17 months old!

Wynn turned 17 months on Saturday and I just can't believe that she's growing up so fast. She has changed so much from that happy, chunky little baby that I had this time last year! Here's what 17 months looks like for Wynn Caroline....

- She is fiercely independent but will absolutely ask for help if she feels like she just can't figure it out. I taught her to say help at a very young age so that she wouldn't grunt and cry if she couldn't do something and she uses that words constantly.

- She is very into taking her shoes and socks on and off now. She is trying to dress herself too. She actually does a great job with the socks and shoes. If she only put them on the right feet...

- She does her shape sorter with ease now and loves to do her wooden puzzles.

- Her vocabulary is expanding more and more everyday. I bet she probably says at least 60 words now with the newest ones being: gentle, horse, purse, drop, Tico, hola, and Lucie. She even calls Lucie's name now just like mommy does. :) It sounds more like Teesee but we'll take it.

- She loves to watch Sesame Street and Dora. We really limit her TV time but these two shows are great because they're educational and they hold her interest. She has fallen in love with Melmo (Elmo) lately and loves to watch him sing Elmo's World on Sesame.

- We practice words in English and Spanish with her flashcards and she does a great job at identifying the items now.

- She is trying to sing the ABC's and Rock a bye baby.

- She is really getting better at eating. She still has her finicky days but it's getting better. We haven't cracked a jar of baby food in a few months and for her that's progress!

- She loves to brush her teeth and we usually do it in the morning and before bed just to get her used to it.

- She tells us when she has pooped. Gotta love this one! She will say "poop" and continue to until you change her diaper. I'm hoping that means that she will be ready to potty train soon.

- She knows most body parts and loves to point out everyone's eyes, ears and noses. She also knows belly, feet, hands, mouth and fanny.

- She is a total little mommy. She loves to rock her dolls and sing to them and push them around the house in her stroller. It's interesting because we've never pushed dolls or girly things like that onto her but that seems to be her natural instinct.

- Her favorite animal is her cow! She calls it a Dow and yells for it until we find it. Once we do she kisses it and hugs it until Lucie steals it out of her hands.

- She recognizes and says most animal sounds with their animals. Her newest is to "woof" everytime she sees a dog or carries her pound puppy around. It's so cute!

- When she hears Sam open the garage at night she says "Dada Jeep" (he has a four door Jeep Wrangler). The weirdest thing is we never taught her that so we have no idea where she picked it up from. She says it until he walks through the door. It's amazing to me that she associates the two now and nows that he's there before she can see him.

- She looks around for objects that she knows she had but can't see anymore. She wanted to take her cow to bed the other night so I let her. When she woke up in the morning I went in to get her and she was calling out "Dow, Dow" and looking around for it. She had dropped it through her crib rails the night before and couldn't see it but she knew that it was there somewhere.

- She's a major snuggler. She still lets me rock her and hold her before bed and naps. :)

- Book freak. Two words that describe Wynn to a T! She has started to try to read along and points out and labels things in the books that she recognizes. If she wants you to read her a book she'll bring it up to you and say "thanks" and climb up in the chair. She plants herself right on your lap and opens it up and says "thanks" again. She also uses most manner words like "please and thanks" on a regular basis (sometimes with a little prompting!).

- She feeds herself with a fork (I highly recommend the Take and Toss forks and spoons). I generally get it on the fork for her but she shovels it into her mouth all on her own!

- I can leave the house on the drop of a dime now with just a sippy cup and snack trap of goldfish if I have to. It's so liberating to not have to pack a giant diaper bag of stuff for every outing (at least until the next baby comes)!

- She is doing great with her glasses. She now adjust them and puts them right where they should be if they shift or fall off. She still takes them off randomly but overall she is doing great. Her eye seems to correct itself with them on (as far as the cross eye) but when she has them off it's clear that she's having a hard time focusing and it crosses back over again. I pray that we won't have to do corrective surgery.

Overall she is doing great and I can't wait to see how she grows and changes over the next few months!