A List: Noah at 16 Months

* He is walking like a champ... Seriously, once he started, it was like he had always known how!

* He just started saying, "Cool!" and it makes me laugh EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I guess I say it more than I realize.

* He calls his blanket "ka-keh" or "ket".... and LOVES it. Gives it a full, doubled-over bear hug at least three times a day. His balnket and his Lammy, combined, are his comfort objects, for SURE.

* He now says "uh-oh" instead of "oops", and says it this way-- (voice raising in pitch) "Uh......(big pause)....(lowering in pitch until the very end) ...ooh?"

* I taught him to say, "Go, go, go!!!" every time I wind up this wind-y inchworm and set it down to run its course. He LOVES yelling it to the worm!

* He's getting pretty good at getting food onto a fork and getting the fork to his mouth. He has this cute little set of Oneida baby silverware that is silver and minature and works perfectly! (Thanks, Kate!)

* He is so good at communicating, whether by sign or words or expressions... He always lets us know when he is SO over whatever thing we are doing... He'll sign "all done" when he's tired of his bath, or tired of the grocery store, or tired of mom holding him and talking to a friend for too long... It is so funny!

* He makes the sign for "Dad" by gesturing to the top of his head. And this sign also works for "Mom" in his mind, so we just use context clues to figure out which one he wants. He'll sign for Dad when he doesn't see him for a long stretch of time... And my friend who watched him this afternoon said he started signing "Mom (dad, actually)" when he got tired of being babysat. So amazing to me!!

* He still loves his stroller time... whether it be walks in the park or the mall or whatever. And he is still SO good in his rear-facing carseat. He just sits back there and jabbers in his own language to himself.

* He smiles when a familiar song comes on the CD player or iTunes. He might even treat us to a dance.

* He loves scattering things in the messiest way possible, then ditching the scene of the crime... This might include-- playing cards, blocks, dominoes, business cards, felt food... whatever!

* He'll pat Joe or I on the back when we get him out of bed... as if to say, "Nice to see ya, Pop/Ma! I've missed you!"

* He makes the sign for "more", which he has done for a long time, but now it is accompanied with the CUTEST verbalizing, as he attempts to say the word-- "Moy??...Mo-ah? Mah? Moy? Moy?" And he'll always say it at least four times in sucession.... And always with a question mark at the end. It KILLS us.

* He loves the Pixar short cartoon "Boundin'", on the Incredibles DVD, and Joe reports that EVERY. SINGLE. TIME, Noah will clap and laugh when the poor sheep gets shorn and tossed into the rain. The SADDEST part, and Noah is GLEEFUL. So funny!

* He does the hand roll for "The Wheels on the Bus" and LOVES the rest of the song. He really wants to learn the rest, I can tell!

I think that is all, for the moment... But as you can see, he grows inside and out in LEAPS and BOUNDS and amazes us daily. He is the BEST part of our day, and sometimes we love him so much it seems impossible that we can keep it up without splitting in two. He is a miracle.