muffins.   Although she is easy going in terms of what she eats, she is very particular in how she eats it.  She doesn't like to feel pressured to eat and she does NOT want to be fed anymore.  She would much rather struggle through spooning herself some yogurt than let me or Ryan feed her.  Like, she becomes enraged if we try to feed her. She also really want to drink out of an open cup, but we haven't been encouraging that.  

Sleeping
Hannah has been doing pretty well with sleep, although she has had a few rough nights with some new teeth coming in.  She will usually sleep until 8:30 or 9 and she is terribly grumpy if she has to be woken up before she is ready.  It takes her a good 20 minutes until she is pleasant.  Her naps are still all over the place.  Sometimes she takes a morning nap, sometimes not, she often takes an afternoon nap but sometimes she drifts off around 4:30 or later which is the worst!!!

Words/Communication
Hannah lets you know she wants to eat by pointing to her high chair.  She will even take your hand and walk you to it.   She babbles constantly and more and more real words seem to be mixed into the gibberish. She says: no, daddy, mum, I dunno, Eesa (Lisa), kay (okay), whee! and cheep cheep (when she sees a picture of baby chicks).  She will consistently wave hello and goodbye and will also independently wave to strangers if she wants their attention.  The only sign she will do independently is "all done" but we are working on "more" and "please".  She will shake her head no and say "uh-uh" or "no" but she doesn't use a word for yes.  She just holds out her hands and makes frantic begging sounds or points to what she wants.  When she wants a diaper change she will lay flat on the ground and put her legs up in the air.  That makes me excited, like maybe she will potty train early.  If she wants to go outside she will bring you her shoes.

Although her expressive language is still rather limited, her receptive language grows by leaps and bounds every day.  Ryan bought her a little brush and he told her to go get it thinking it was in our bedroom with us.  It turns out, it was downstairs, but she found my hairbrush and brought it over to Ryan instead.  She will point to all of her family members when asked

Likes

• Isaac.  She wants to be as close to him as possible at all times.  

Good thing he is usually pretty patient.

                                                

• Sesame Street.  She watches it with rapt attention and dances to all of the songs.  
• Binkies.  She will never give it up. 

• Having her feet tickled.  
• "Singing" and dancing or when other sing and dance.  
• Her toy kitchens, her Elmo doll that sings about being a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll, and her shopping cart.
• Cheering, clapping and jumping up and down at sporting events.  It is SO cute.
• Giving kisses, sometimes aggressively, with a loud "MWAH!"
• When Ryan talks to her in silly voices.  She CRACKS up.

Dislikes

• Having dirty hands.  She comes to us over and over during Isaac's baseball games to have us brush dirt and grass off her hands.  We loves to use handiwipes to clean them off.

• Sitting still, especially at sporting events.  She wants to storm the field at Isaac's soccer games.  She want to climb up on things and immediately get back down.  She also drops out the bottom of her stroller if she is not strapped in. 
• Swings.  Our neighborhood has a small playground with a few infant swings and she HATES them.  She will scream bloody murder the whole time.  
• Open doors.  She always has to close them.  No matter what.
• Bathing.  I thought we had conquered her fear but suddenly she is terrified of it again. 

Milestones

• She has gotten really good at going up and down stairs.  She can go upstairs holding a railing totally upright, like a regular little person.  For a while she was going feet first and on her stomach to go downstairs but now she sits on her bottom and scoots down.  
• At least two more teeth have come in.
• Wears 18 month clothes, some size 4 shoes and some size 5 shoes.  She wears size 4 diapers.
• Taking off her pants and attempting to take off her diapers.