Sixteen Months!

Asa, you're sixteen months old!

You can walk and run, and you're beginning to talk with real words.  You still say "Cookie", although you're much more specific about it now - it's either cookies or Cookie Monster, whom you still love.  You say "Duck", and can tell us what a cat says ("mow"), what a dog says ("bo wo"), what a cow says and sometimes even what a sheep says.

You can even recognize pictures of those animals, or of Cookie Monster, and point them out to us.  You got very upset with me when I tried to tell you that it was Elmo, not Cookie, you saw in your book, and pointed out Cookie Monster with great pride.

You recognize people in pictures, now, too.  Did you know how many pictures of you we had in this house?  You still can't say your own name, but you recognize yourself, and us.

You make up games all the time, like this one of keep-away.  "Oh My Head" was also your invention, a day or so earlier.


You want to do more and more yourself.  I showed you how to dip veggies, and you took to it like a fish to water.

It made you want to use your own utensils more, too.  Sometimes it's more fun to watch the food slide off, but when you're hungry, you eat just like a big boy.


You try to drink milk out of a big-boy cup, with mixed results; you swallow a lot, but tend to submerge your nose in the process and come up sputtering and streaming.

You're making a lot of decisions on your own, for better or for worse, and you're learning which ones are yours to make, and which ones aren't.  It's an interesting age for boundaries and limits!  You understand so much of what we say, and you remember it, and get upset sometimes when plans have to change.  You know Mommy's ringtone on Mummy's cell phone, and that it means that Mommy will soon be home.

When you don't like what we're doing - like diaper changes - you shout for Nonni.

You love to read and bring us piles of books.  Favorites include "Brown Bear" and "Mommy, Mama and Me", both of which I think you know by heart.  You'll sit for long stretches of time, reading books over and over, and you've begun to look at them by yourself.  When it's not too cold out, I take off your mittens in the car and let you read to yourself.

taken at the longest stoplight in town, not while driving, of course!

You're silly.  You love to play, to be tossed in the air, to be upside down.

You have discovered your dolls and stuffed animals, and are sweet with them, giving hugs and kisses and taking them for walks.

You're still our angel.  You still love music, and dance along whenever you can.  You snuggle with us and play with my hair.  Your smile lights up our hearts, and we're so happy to watch you grow into a sweet little boy.