16 months old!

Peyton turned 16 months old on the 27th of December. I just cannot believe time has flown by so quickly.

Feeding Habits:
After having such a hearty appetite early on, the child has become one seriously fickle eater. We try to get three meals down a day but often one or two actually happen. Peyton loves fruit, especially dried plums and berries. She also loves mac n' cheese, goldfish, nutter butter minis, fruit loops, and cookies. I do try to load her up on the fruit to counteract all the unhealthy foods she has come to love. She is not big on meat at all and often does the whole dramatic gagging-and-spitting-the-food-out scene when I do try to sneak in a bite of chicken. However, that being said, she does occasionally decide that a chicken nugget from Chik-fil-a is acceptable (in addition to those delicious waffle fries) and will eat an entire one! Such a momma's girl. I have limited her drinks to water, milk, V8 fruit and veggie drinks, and an occasional sip or two of sprite. I am trying to avoid juices and have done well so far. Peyton is so good about drinking water and I truly appreciate her for that. She has been drinking out of the sippie cup for quite some time now and still does well with that. A few months ago she picked up on drinking out of a straw and that is by far one of her most favorite activities. I learned pretty quickly that having a stash of straws in the house is a complete must as the girl will have a full-on meltdown if she does not have a straw with her drink. What a big girl! I will sadly admit that she is still fond of the bottle (my fault) which I have limited her to three a day. We are still in the process of weaning from the bottle - which she usually takes around nap time and bed time - but since she does so well with the sippie cup and drinking out of the straw, I am not worried.

Health:
I have been truly amazed at how healthy Peyton has been considering how bad the flu season has been and the germs I encounter at work. She does have the occasional cold but doesn't really complain much. Brad and I often do go overboard when she has a cold and load up on motrin and vapor rub, squirt saline spray up the nose accompanied by use of the dreaded and much hated suction bulb, and get the humidifier going at all times. But hey, she doesn't stay sick for long so we are obviously doing something right, right? She is such a trooper when she is sick and doesn't give any of us too much of a hard time. She is growing perfectly and has gotten a bit taller. (I don't have her height and weight yet...). I don't believe she has gained too much weight recently which is not a problem at all considering how "healthy" aka chubby she has been since day one. She does outweigh most kids her age and I often worry she will accidently body slam some of the younger kids at the gym's daycare. But hey, no injuries reported so far. At least to my knowledge...

Sleeping Habits:
I often find myself bragging about Peyton's sleeping habits. The kid sleeps great. She usually goes down around 8 pm and wakes up around 9 am. During the weekend she does let her parents have a special treat and sometimes sleeps till 10 am! A-maz-ing. She does occasionally cry out in the middle of the night. I have had to hold her a few times which I do not mind at all. It's the only time she will snuggle with me. Nap time is where we get a little iffy. Sometimes she will nap great - two three-hour naps a day - and sometimes, like today, no nap at all. It is partly my fault due to crazy schedules when I am home. I try to get a lot done during my days off and end up dragging Peyton all over town. She is such a trooper, especially with the installation of DVD players in both my and Brad's car, and tolerates me taking her everywhere.

Milestones:
Peyton does great with stairs now, and actually turns around before climbing down. Fewer grey hairs have appeared, whew. She loves imitating stunt people on t.v. with moves such as jumping off the bed, jumping off the couch, doing somersaults, and running around crazy often stumbling into objects and flying backwards. We have actually limited the bruises and cuts but she is so proud to show off her boo-boo when she does have one. She is talking up a storm nowadays but often she is the only one who knows what she is talking about. She has added several words to her vocabulary including: no, hush (to the dogs), dog, more, ball, baby, and more (which of course I cannot remember at this moment). She helps me get her dressed and undressed and lets me know when I am taking too long. She loves singing with anyone and I think she has the best voice I have ever heard. I will have to add on to this section when I remember more (definitely a good thing I have created this blog for her to read when she gets older since I already can't remember details).

Overall:
Peyton loves running, dancing, laughing, and playing peek-a-boo. She loves watching movies and telling you how she feels. She loves snuggling with her blankets and will let you know in a heartbeat that it is completely unacceptable to wash them while she is awake. Her favorite word is "No" and does not hesitate to use it. Her new word of the month is "Hot" and says it as she touches everything, including the cold grapes she's having for dinner. She has the hippest wardrobe and often makes her mommy wonder if it comes in her size. She absolutely adores her Mimi and plays hard with her cousin Evans. She loves giving hugs and kisses. She loves saying "Bye!!!" in her southern twang of an accent to anyone that will listen. She loves waving to anyone what will look. In other words, she is the happiest, healthiest, and most perfect child on earth and we are truly blessed!