Maddie Grace: 16 Months

This is the point in time where it starts being normal to forget how old your child is, right? Someone asked the other day and I told them she was 17 months. Then I thought and did some counting in my head and realized I had jumped ahead – “NO 16 MONTHS!” – so proud of myself for figuring it out. Someone also asked me how many weeks pregnant I am the other day and I responded with “I have no clue.” So yeah. Parenthood.

So what’s new this month? Maddie Grace’s ever growing personality. Saying “Peppa Pig” constantly with the biggest smile on her face (if it wasn’t so cute it would be mighty annoying), and big tantrums when she doesn’t get what she wants when she wants it. She’s also started grabbing my hand and pulling me to whatever she wants to do or wants to show me, and her hair is long enough in the back now for pigtails which we’ve been doing a lot and it’s pretty adorable. Oh and her messyness. Let’s start with that fun subject first.

For some reason my child is determined to make as big of a mess as possible. Yesterday she dumped an entire giant thing of goldfish on the floor, and then stomped on them to crush them up. She refuses to eat in her high chair and will scream if she doesn’t get to hold the entire package whatever it is that she’s eating, which enables her to make these huge messes, which is completely my fault for giving into what she wants. I try not to, I really do, but when she starts screaming and I’m tired I’m prone to do anything to make her stop. So our vacuum and paper towels are my best friends and we are conquering one mess at a time over here.

Now on to giant personality, a lot more fun of a topic. I’m obsessed with how crazy and fun my sweet girl is, although it is very tiring. She wants to run, jump, climb, sing, dance, etc. all day long. She’s almost always smiling and happy. She likes to pull me down and climb on top of me, and I often have to remind her to be gentle because of the new baby. Maddie Grace will spin in circles if you turn on music and seems to love making herself dizzy. She will start laughing hysterically for no reason which is one of my favorite things in the world. MG loves any activity that involves her playing with other kids. She used to hate even going to the gym nursery because we had such serious attachment issues – now if she has friends to play with there she throws a fit when she has to leave.

My little TV-hater has actually started watching TV… well she’s obsessed with it – so long as Peppa Pig is on. She won’t watch anything else, even other cartoons aimed at little kids. It’s Peppa or it’s no TV. It’s nice because I’ve learned that I can turn on Peppa and get some work done or clean up, and that she will actually snuggle up with me to watch it, but I do worry when it’s all she wants to do. She can even figure out how to get Peppa to start if the TV is already on just by pressing the buttons on the cable box. I was very impressed the first time I let her roam and walked into the living room and she was sitting on the couch watching Peppa when I had definitely not left it on. Since then I’ve actually watched her do this trick, and climb onto the couch like a pro.

Maddie Grace’s newest word, besides “Peppa Pig,” is “cookie”. She loves her cookies. She’s been very particular about what she eats lately. She asks for “cheese” all the time but sometimes won’t eat it when she actually gets it. She will guzzle down a full sippy of chocolate milk in 10 seconds but sometimes I have to force water on her. She always wants whatever it is I’m eating. She also can say “ew!” and says it a lot whether eating, or if she touches something wet outside.

Girlfriend seems to have grown a lot in the last month. Some of her 18-24 month clothes are getting tight on her so I’m buying more 2T sized clothing. Her feet have definitely grown so I’ve ordered her a few size 4 and size 5 pairs of shoes for the Fall.

As always I love every minute that I get to spend with my sweet Maddie Grace, and can’t wait to see what words and new skills this next month brings!