Age & Stage

On Tuesday Shelby will be 16 month -  1 1/3 years old. I have to say, she is at a funny little age and stage right now. We (actually Jack) took her to the doctor today and it's no surprise that she's in the 95th percentile for height, remaining steady at 50-70 % for weight and her peanut head has leaped from 15% to closer to 50%. That last leap makes me curious if everything is totally accurate, but regardless - it's good news to me. On the notes about "what to expect from your toddler," it indicated they should have a vocabulary of 3 to 6 words. I am not kidding, Shelby literally says about 3 new words a day now. Proud mama :)

Although the "well check" appointments are nice to make sure he growth and immunizations are on target, it's her blossoming, beautiful personality that makes her so special. Here are a few things that Shelby does right now that really exemplify her curious, innocent spirit.

Mess
Shelby loves a good mess. She loves talking about them and mostly - cleaning them. I am prestty sure she spills food, just so she has the opportunity to wipe it up. For example, if I am doing dishes and splatter water on the floor, she will stand in front of the counter in alignment with the paper towels and say "mess mess mess," just waiting for me to give her a square of Bounty so she can start cleaning away. She will also grab used tissues and wipes from the warmer right out of my hand with the hope she can clean up a mess.

Bus
This is one of Shelby's fav words at the moment. Any loud, unfamiliar sounds she hears, she says Bus! I can say confidently though that she has great hearing. Living by an airport, we hear plane fly overheard pretty regularly. Each time she hears one, she says bus!

Phone
Shelby loves my phone. I am pretty sure most toddlers these day love phones, but it's what she does when she gets it that tickels me. First, she typically starts saying Moose or Nana. I often ask her "Do you want to call Moose/Grandma?" so she associates the two together. They she typically says hello, talks some jibberish, often giggles and then hands me the phone to take over.

Baby Love
My muffin LOVES to take care of her baby doll. And her dancing pig. And her annimol. She lays them on the ground, covers them with blankets, pats (slams!) their back and say "Nigh Nigh," and even offers them her sippy cup, or as she says "Babbas."  She also loves to put shoes on the baby and push all 3 around in her doll stroller.

Please
Since the 1st day Shelby started school the teachers integrate sign language into the classrooms. I have never really notices Shelby use it, with the exception of the word/gesture please. It's hilarious. It's the only word she signs and she does it with serious passion. You sign please by gently swiping your chest, close to your sternum. Well, if Shelby wants something - especially food - and you request a 'please,' she will never say it, but she'll sign it was all her little enthusiastic might. She also signs thank you, but not nearly as often. I have to get this on camera - so cute.

I could go on and go, but the above are some of my favorite go-to Shelby moves at this age and stage.