Everly's 16-Month Update

Everly York is 16 months old! It was a busy month as we packed up all of our stuff into storage and moved out of the apartment we had been renting for the summer. Jason left for Buffalo's camp last week and Everly and I moved in with my parents until we get the call from Jason to join him (once camp is over and he's out of a hotel). Hoping that is sooner than later because Everly is changing so quickly these days and I hate that he isn't here to witness it. Thankfully we have modern technology and we Facetime every day so he can get kisses and hugs from Everly and she can show him her new tricks and sounds. She's started making animal noises, mimicking the cars that drive by, the crows in the trees and the planes overhead. She notices everything, like she has some crazy sense of hearing and sight. It's so fun to watch! She is also running a lot - still with a rather stiff leg, but she gets from A-B pretty quick now.

She also got to spend a good amount of time with her cousins Ember and Macy this month and definitely was sad to see them go (they live 2.5 hours away). She opens our family photo album and points to them, like where are my friends?, and whenever we Facetime with my sister she starts giggling and dancing with excitement. I wish we lived closer to her cousins, but we'll take what we can get. We have also transitioned into fall this past week and I am just not ready for it. Everly loves being outside and going to the park so much and it's so much harder if it's cold and rainy. We have gotten creative with indoor play and I am starting to look for some local indoor play places for kids so she can still climb and explore. If it's not raining though we still bundle up and head to the park because there is no replacement for the outdoors.

Toys

Since being at my parents place she is spending a lot of time with their toy kitchen set. She loves cooking eggs, using the microwave, making everyone snacks, talking on the phone and going back and forth with plates and food to the table. Basically mimicking what I do all day lol. She also loves her dolls, zooming around her toy cars, playing with mini felt balls, duplo blocks and her newest discovery - playdough! When we are outside she's in the rocks, picking up and moving her chair, filling buckets with water and looking at all of the cars drive by. We have tried coloring a few times but she isn't a huge fan. She's more into just taking the lids of the markers on and off. She is also obsessed with books and makes everyone read her the same 4 books all day long. I use the term "read" loosely as she makes you turn the page after you read 3 words. Right now her faves are Jasper the Farm Puppy, Caillou, ABC's and Mr. Brown Can Moo How About You. As always she's still obsessed with the park. Not so much the slide anymore, but just running around and exploring and playing with the other kids.

Food

Not much has changed from last month, she's still into mostly the same foods and eats just about anything. Her faves are still eggs, oatmeal, tomatoes, yogurt, berries and now tuna! She has also been loving my mom's cabbage and turkey soup, even though it's a bit spicy. Overall though this girl just loves to snack. If anyone is ever watching her I FILL her diaper bag with snacks, even if she just ate, because I know she's going to graze all day. I have started making her spinach muffins to throw in her diaper bag and she is loving them. I have been making the Natural Nurturer's recipe which you can find here. I also put popcorn in, real fruit bars, Annie's cheddar crackers, baby oranges and organic squeeze pouches.

Day-to-Day

She goes to bed around 7pm and has been waking up a bit earlier around 6:30-7:30am the past few weeks. She is also finally down to one nap! That nap usually starts around 10:30-11 and can last anywhere from 2-3 hours. It's nice because she goes down so easy at 7 (sometimes 6:30) because she naps so early. In the mornings we play with her toys, have breakfast, get dressed, go for a walk and then she's down for her nap. When she wakes up we have lunch and then go for an outing. Either meet friends, go to the park or the mall or find somewhere she can run around and explore. Then we come home for dinner, play with her toys a bit more, read lots of books, have a bath and head to bed. Now that we are at my parents place she also loves going for a hot tub at some point and then running around in the backyard.

Giggles

Jason and I always prayed for a happy baby and lets just say God heard that prayer loud and clear. She is always laughing (don't get me wrong she gets mad and cries), but it's so easy to make her laugh. She loves being a goof and does things just to get a laugh out of people. She loves being chased by grandpa, loves making the noise of a Lamborghini (thanks to her dad), is still ticklish and just breaks into laughter for no reason a lot of the time. My favorite is her low belly laugh that makes her sound like some sort of evil genius.

Grumpy

She has been sick the past few days so she's been a bit more mellow. She still gets sad when I initially leave her but gets over it so quickly and starts playing, so I'm happy about that! Also if I take too long to make her food she starts squawking and getting annoyed with me. Talk about demanding.

Milestones/Firsts

She can make lots of animal noises now, a Lamborghini noise, she can point to where all of her body parts are and she understands most words we say to her. My favorite animal noise is her sheep, because she basically just does this evil laugh! If you follow my Instagram stories you'll know what I mean. I have a feeling once she says her first word the rest will come really quick. She also went on her first tube ride with daddy but wasn't a huge fan (check out her face in the pic below). She is also kind of understanding that there is a baby in my tummy now. She'll pull up my shirt and point at my belly and give it kisses. It's so cute!

Events

We moved out of our apartment, which turned out to be kind of sad for her. She started crying the day I packed up her toys and crib. She was grabbing everything and trying to take it out of the box. It was so much easier moving when she didn't understand what was happening! It even made me kind of sad leaving that place. She learned to walk there, loved cruising the hallways, climbed up and down the stairs, played on the balcony and SO many other memories we will never forget. Jason and I went to Minneapolis again - this time for a friends wedding and left Everly with grandma and grandpa for the weekend. She did great and is getting so much better at us leaving her. We also went to Pine Ridge Hollow for her Auntie's birthday and she got to see the little animals, which of course she loved.