Sienna update

I just realized today how much Sienna has changed in the last few months and I haven't been as good at capturing the little things she does and says that make me smile (and drive me crazy!). Sienna is almost 17 months. For the past couple of months she's been tooling around our house, busy as can be, climbing, dancing, getting into anything she can get her hands on.

Here are a few of the things she currently loves/hates.

She loves....
attention (ALOT of it), purses, her binky, squeeky shoes, her baby doll, grandma's and grandpa's, aunt's and uncle's, her lovey, pushing a stroller, giving kisses (on her terms)--big, fat juicy ones and blowing kisses with a "Mwah!" sound, trying on shoes, anything really girly, doing things herself, being chased, music, dancing, getting into mom's purse and work bag and unloading everything, opening drawers, stacking toys, crayons?coloring, climbing stairs, milk (in her sippy cup), freeze-dried fruit, drinking from a straw, anything sweet--chocolate, ice cream, candy canes (thanks to my parents and siblings!), wrestling with her dad, hiking with her mom and dad, being outside ("'side"), reading...

She hates....
sitting still (ever), getting her hair done, cuddling, naps, going to bed, getting her diaper changed, sitting still, watching tv, being put in her high chair, when mom and dad leave, gold's day care gym, sharing, being put in her car seat, putting clothes on, church (sitting still), watching tv/cartoons for more than 1 minute, normal table food, sitting still. Can you see a pattern here?

Favorite words of the season:
baby, mommy (mommy, mommy, mom, mom, mommy, mommy, mommy....all...day...long...), da (dad), ball, puppy, uh-oh, no or no-no, go, go, go, 'side (outside), whusat? (What's that?), Iwango (I want to go), up, da (dad), Other tricks...She responds (on her terms of course) to the following questions: "What does a doggy say?" ("wuff"), "What does a monkey say?"("Oo, Oo, Oo" in a high pitch), "What does a kitty say?" ("Meow, meow, meow"). She knows where he nose and her belly button are.

She used to eat anything in sight, but has now become a much pickier eater. She eats lots of healthy food (fruit, veggies, etc...) but refuses to eat most normal table food, which make it kind of a pain." Lately she thinks it's super funny to sit in her high chair, hold her arm straight out with food in her hand, purposely drop it and then say "Uh-Oh!".

She is definitely at the phase where she has her own little language going on--complete gibberish. She sounds like an ewok. Sienna is a strong-willed little child and knows exactly what she wants. She just started copying most things we say to her. She can't quite get the words right, but she tries and we can tell that she's trying to copy the word. Today I showed her a picture of her cousin Grant and said his name and she said "rant". She also said "Nelly" for my sister Janelle. She loves to read, but has the shortest attention plan on the planet and can rarely make it through the whole book. She loves it when Grandpa Dixon reads to her. She has really turned into a little drama queen. (And yes, I know that it's only getting worse!)

Sienna's hair continues to grow like a weed. Seriously, where is the happy medium?! With Dan and I as her parents, thick hair was inevitable. I'm not complaining, but I think everyone would rather have a happy medium between the two (thick or thin). I've been trying to decide whether to grow out her bangs, so she's been a real rugrat. I think I just decided to chop her bangs again, and stack the back of her hair again. She looks super cute that way.

What's amazing to me is how much she understands. I can tell her to go do something or to pick something up and bring it to me, and she totally understands and can follow instructions. This stage is also super frustrating. She understands so much that it's frustrating when she throws these temper tantrums all the time, but I know it's because she can't communicate.

For the record, for any of you who were envious of my angel baby, who slept through the night at 6 weeks and ate anything in sight, took scheduled naps, was sweet as pie, be assured that Sienna is definitely no longer the angel baby I gave birth to 17 months ago. I told Dan the other day that she is 30% adorable/fun and 70% nightmare these days. Maybe it's 40/60....actually, no, I'm pretty sure it's 70/30. Regardless, it's a good thing she's super cute!