What Can Lily Do at Almost 17 months? (December 8, 2013)

We feel that measuring height on the wall is a great habit, and we thought we would do the same thing with Lily's abilities.

She is now almost 17 months old, and here are some of her favorite things to do and in general, what she can do:

She can say these words out loud, and largely use them correctly:

• Mama (can mean dad or baby also)
• Agua (water and all other liquids that we drink)
• Sister (clear as can be - this means Chloe)
• Yes (sounds more like "eshhhhhh" and usually she just smiles, scrunches up her face and shoulders and giggles to mean yes instead of saying the word)
• No (she says "no moi" and we think she just loves saying this. She definitely means no most of the time, but sometimes she will say no and then do the thing like eating a split second after saying no)
• Up/Down (she will repeat these clearly when she wants up or down and we ask her to say it, but I don't think she really uses them on her own)
• Oh no/Uh oh - I love theses ones because they are super cute. The second Chloe wakes up or fusses, Lily immediately stops what she is doing, points and says one of the two. She then gets up and runs over. It is super cute.

She can sign all of these words, and for the most part even though the sign isn't 100% correct she does use them correctly:

• Food/eat - This was her first one and it is still a go to sign. She uses it all the time and knows how to use it correctly.
• Milk - She definitely knows this sign. She likes her bottle of milk to go to bed, so when she is tired she will definitely ask for her milk.
• More/All Done - Another two of her first signs that she uses super well.
• Please/Thank You - Lauren has worked on these with Lily and she is really good about them. She know to ask please first and say thank you after she wants something. It is super cute!
• Bath - This look a lot like please, but she definitely knows this one. As soon as we get home from dinner, we ask if she wants a bath and she climbs up the stairs into the bedroom and runs over to the bathroom signing "bath, bath, bath"
• Baby - For her, the sign for baby only refers to her Baby Signging Time DVDs. She loves watching these and will ask for them all the time.
• Hold sister (not a real one) - This one looks a lot like book or boat, but it is clear what she wants. She knows to sit down first, point to Chloe, and then hold out her hands. She loves to hold Chloe and hug her tight (and give her big smooches)
• Sit (not a real one) - She taps on the seat next to her if she wants you to sit down, this is usually either when she is playing with you or she wants you to read to her. If she is playing with you, as soon as you sit down she will get up and run away, haha
• Airplane - Oh man, this must have been one of her first signs. It is not even close to correct. She just signs all done, but means airplane/helicopter. She LOVES looking up when she hears it. She can hear it while indoors and listening to music. She will be a pilot someday.
• Shoes - I just put up a video a few days ago of her with this one. She puts on her mom's shoes and slides them around the house signing "shoes!! shoes!!" She knows when we ask her to get her shoes, that she runs over and grabs her shoes because it means we are going outside.
• Agua - This really means almost any liquid. Wine, beer, water, a fountain, an ocean, it is all "agua!" which is one of the only words she can say ... but she also does a sign. The sign is supposed to be three fingers in a W for water tapping your nose. Lily's version is one finger touching the tip of her nose as she says the word "agua"
• Juice - She just started learning this one. It looks like she is flapping one arm like a chicken wing. It is supposed to be swooping your pinky finger in a J-shape. She twists her hand by flapping her elbow wildly ... 
• Cracker - This is supposed to be her knocking her knuckles on her elbow, but it is her slapping the back of her hand (close). She knows this means goldfish crackers, saltines, etc. This is her favorite snack, but we don't give it to her all that much ... even though she asks for it in excess.
• Cereal - This is a new one, so that she has a different word for Cheerios than for crackers ... she is pretty good at it
• Banana/Apple - She knows these but rarely uses them as we get seasonal fruit here, so we won't see these for awhile.
• Cat - Oh boy does she know cat. She knows the sign and what sound they make and what they look like. She can point to them in books and find them outside. She loves stuffed animal cats. Oh boy does she love cats. We can't wait to move home and have cats in the house again!
• Dog - Oh boy oh boy, her other favorite animal. She can hear/see/smell/sense a dog from a mile away. She doesn't mind them jumping on her, licking her face, barking real mean at her ... she just loves them.
• Bird - And yes, her other favorite animal that she sees everywhere. She can even do a good impression of a crow now. "Caw!" She sees birds everywhere and knows the sign well.
• Fish - She might know this one one day, and forget it another ... because we don't see many fish on a daily basis
• Horse/cow - These are both the same to her, which is the sign for a horse. Again, we don't see these that often, but she can point them out in books and in store windows and such.
• Itsy-Bitsy-Spider - She know how to play along with the song, mainly hands in the air mean the sun comes up and the sign for more with her hands kind of twisting means spider. She apparently does this sign to Lauren whenever she sees a real spider, haha.

Here are her three FAVORITE activities that she will do at any time, all day long, and could do each one for hours:

• Being read to - Oh man, she LOVES this one. She woke me up today with a kiss (her mom had gotten her up). She then brought me book after book while I was half asleep and I read each one to her. I think we got through about five. Every night before bed she would listen to as many books as we read to her. We usually read about 1-2 longer ones (Snail and the Whale and Monkey Puzzle) or a few shorter ones (El Gran Oso Hambriento y La Oruga Muy Hambrienta)
• Everything to do with Chloe - She LOVES LOVES LOVES her sister. All we have to do is say "SISTER" and her crying stops, she looks over and wants to hug her, kiss her, cuddle with her, see what she is doing, pet her gently, lie on top of her, carry her, sit with her, point to parts of her face, etc etc etc
• When sister is not around, playing with her baby doll - I mean, if you can't have the real thing, you gotta have a substitute. She sleeps with her doll at night and for her naps. She puts her doll in the swing and pushes her. She puts her doll in the stroller and pushes her. She carries her doll around. She wraps her doll up in blankets and walks around with her. IT is adorable.
• Watching her baby signing time videos - Oh man. She would do this all day if we let her. She signs for it (rocking a baby in your arms) and she points to the computer. As soon as I start getting the computer she runs over to the coffee table and starts squealing with excitement. She watches the video while rocking side to side and dancing. Every time the video brings up a new sign, she turns and shows us. If we aren't paying attention she walks over to us and does it until we see her and then she runs back over to see the next sign.
• Taking things out and putting them away again, to take them out again! - Yes, I assume this is normal. But let's take everything out one by one and lay it out. Today I took a shower and she hung out in the bathroom on the ground. She proceeded to take every single band aid and item from the first aid kit and lay them out in a big messy circle around herself. It was wonderful. She was cracking up the whole time. She especially, especially loves taking all the silverware out of the dishwasher if she ever hears it open.
• Phones - It seems like all kids go crazy over this, but Lily especially goes crazy over phones. She has gotten to the point where she knows people are talking on the other line and she will hold the phone up to her ear and listen intently. She doesn't talk back ... but she is super interested and always knows to hold it up to her ear, lol.

Then she also really enjoys

• Pushing things around the house - anything and everything ... cardboard boxes, suitcases, strollers, garbage bins ... you name it and she'll push it
• Going outside - She loves to run and grab her shoes. She will usually cooperate to put on the jacket and she will run up to the door and point out and peak out the curtain. She loves it. She will just let you hold her most of the itme outside btu she just loves going out the front door.
• Going up stairs like a big girl - Yup. Hold her hands, or she can do it holding the wall ... she goes up those steps swinging her legs wildly up the stairs.
• Sitting on things - especially on stairs or sitting down to hold her sister. She will sit down then tap the spot next to her to get you to sit and then if someone else is there like her mom, she will say sit to her too. Then she will hold out her hands that she wants to hold sister. THen after a nice sisterly hug, she will get up and run away.
• Airplanes/birds - Anything that flies is super interesting. She sees or hears it and she signs it. She will point and wait and stare. She LOVES the sky and anything that moves in it. She also loves pointing at the moon even though she doesn't know what it is or how to sign for it. She calls it a ball every once in awhile =)
• Swings/Slides - She just learned how to use a swing like a big girl, but even before that she has loved slides and swings. She is a little daredevil and maybe her dad is a little too easy going with that stuff. She goes down the slide on her own, which meant a big tumble a few months ago when her rubber shoes stopped and she went face first down ... or how her first big girl swinging obviously ended (after more than 15min though) with one arm letting go and falling onto the ground ... but she still loves it. She can't get enough.
• Seeing her friend (cassidy, jamison, eowyn, delaney, greer, iona, luisa, and so on ... there are so many) - She loves following the bigger kids and imitating them, and then she finds her own things to do, and then she goes back and wants to hug them and follow them and imitate them and then she goes off on her own. IT is super cute to watch. There are so many kids and families here that she always has some company at mealtimes.