The Exciting Life of a 16.5 month old

I've noticed lately that Evelyn has been changing a lot. Like really fast and a lot of things have been happening all at once. I feel like I can't keep up. So here I am. I used to do monthly updates on her changing little life, but haven't since she turned one. This might make me sound crazy, but I swear she is so smart and is learning brand new things every. single. day.

The last few months she has really settled in to playing with other kiddos and has been leaving the "cling-on" status behind more and more. We have to catch play time on a full belly and not at nap time for it to be 100% successful, but we have made big changes. It helps that we play with the same group of kids for the most part, so she is excited to see her friends and go play!

The Oklahoma weather is so nice for playing. Even though its not super warm by any means, we can go out for a little bit on the playground and get some energy out. She can climb up the steps to the playlet all by herself and find the slide and go right down it. The other day I looked over at her and she was on the opposite end going down one of the twisty slides. She must have been bored with her small, straight slide. But every time we go down the slide..."Weeeeeee" every time. Its the cutest.

Speaking of her words. Holy moly this girl doesn't stop talking.
I might know where she gets that from... **cough*me*cough**...
Most of what she "says" is baby/toddler babble. But its pretty funny.
It has become more sentence like and she really sounds like
she's got something to say.
Sometimes she puts her hands on her hips and bends over and gets serious and says all sorts of things. She usually does that in the mirror to her reflection, the dog or cats, or to other kiddos at playgroup. They all just kinda look at her when she does it. I swear she will start speaking in sentences soon.

Her words have come a long way just in the past few days too.
Just to list a few....
"Doh way" (Go away)...usually to Chloe when she's begging for food. I might say that a lot too.
"Sit down"...pretty clearly. I might say that a lot when she climbs and bounces on the couch.
"Dank-you"(thank-you)...we've been working on this one! New just yesterday!
"pease" (please)...so cute when she tries to sign it too!
"Shoe" ...yup girl loves her shoes!
"Sock"...guess she likes socks too!
"Appul" (apple) Loves pointing those out at the grocery store
"Nana" (Banana, or Nana) also loves to shout this across the grocery store
"Cooookie" (cookie) she's got a sweet tooth like her momma, what can I say?
"Arel" (Ariel)...Little mermaid? We named the princesses and she said Ariel back to us. And she keeps saying it. Random.
Owl - again, kind of a random word. But clears as day...owl

She says the usual words too:  ball, daddy, mom, mommy, kitty, hi, bye-bye, doggy, Chloe, Papa..

I know I'm missing words and I don't want to bore you any further with baby babble. But I'm pretty proud of how my girl has grown so much in the last few weeks. She is as smart as a whip with the attitude to go with it. She is still so, so sweet, but she is going to be a spitfire in no time. I just have a feeling she might take after her mom's sass. Which isn't always a good thing. I keep praying she gets more of her dad's demeanor. Only time will tell.

For now, these days of her growing and changing so fast will be over before I know it, so I will try and cherish them as much as I possibly can.

Proud of all your doing little one.