16 Months Old

I can't believe my baby is already 16 months old! I haven't done an update in way too long and Preston is learning and growing so quickly. At 16 months:
-Preston is such a happy, loving boy

Here he is playing with his rain boots my cousin Cherie gave him. He LOVES these boots and didn't want to take them off.

He doesn't care if he's missing one!

-He loves to talk. His first word besides "dada" was "uh oh".

-He is so smart and mimics things we say. The first time he started mimicking was on Easter (April 24) and he copied me saying "oh, rain." He has just continued expanding his vocabulary since then and now mimics the alphabet.

-His favorite word is "ya" and he answers ya to almost every question. I am happy that he he answers questions in the affirmative although he has recently begun yelling "no" occasionally. He also will slowly nod his head yes or shake his head no and it is so cute!

-Other words: "uh oh" "oh" "bye bye" "night, night" "dada" "mama" (which he just began saying in the last few weeks when he has been saying dada for ages!) "y" (for Super Why, his favorite show) "show" "shoe" "ball" "up" "out". He has just begun saying "more" but whenever you ask if he wants more he'll say "ya".

Watching Super Why

-He loves his bath and if you say "Want to take a bath?" He says "ya!" and runs to the bottom of the stairs. If you don't come with him he gets fussy because he just wants to take a bath!

-He is really good about going to bed. When you say "do you want to go night, night?" he'll say "ya" and nod his head. Our bedtime ritual is a bath, followed by cleaning out his ears (he likes it and will move his head so I can get the other ear), brushing his teeth while he's still wrapped in his towel (my turn and then his turn) and then he brushes while I put on the diaper and lotion him up. We still wrap his swaddlers around him and lay him in ours arms for a bottle. After the bottle he'll lay on our chest and tuck his arms between us. If you say "can I have a kiss?" he will often lift his head and give a quick kiss and lay his head back down.

-He has climbed out of his crib twice! The first time was on memorial day and then once since. He also climbed out of the pack-n-play at the Carter's a week and a half ago.

-He is dangerous! He is always trying to climb up on the chairs or table and loves to sit and rock on the la-z-boy. He likes to run but just isn't good enough at it yet and he usually ends up falling.

Climbing onto his little table

Evidence on his nose of a recent fall

-He has recently really gotten into books. He will often grab a book and bring it over to Aaron or I, throw it at us and then climb up for us to read to him. He is learning about animal sounds but the only one he really gets is the roar for lion. He has been roaring for a long time but is now associating it with animals. Today he saw a cow on Super Why and moo-ed for the first time.

"Read this!"

-He loves music and music always gets his attention. Aaron taught him to conduct (wave his arm) while we were watching conference in April and so he starts waving to every hymn in church. He loves sitting on his dads lap and playing the piano. He also sings a little bit and will mimic the songs of some of his toys.

-He loves when his dad comes home from work and will run to the sliding door and get so excited. He has the biggest grin on his face and usually as soon as Aaron walks in he'll run to the living room, waiting for Aaron to follow and play with him.

Watching daddy watch a video of him

-He is really independent and doesn't care too much if we leave him. He happily goes to his grandparent's and aunts and uncles and doesn't care if we leave him with a babysitter he doesn't know. We left him overnight for the first time on June 18th and he stayed with my family. They said he did great and didn't seem to miss us at all!

"Here Mom"

"I'll take that!"

-He is an active, joyful boy and the love of our lives. We don't even want to imagine life without him. He has brought us so much joy and continues to amaze us every day.