Sophia is 17 Months!

First of all, Sophie fell asleep on me last night as I was getting ready to put her to bed.

That pretty much never happens... and I just relished it.

The only thing more peaceful and satisfying than watching your child sleep peacefully, is feeling the weight of their sleepy head on your shoulder and knowing they are completely safe, content and (wink, wink) quiet... for just a moment.

That's really all it is.

A moment.

Don't blink.

Soon my girl will be so grown up and independent.

She'll be busy in her own life, or she'll have a hurt I can't fix, or she'll want to borrow the car for the first time, or she'll be confused and torn about something she has to figure out on her own.

But right now, in this moment, she's completely protected in my arms and I don't want that moment to end.

So.

Our sweet girl is 17 months today!
She's always on the move and trying to keep up with her brother.
She can be quite the little thief too.
Her favorite game is to snatch something of his and run away as fast her little legs can carry her. :) Not the most charming trait... LOL.
She's also into being a little destructive tornado these days and I'm trying to really discourage that too. She'll wander from place to place making little messes and I think she just loves the attention. :) Our girl is starting to say a few more things this past month.
She really isn't a big talker but she's gradually increasing her vocabulary.
One thing I've heard a lot more in the last week is "no"... WITH an occasional finger wagging to go with it. You can see a little attitude in this picture when we were trying to head out the door one morning.

Daddy plays a game with her where he counts to three and then tosses her on a pillow-laden couch. She loves it and has started counting along with him in anticipation. :)

She signs and says "all done" and "more" at meals.

She loves to grab the phone, press a couple buttons, put it up to her ear and say "Hi!" followed by a bunch of gabby nonsense. It's really funny.

A few more animal sounds and body parts are under her belt now with the help of big brother. He loves to ask Sophie to say something or point to something and then praise her when she does. Together, the two of them have also created their own new Olympic event: synchronized screaming. They just squeal and laugh back and forth to each other. Sometimes it's cute. Other times it's ear piercing. I just try to forbid it at meal times. :)

Sophie can't really say "S's" and "W's" yet so she calls herself "Do-dee" (with a long "o") and Will gets a variety of names ranging from "O" to "Do" (another long "o") to "Wi-ow" (sounds like widow without the "d").

There's lots I'm forgetting or not mentioning, but these are the new things.

And finally, she says I love you like "I yo" or "I yuh yo" or "I luh you". Very cute.

I know I say this every time, but her hair keeps growing longer and it's now hanging in her eyes when it's not clipped back.

Sophie is a pretty good eater and her latest ventures with food have included silverware and a regular cup. She's still hanging onto that morning nap yet (which is fine by me), but it will definitely open up some more free time to do things when she drops it.

So another month has gone by.

Sophie is such a sweet and loving little girl and we are so enjoying seeing her blossom into a little lady.