17 Months!

This 17 month old is starting to get a tad independent! Lydia, like always, is ever on the go and it's getting increasingly hard to snap a picture of her that isn't a complete blur!  Here's what she's been up to this past month!

Checking out Papa's tractor!

Lydia weighs about the same as last month (around 24 pounds).  We have broken out a few 24 months clothing basically just because we can and because they're nice to cover up her long torso/big belly!

Check out that hair!

Lydia is still jabbering all the time, but gets really quiet when she's trying to be sneaky!  She has started saying the animal sounds for lion and chicken, and when asked what Papa's tractor says, she proceeds to try to motor her lips/spit all over you.  She also loves to say "I do!" almost anytime you ask her a question.

Lydia can kind of be a Jekyll/Hide when it comes to a few things.  At times, she will do really well and play independently for awhile.  On the days that I have something I really need to get done, she wants to hang all over me!  She's starting to get a longer attention span, and we can definitely see her imagination starting to develop more.  I took out a little teapot set (one of the stashed-away toys from Christmas), and she loves pouring a cup of tea and pretending to drink it!  Lydia also loves to pretend to mix/stir things.

Sorting through junk mail & watching it rain...while sitting in her toy bin, of course!

I think Mommy gets the blame for this tendency, but Lydia has started to want to hide/sit in the smallest spaces she can find.  She loves to be IN her toy bins, in the corner by the piano, and hiding behind doors, dressers, and in closets.  (Disclaimer: I did that when I was little; not anymore!)

  

Some Lydia loves from this past month:

Putting things on her head, reading in her tent, bike rides, blowing bubbles, water table, playing with older kids, preferring both grandmas over anybody else, looking for puppy pictures at the store, hot dogs (gag!), not taking more than a half hour nap each day, turning in circles, climbing and trying to balance on things, using a fork, and more!

Her only real dislikes are when I can't understand what she's trying to tell me (or I choose to act like I don't know!) and napping.  Lydia is still the most inconsistent napper ever.  This week alone, she's had three days of half hour naps, and two days of two hour naps.  Let's hope we repeat the latter one today!

Reading to Brownie the Bear in the tent!

Simultaneously playing, "rubbing" Daddy's back, & working on her balance skills!

Lydia also got to experience her very first Orange City Tulip Festival!  She LOVED the parade!  She enjoyed drumming along/directing the marching band, seeing Curious George, and sniffing the tulips!  Can't wait for next year!

My little Dutch girl!

So little Lydia, you might be one crazy girl, but we still love you like crazy, too!