16 Months

Ivy turned 16 months this week. I am gradually started to loose track of her age in months, and it takes me longer to answer when asked how old she is.

At 16 months Ivy says:

Zis? (This?)
Mum/Mummy/Ma/Mama
Dad/Daddy/Da/Dada
Shoes
Cheese
Toast
Toes
Door (most used word at the moment)
Bee (her bumble bee backpack)
Baby
Owl
Uh-oh (does that count as a word?)
Whee (for fun stuff, again, is that a word?)
Dot (when drawing dots with her pens)
Eye
(Spaghetti - still only that one time!)


She also makes sounds for:

Dog: A-wruh/Woo woo
Car: Hurmm (sounds a bit like a throaty "ham")
Owl: OOooh Ooohh
Gorilla: OOhOOh
Lotion: Pssh


She copies a lot of words too, like: bird, burp, ball wipe, huit (French).

She signs:

Milk
Eat
More
Finished
Daddy (working on it)
Hot
Drink (sometimes)
Nappy (sometimes)
Sleep (sometimes)
Hat
Thank you
Daddy

And a couple of video's from April...


She really loves the keyboard. The whining at the end is because she suddenly noticed the owls on the shelf (they have been there her whole life and she *just* noticed!).





She still loves the phone. She is also wearing loads of clothes because this is what happens when we are inside for too long - she finds coats and asks me to put them on her! She paces on the phone like Kwojo. Notice when she drops the phone she says "shi.."? Oops, may have got that from me, need to make more effort not to swear!

Ivy, recently

- Says "door" (did I mention she likes going outside??) and "owl" (when she wants me to make an owl sound)

- Is into closing doors and drawers, even if you are using it at the time.

- Learnt the sign for "more" in an afternoon. We decided to start teaching her it at lunch time, and by dinner she was using it!

- This week she gave up on signing and words and gestures and anything else and instead used whining to try to communicate everything. Oh my god. Most irritating sound. With lots of encouragement and positive reinforcement she is starting to use communication that doesn't make my brain hurt.

- Is pretty good at kicking and dribbling a ball. She learnt this just from watching Kwojo. It's amazing/scary how much they pick up on when your aren't even try to teach them!

- Effectively used a fork for the first time to spear a piece of sweetcorn and eat it. It was impressive, and the concentration required was immense. (Another example of learning from observation).

- Has started using Kwojo's afro comb! She also uses forks to brush her hair.

- I unintentionally taught her to say "Wow" when she looks at the sky. She occasionally notices that it's there, throws her head back and stares skyward with a look of awe on her face. So I'd say "Wow, Ivy! Look at the sky, wow!". So now when she throws her head back she says "Waaaw!". Yes, the sky is pretty amazing.

- A while ago, when she had her immunisations, she was offered a chocolate button by the nurse and as she was really upset we gave it to her. She reluctantly took it, and then fed it too me! She was so sad and confused, and all she could think to do was give it to me - so sweet.

- Loves anything with wheels, and makes a "brrrrm" sound for toy cars as she moves them around.

- Is quite cuddly. She wraps her arm around my neck and rests her head into my shoulder. It's lovely. She didn't used to be as affectionate, she was too busy and on the move.

- Will put the lens cap on the camera while I am using it.

- Has a reading voice when she opens a book or sees words anywhere. She usually says "de doh di dah" in a soft slightly sing songy voice - I guess this is what we sound like to her when we read?!

- Enjoys the keyboard, and the many ways of playing it.

Ivy, recently

- Now says: shoes, cheese, toes, toast.

 - Really is obsessed with going outside. As soon as we are downstairs she finds her coast and asks for it to be put on, and then zipped up. She rubs the ends of the zip together until she gets frustrated that she can't do it and asks us to make it work. She also finds her shoes and asks for them to be put on. If she can see her backpack, that goes on too. Then she will either stand at the front door pointing and gesturing "come on" or whine to get in the pram. This is usually before I am dressed or have had breakfast. If we go out, and then come home, she wants to go in the garden as soon as possible. Indoors simply will not do.

- Has discovered her belly button and loves it. Over winter she would be dressed in tights under trousers and a long sleeve vest that pops up between the legs, so the only skin she would see would be her hands. When good weather came, tights and vests were no longer needed and she realised that she has skin in places other than her hands. She pulls up her trousers and slaps her legs with glee, and will pull up her top to find her bellybutton on demand!

- In the mornings Ivy calls for me by saying "Mum"

 - Is really good at holding hands, and has learnt that she can lead people where she wants. She has strong grip! She also does it for a sense of security, sometimes.

- Still loves dogs and gets excited, points and barks when she sees any. We finally got a video of her version of barking. She also makes this sound if she hears someone say 'dog' or 'Charlie'.

- Prefers to eat from a plate or bowl (rather than straight from the table), and it usually doesn't end up on the floor. She is also keen to use cutlery, because she sees us using it. She can get a pre-loaded spoon or fork into her mouth, just can't load it up with food herself yet. She's working on it. Meals aren't usually as messy as this anymore:

- Ivy likes the wobbly chair at the park, and wobbles herself on it with surprising force (it scares Kwojo). She is now keen to sit on normal chairs and tries very hard to wobble them too!

- Signs a lot. Now signs 'hot', 'sleep' and sometimes 'drink'. As well as 'eat' and 'milk'. Between these signs, the few words she says and general gesturing and sounds she is quite effective at communicating with us. She is signing 'eat' here:

Ivy, recently

- Now signs "eat" as well as "milk". It's interesting that she can differentiate the two types of hunger. She is quite pleased with herself over learning the new sign, she even does it while she is eating and looks at us expectantly for confirmation. We sign back and say "eat" which makes her so happy!

- She understands pointing now, and no longer looks at your hand (thank you Steph for POINTING that out. Aha. Ha...). I think this means she is now more clever than a dog.

- Loves to dance and bounce. It is oh so sweet. On the last week of Rock-a-Bye (baby group we have now graduated from) she bounced herself for the first time by bending her knees, instead of just being bounced by me (during the bouncing song). Since then she has been doing this loads, supported and unsupported, with a big grin on her face. Her latest dance move is to twist her shoulders with her elbows sticking out. She does this to music, including my singing (!), or at any time just because she feels like it.

A sample of signing 'eat', dancing and bouncing: