Sarah Jane at 16 months

Sarah Jane has had a rough 16th month.

She spent most of December getting 3 molars, two on the top and one on the bottom. The bottom one got bloody and swollen and did not come through quickly. She lost her appetite and at the same time Veronica went to Venezuela for Christmas and for surgery and Sarah Jane's schedule was thrown off. On top of all that she got a fever from her MMR/Chicken Pox shots and got a cold.

As a result, she got very clingy and forgot how to sleep through the night. She got used to having us sit with her while she fell asleep and she expected us to be there when she woke up at night and got very mad when we weren't. She also stopped playing in her crib by herself in the morning which was VERY sad for us. We really enjoyed that extra time to snooze.

At the same time, she has developed a bit of a personality? Not sure what the right word is.... Instead of getting sad, she gets mad. She YELLS NO! and lies on the floor with her head down kicking. Classic temper tantrum pose. Grandma says she is just advanced for her age...

Yesterday (1/5) we did the official Ferber method to get her to go to sleep and hopefully it worked, she slept from 8:15 to 7! Hasn't done that in a long while.

Despite all this she had a good Christmas. She woke up from 3am to 5am on Christmas Eve but then (in a first ever) slept until 9am which her Smuesby Aunts & Uncle truly appreciated. She got much better at opening presents as she got lots of them and had two Christmases - one at 690 and the other at Aunt Carrie's. All of her family was there except Uncle Mike and Aunt Julia.

At our last doctor appointment she was 23.5lbs and 30 inches (I think.) She was 75% for both height and weight and 90% for head size. She wears mostly 18month sized clothes but is slowly starting to grow into 24 months. She is slightly less cuddly than she was for a while but still is good at giving hugs and kisses and still likes to sit in our laps.


Most used words:
PBs? - Cranberries please
Apple? - Oranges please
Peas
TankU
Moe - More
NO!!! (used to be nononono, now it's more directive)
SIT (Stay in the room with me mommy while I fall asleep or I'll scream and scream and scream)
Book
Agua - water please?
Baba - Bottle
Mama
Dada
Click Click Click - Please can I have a goldfish?
Hat
Hot
Mama - Grandma
Zeee - Zeke
Baby - Doll or Brady
Gonica - Veronica (and she recognizes Veronica's car!)
Rrrarr - What a bear or a lion or a tiger says
Shes - Shoes
Byby
Ba? - It's time for Bath now?
Acker? - Can I please have a cracker?
Acket? - Please take off my Jacket
Out
Down
Up (she gets out, down and up mixed up, they all mean the same thing - get me out of here!)
Happy! (I'm not sure what this means but sometimes she runs all around the house yelling it. I think maybe it means open?)

Favorite Toys
Baby from Veronica - she is a very good mama and drops her baby off for babysitting with me frequently
Stroller from Nana
Rocking horse sent from Uncle Bill & Aunt Becky (Mom's old rocking horse)
Hello kitty wallet from Aunt Whitney

Favorite Foods
Oranges (aka "Apples")
Cranberries
Chicken soup (but just the noodles)
Black beans (occasionally)
Crackers
That's about it... She is a very picky eater.

Favorite Activities
She is very good at picking out books to read and very picky about which one she wants. She pulls them out and looks at them and then either decides she wants it read (and brings it over to me) or puts it back. It appears that she actually recognizes the different books and occasionally when I say "Get the bobo book" she will actually look for and find the correct book. I find that very impressive. Sometimes she likes to sit quietly and look through books, she flips back and forth through all the pages. She has graduated from board books to the big kid books (those are the ones she likes to pull off the shelf) but she doesn't usually make it through an entire book before she's off to get a new one. The selection process is her favorite part.

Tricks!
When we ask her to go get her shoes, she runs right into her room and opens up the drawer and pulls out a matching pair. Again, we are very impressed! She also remembers to say "TankU" to daddy all on her own when she gets out of the shower or when he gives her an orange. She is very good at waving byby and blowing kisses. She blows kisses to everything she leaves including the car and whatever we flush down the toilet.

Likes and dislikes
Bath - pouring water in and out of buckets (likes)
Getting dried off by the towel (DISLIKES)
Getting a new diaper on (DISLIKES)
Running around naked (LIKES!)
Sitting in her Red Chair in the living room (Likes)
Playing with the wallet from Aunt Whitney (LIKES - or any wallet)
Phones, purses, shoes (high heels) (Likes!)
Listening to music (likes)
Singing at night (likes)
Grandma (LOVES!)
Wearing Hats (Likes - used to Dislike)