17 months

And just like that, another month has flown by. This may be the first month that I actually didn't notice that the 12th had come and gone. It was on the 13th that I thought, "oh, yesterday was 17 months. wow"

When thinking over the last month, it is hard to pinpoint all that has changed...but change has surely happened. Abby looks older than ever. She seems taller to me - thinner too. She's still heavy - dense for sure. She's stronger and faster and more talkative than ever.

But let me see if I can give you a few specifics.

I think she looks older in this picture

At 17 months, Abby is continuing to improve her gross motor skills. She is running/jogging faster than before. She often walks around on her tip-toes with pretty good balance. She is better about climbing on, and off, various things. We have a futon that is lower set and she can climb on and off of it with ease now.

She is still practicing her words and adding new ones periodically. Sometimes she'll ask what something is and I'll tell her, "that's a shelf" and she'll just parrot back, "Shelf!!!" and then run off. She won't use it in everyday use - but she wants to know what everything is and will say it back to you if she can. A few weeks ago, she brought me her little watering can and said, "Water-can" clear as day. We've added a few more animal sounds to her repotoir to bring us up to....about 21?. Some of our favorites aren't technically animal sounds, but she says "yee-haw" for cowgirl, "choo-choo" when ever she sees a train (or city bus), and if you ask her what a quietbug says, she'll put one finger to her mouth and say, "shhhh" That one, I think will be a useful tool later on.

But, I think the bigger development this month has been her singing. She's really kicked that up a notch this month. We have several songs we sing routinely with her. The ABC's and a teeth-brushing song to the tune of "row row row your boat" are the two she's best at. A few weeks ago, she started singing the tunes with nonsense words well enough that they were recognizable. She doesn't sing all of it, but parts. A few days ago, she started adding certain words/letters. So, now, she'll sing "EFG" pretty consistenly in the alphabet and if you sing, "W, X" she says, "Yyyyyyy"

I love listening to her sing. It's precious.

She still loves her books, she'll sit and read by herself for good bits of time. She's dancing more. She does this one little flashdance/riverdance thing where she runs to you, stops, and then stops her feet just as fast as she can and then laughs.

She's getting pretty good with her spoon and we let her feed herself with it most meals.

I'm drawing a bit of a blank on other things right now.

There's a few things to note about the picture below. First of all, look how long her hair is getting! Straight on top, curly in the back. Second, her jacket is getting shorter. Third, she's worn a hole in her knee - and it's not from crawling, but from learning to run and crashing

Today, we went to the park, which was great. I love it when the three of us get to go together. I enjoy the walk to the park and the time to just be together as a little family. I decided to introduce Abs to the tire swing. She thought it was fun for about 10 seconds and then wanted down.

Happy 17 months baby girl. Every month with you just outshines the last. We love you.