16 months and fall fun!

Even though life has been a bit hectic as of late, we have managed to have some fun around here as well!

Also, our sweet little Brinley joy turned 15 months (Sept. 9) and now 16 months (Oct. 9) in the midst of all of the craziness. It's unbelievable how far she has come in the past two months. Physically she has gone from the early walking to almost running and her strength and climbing ability has also improved. She also will now occasionally sit and play or sit and watch a few minutes of Sophia the First of some other Disney movie that we put on. She has been more snuggling as of late, maybe because she's been sick but also maybe because she's not with either Matt or I all the time she misses us and wants more snuggles when we are around. Either way, we are eating it up!

Although there have been lots of significant physical changes, the biggest development has been her verbal skills! She went from saying "mama" and "dada" when prompted and the occasional "uh oh" and "crap" at 12 months to numerous words, animal sounds, pointing to things and pointing to body parts. It's amazing how fast she has learned all of these things! She is such a little sponge and will repeat back almost any word you say to her. We really have to watch what we say nowadays! The other day I dropped something and said "shoot" and she was quick to repeat "shoo" back.

Her vocabulary right now consists of mama, dida (dada), nana (same work for nana and banana), g-PA (grandpa), g-MA (grandma), ca (cat), caa (car), flur (flower), eye, chi (cheese), spoo (spoon), fru (fruit), gee gew (thank you), moow (more), pAci (paci), baba (bottle), baby, ki (kid), dis (this), hair pain (air plane), boon (ballon), no, ewwwww, pee pee, poo, night night, buh bye, luv u (love you) and I'm sure many more than I can't even think of right now. It's the cutest thing int he world hearing little words and I wish I had captured more on video. I'm going to try really hard to do so because this stage is just so precious!

Her first sentence was the other day when we were snuggling in bed in the morning when Dadda had to leave for work and when he walked out of the room she looked at me and said dida buh bye. So adorable!

As far as animal sounds, she know so many that it's almost hard to list them all. Cat, dog, ducky, chicken, rooster, cow, sheep (her favorite!), tiger, owl, bird, and probably more than I can think of right now too. She is also really good with pointing to her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair hands and feet and has begun to grab options that we ask for. We will tell her to go get her water cup and she will go find it. I know she understands way more than she can say.

She understands so much that I also know when she is willfully disobeying. Just today we found out that she was throwing things and pulling hair at day care. And she will also look right at you and throw her food off of the tray, even when you tell her "no." We've also begun to see some pretty incredible tantrums and if there was ever a doubt that we had a powerful child on our hands, that doubt is 100 percent gone! We have a couple of parenting books to read and I'm sure lots of advice from others who have walked this path before us but I think this next stage of toddler-hood is going to get even more interesting.

Despite her willfulness, she is absolutely the sweetest little girl and still continuous to melt our hearts with her sweet little ways. She makes every day more wonderful, even in the challenging moments. We are trying to soak in every second we have with her and cherish this sweet toddler time. It's so amazing watching her grow into her own little person. What a gift parenthood in! Oh sweet Brinley Joy, how you are loved!

She is starting to like coloring! New books and a new Sophia DVD were the cure for this sickness.

Sophia the first!

Story time with Grandma

Hugging the bunny and playing with Grandpa

New fall clothes!

I laugh because last year we did a massive photo shoot at the apple orchard but this year we were too busy chasing this little nut everywhere to even take any photos. I did manage to get one though. She loved picking the apples and putting them in the basket.  

A sweet friend was giving away a lot of her girls clothes and toys and Brinley got a new cabbage patch doll

Coloring! (This photo is deceiving though, I think the longest she colored for was like 30 seconds)

One of the last cute summer outfits for church

Mommy forgot her computer at work one night and Matt was on call for his job so Brinley go to go into my office with me to come and get it. She loved sitting at mommy's desk.

I can't believe you are letting me type on your keyboard mom! (Do you think she sees me do this at home a lot? :))

At Daddy's frefighter open house. Her favorite part was getting a boon. She ran around the whole place holding her balloon. So sweet!

Tried to take a pic of the guys getting the guy out of the car. Matt was on the hose putting out the fire but Brinley was having her own meltdown during that point so I didn't get a pic :(

Hard to see them here, but her cute piggy tails!