Sixteen Months
Heidi Rooster is much cheerier at sixteen months than at fifteen. Our schedule quieted down a bit and the molars are all through, so she has reverted to being a very smiley, delightful hurricane instead of a vortex of sadness.
She's a lot of work right now because she has become highly capable but has NO SENSE. Just no self-preservation instinct whatsoever. She will climb anything, dive off of anything, leap into any body of water without a backward glance. Ingrid was such a mellow and sensible toddler that I had forgotten how tiring it is to parent a child on a perpetual suicide mission. It's been four years since Henry was this age and started needing stitches with predictable regularity.
She also has very strong opinions about some things that necessitate extra parental intervention -- for instance, she WILL NOT sit in a booster chair anymore, she must be sitting on a normal chair, but that means I have to take her off the chair every time I need to walk away and get something, which happens roughly 475 times per meal. Same thing with water. She WILL NOT drink out of a sippy cup if the older kids have glass tumblers. So I pour her an open cup of water, which requires help with drinking, plus mopping up the inevitable spills. Yes, this is why Montessori classrooms are set up the way they are. Alas, I do not live in one.
But she's generally delightful to be around. Her default is to be jolly and fun-seeking. Just like Henry, when she is sad, she wants to be made merry. Maybe that's why she loves Henry so much -- he gets that being goofy is going to remedy most of her problems.
When she's really having a good time, she throws her head back and laughs maniacally. Being tickled and going swimming are THE BEST. She also likes to put on sunglasses, throw her head back, and go staggering around like everyone's favorite drunken college friend.
She loves baby dolls, playing in the water, carrying bags full of snacks, and watching videos of cousin Nona on my phone. She is a great little companion for running errands or doing household tasks that don't require me to move from room to room. She loves stories but is particular about who reads what. She can't get enough of Karl reading Caps for Sale or poems, but has no interest in my renditions. But she will have me read Go Dogs Go eight thousand times a day, along with Goodnight Moon and Hippos Go Berserk.
My favorite Heidi-ism is how she turns up her little hands and quizzically says, "Go?" when she can't find something. As in, "Where did baby go?"
I also love how she mimics me when I call the big kids from downstairs. I'll call out, "Henry! Ingrid! Two minutes!" And Heidi repeats, "Henwee! Ing!" in the exact same tone.
Heidi has a ton of new words. She will repeat anything we say several times. At her 15-month checkup, the doctor flat out did not believe me that she had 30 words, and she has probably added 20 more since then. Off the top of my head:
Pa-ba or ba-pa -- backpack
Goga -- Go Dogs Go
Go? -- where did X go?
Cop -- cap/lid
Hamma -- ham (she looooves ham)
Seat -- I want to sit up in your chair
Doggy
Nana -- applies to both Sonia and Anna, her toddler buddies
Tea
Capkee -- coffee
Hot -- complete with startled hand motion
Stop
Come -- directed at Izzy, an exercise in futility
Hungwee -- hungry
Cookie
Beee -- beans
We're gearing up for a month of pool time and beach time, which will be super fun with her . . . assuming someone is on lifeguard duty 100% of the day.
She's a lot of work right now because she has become highly capable but has NO SENSE. Just no self-preservation instinct whatsoever. She will climb anything, dive off of anything, leap into any body of water without a backward glance. Ingrid was such a mellow and sensible toddler that I had forgotten how tiring it is to parent a child on a perpetual suicide mission. It's been four years since Henry was this age and started needing stitches with predictable regularity.
She also has very strong opinions about some things that necessitate extra parental intervention -- for instance, she WILL NOT sit in a booster chair anymore, she must be sitting on a normal chair, but that means I have to take her off the chair every time I need to walk away and get something, which happens roughly 475 times per meal. Same thing with water. She WILL NOT drink out of a sippy cup if the older kids have glass tumblers. So I pour her an open cup of water, which requires help with drinking, plus mopping up the inevitable spills. Yes, this is why Montessori classrooms are set up the way they are. Alas, I do not live in one.
But she's generally delightful to be around. Her default is to be jolly and fun-seeking. Just like Henry, when she is sad, she wants to be made merry. Maybe that's why she loves Henry so much -- he gets that being goofy is going to remedy most of her problems.
When she's really having a good time, she throws her head back and laughs maniacally. Being tickled and going swimming are THE BEST. She also likes to put on sunglasses, throw her head back, and go staggering around like everyone's favorite drunken college friend.
She loves baby dolls, playing in the water, carrying bags full of snacks, and watching videos of cousin Nona on my phone. She is a great little companion for running errands or doing household tasks that don't require me to move from room to room. She loves stories but is particular about who reads what. She can't get enough of Karl reading Caps for Sale or poems, but has no interest in my renditions. But she will have me read Go Dogs Go eight thousand times a day, along with Goodnight Moon and Hippos Go Berserk.
My favorite Heidi-ism is how she turns up her little hands and quizzically says, "Go?" when she can't find something. As in, "Where did baby go?"
I also love how she mimics me when I call the big kids from downstairs. I'll call out, "Henry! Ingrid! Two minutes!" And Heidi repeats, "Henwee! Ing!" in the exact same tone.
Heidi has a ton of new words. She will repeat anything we say several times. At her 15-month checkup, the doctor flat out did not believe me that she had 30 words, and she has probably added 20 more since then. Off the top of my head:
Pa-ba or ba-pa -- backpack
Goga -- Go Dogs Go
Go? -- where did X go?
Cop -- cap/lid
Hamma -- ham (she looooves ham)
Seat -- I want to sit up in your chair
Doggy
Nana -- applies to both Sonia and Anna, her toddler buddies
Tea
Capkee -- coffee
Hot -- complete with startled hand motion
Stop
Come -- directed at Izzy, an exercise in futility
Hungwee -- hungry
Cookie
Beee -- beans
We're gearing up for a month of pool time and beach time, which will be super fun with her . . . assuming someone is on lifeguard duty 100% of the day.
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