Hollie's favorite hand-me-down dress thus far—it turns her into a twirling, whirling imp.
Hollie is 16 months old and a hoot to boot. I haven't been so good at these updates, but it is harder and harder to get together with our families, so I'm going to be better at updating this old blog.
Our young elf has been into all kinds of trouble lately. Despite knowing how to sign "all done!" she still prefers to let us know by throwing food (usually something really sloppy like avocado pieces or mashed potatoes) off her high chair tray and onto the floor. Her favorite word is "no," and she has learned to say it in about forty-two different cadences. My favorite versions include the one I call Old Grizzle-Grouch when she says "no" in the lowest, growlingest, troll-like voice, usually over and over, like this: "no no no no no no noooooo." My other favorite is the coy "no," when she gets really quiet, looks away, and softly, sadly, with lips puckered says, "nooooooo......" in one of the highest registers I have ever heard from this growling puppy girl.
Helping with a little light yard work.
Here are some of Holls's favorite things:
Favorite food: avocado, which she calls "CADO" in a low grunt
Favorite vegetable: peas and cooked carrots
Favorite fruit: strawberries and apples
Favorite words to say: no, book, moon, baby, ball, bee, dog, avocado, more, "oh, pretty!" and eyebrow (seriously)
Favorite words to sign: outside, water, again, dog, cracker, cereal, more, leaf (for "tree"), cold, pajamas (sleep + clothes), and hat
Favorite time of day: bath time and brushing her teeth
Favorite books this week: Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider and The Very Quiet Cricket, and Leslie Patricelli's Tubby Time
Favorite game: dress up with Daddy, in which the two of them stand in front of a mirror and take turns wearing hats, my dress scarves, bracelets, sweatbands, and bows
Favorite animal: lions
Favorite crayon color: white (seriously, although she did eat a blue crayon under Dave's watch)
Holls loves to play peekaboo, and she likes to hide behind trees and then jump out to scare me or Dave. She thinks if she can't see us, we can't see her, so this is her "hiding" behind our hobo horseshoe set, just before jumping up and "scaring" me.
Some of her least favorite things include:
taking naps (though some days she doesn't seem to mind them at all)
putting clothes on (including socks, shoes, and jackets)
putting lotion on
getting her hair washed
hearing "no" to one of her own requests
Playing with her bowling pins from Grandma Grover. She mostly just throws them whilst shouting barbaric yawps.
Hollie gets to watch one Signing Time half-hour video in the mornings (when Mom and Dad are still trying to wake up), and she gets to watch one Yo Gabba Gabba half-hour episode before she goes to bed at night. I sort of hate letting her watch any television at all, especially since she loves it so much, but I admit it is a nice way to wake up slowly and a nice way to calm her down for bed.
Many, many thanks go to my sweet cousin Erin who sent us the signing videos—they have revolutionized the Grover household. We are converted.
Watching her daily Signing Time video with her blanket from Grandma Hollie.
We also had one snowstorm last week that gave me a day off from school (awesome). Hollie helped me make these snowmen. We didn't find out until David got home from school that he has never built a snowman in his life! I still feel bad about not waiting for him to get home. I had no idea!
Hollie being impish.
Final points of interest:
This baby is getting teeth! She is growing them all out of order, I'm afraid, with four front top teeth, three bottom front teeth, and what looks like a few molars on the top and bottom on both sides of her mouth. Her grin is delightfully lopsided as a result.
The one thing this baby will eat 100% of the time are goldfish crackers and Macaroni and Cheese. Since David and I are trying to oust all processed and high-sodium foods from our diet, this always concerns me. And yet there is something so rewarding about seeing her have a healthy appetite that I can't help but give into her cravings, she eats like a bird so often the rest of the time. Oh, babies.
My handsome husband and daughter. *swoon*
Oh yeah, and Mowgli is doing chipper, too. We're around nineteen/twenty weeks along and I can feel him/her moving around a lot these days. I've been able to feel little feet when I lay my hand on my stomach (and much higher than Hollie's early days, so Mowgli must be head-down most of the time). I'll see if I can get David to feel the kicks this evening, since some of them are already pretty strong.
Here is a video from a few weeks ago, after Holls demanded to wear the hat that belongs to my Strawberry Shortcake doll from early 80s. It was sort of an impromptu video, with just a few animal noises and body parts—she was already losing patience with me—but I thought her grandmas might like it:
