The Hatz Family: 16 Months ~ Isla!

Oh Miss Isla where do I begin?! This month has had some challenges but we have enjoyed you so much. You are becoming such a little lady even though I still try to call you my baby...you are growing and changing every day and we just love you Isla Cakes!

Likes: Pushing Carter's buttons, being outside, playing peek-a-boo, eating sweets, shoes and doing what you want exactly when you want.

Dislikes: Being told no, doing what she is told, diaper changes, getting dressed...did I mentioned being told no?

Personality/Temperment: Man does this girl have some sass! She is just the sweetest thing but if she doesn't get what she wants, watch out! And let me tell you, this girl KNOWS what she wants! She is a pretty happy ~~baby~~ toddler but has recently gotten frustrated by rules and her lack of communication skills. She loves to be sneaky and do things she isn't supposed to. She will even stop, look at you, smile and return to whatever it is she isn't supposed to be doing. Pushing boundaries already!

So Adorable!

That being said, she has these moments of pure sweet bliss. When she is happy, she is happy! She smiles and giggles. The ladies at Child Watch said to me the other morning, 'she is always smiling' and it is true. She has started giving hugs and it is the sweetest thing!! Sometimes she will just lean in and let you do the hugging but other times she opens her arms and gives the hug. Melt.my.heart. She also will do the same thing with kissing but her kisses are sloppy and open-mouthed :).

The cutest thing happened over the weekend. My mom and dad were gone visiting Mark, Grete and Tierney up in Minneapolis and the kids were missing them terribly. It is very rare that there is a day they don't see Grandma Judy so her absence was certainly noticeable to them. They returned Sunday night and came over to Katie and Ryan's house for dinner. Upon entering the house, she was bombarded with hugs. First from the big kids and then Gus and Isla ran over with open arms. It was the first time I had really seen her give a hug. But she did it with such excitement. I do think she was excited to see Grandma but I also think she didn't want to be left out of the group hug :). I wish I would have gotten it on tape!

Motor Skills: Walking around like a champ! She still gets a little nervous about the tiny step down from my mom's garage to the driveway so always stops and waits for assistance. She understands pretty much everything we say and can follow simple, 2 step tasks. She does talk but isn't saying too many words just yet. Mostly hi, dad and mom. But the other day she was playing with Carter's John Deere camera and was walking around saying, 'cheese' and I think I have heard her say 'please' and 'out.' And she answered, 'yeah' after I asked her if she wanted a cookie. But none of these words are super consistent yet.

This is the major cause of both of our frustrations this past month. Isla loves to walk around with her first finger up so she can point and grunt/whine at anything/everything she wants. This generally works except when we don't understand what she wants and have given her everything we 'thought' she was pointing at! It leads to a meltdown for her and some aggreviation for us. I just want to say to her 'use your words!' I know Carter was definitely more verbal at this age so we haven't really had to deal with this before. Needless to say, it hasn't been the most fun ;). I am trying not to stress about it too much since she is in the 'normal' range for speech and every child is different. My guess is that one day she will wake up and decide she wants to do it and then I will be saying 'she never stops talking' :)

She does shake her head 'yes' and 'no' appropriately when you ask her a question and that has helped a lot. For instance, she always hangs her legs off the edge of the bed and will always shake her head 'yes', with a huge smile on her face, when I asked if she needs help. She also likes to shake her head 'no' when I ask her if it is time for bed.

She is such a mimick!! I had almost forgotten how much I love this stage. She just takes everything in. She loves to wash herself in the bath and even puts her hand back on the top of the soap container like she is getting more out. She loves to bruch her teeth!! She is still too little to reach the sink, even with a step stool, so I let her sit on the counter with her feet in the sink. She turns on the water herself and just brushes her heart out :) And when she is done she puts her toothbrush away. It is really just the cutest thing.

Brushing her teeth!

Also, one morning she was watching me put on makeup and I was putting on my mascara. I don't know how other women do this put I do the standard eyes and chin up and mouth open to apply. I looked over and Isla was doing the exact same thing! It was hilarious.

She still likes to walk around the pool rather than swim in it and the other day she was in the baby pool and my mom sent me this text:

I knew exactly what she was doing. When I go to the baby pool with Isla I always grab one of these to sit on so my suit doesn't get snagged on the cement. So I texted my mom and asked if she sat on the mat and wasn't surprised at all when my mom texted me back that she had :).

Teeth: Drool! Enough said. Girl has been teething for months and her drool is borderline out of control :). I will take it though since it seems to be her only teething symptom.

Eating: It is still hit or miss. That being said, she is a complete hog if she finds something she likes. It is just things she likes doesn't include meat or vegetables. :/ She is starting to like milk more but she definitely does not have her brother's love for it. She actually prefers water or juice. I don't like to give a lot of juice but boy does she gulp it down when she gets it.

Iowa Girl!

She is also still nursing twice a day. I never really had any set goal in mind when it came to breastfeeding. I know a lot of women feel like that 'have' to make it a full year. I stopped nursing Carter at 5 months so I really didn't have any expectations with Isla. We were just going to do what worked and that included supplementing with formula at 6 months, which was out of necessity because my supply. It is reallly funny because while I sometimes feel like people give you the side-eye when you don't nurse, I am starting to feel I get a little look when people hear I am still nursing. And let's be honest, Isla is definitely nursing for comfort/out of habit than getting a ton of milk from me in the morning and at night. I know she still gets some but it certainly isn't a 'meals' worth and she always gets additional milk with breakfast in the morning. So why do we do it? I don't know exactly. It is working for us right now so that's why I do it. I have noticed, especially in the evenings, that she gets a little more wiggly while nursing so I am thinking our days might be numbered as it is. We shall see what the future brings...

The Superficial: Seems to be getting so long! I don't know if it is because she is walking but she definitely seems tall to me. Although I know from her stats that she isn't.Her hair is getting long too!! Long enough, in fact, that I put it up in pigtails the other day. It was an exciting day! Maybe more for me than her as she didn't appreciate having to sit.still while getting her hair did.;) Her hair is still baby fine and super blonde! She still loves to play with her hair when she is tired so she got a little frustrated with her piggies because she was searching for something to grab onto.

Monumental Day! First Piggies!

She is still pretty petite but definitely doesn't seem as small as she used to. She is in 12 month clothes but I know that some 9 month stuff still fits :). I had her in a 18 month outfit the other day...it was supposed to be a longer shirt with leggings but Isla wore it as a dress and we didn't even bother with the leggings since it was warm out. She is still in size 2 diapers and is now in size 4 in some shoes. Her feet literally grew overnight and I was so bummed because I had just gotten her a new pair of size 3 shoes online. ::read: nonrefundable::

Firsts: First Time Out!! This totally happened and I wish I would have taken a picture of it :). We were out for dinner with Matt's parents at the Club and the kids were done eating and getting a little restless waiting for the rest of us to finish up. Luckily, the place was practically deserted and we were the only ones in the family dining area so I let the kids roam around a little bit. Isla was carrying around her plastic wipes case she had stolen from her diaper bag and Carter was sitting on a booster seat that was on the ground. Apparently, Isla wanted to sit there because she walked over to him and hit him in the head with the wipes case!! At first, I just told her 'no' and took away her weapon but then she walked around the table and hit Carter in the head with her hand! Such a stink! I didn't know what else to do so I told Matt to put her in the corner. We didn't make her stay there too long and I don't know that she fully understood that she was 'in trouble' but I certainly hope she understood 'no hit.' Oh My!

Notables: She loves shoes! Such a girl! But she loves to point to anyones shoes and will carry them around with her. She also has been trying to put on her shoes in the morning, which is clearly adorable. She also loves bottles. I have a plastic bottle of detangler for Isla's hair for after bath and one of Isla's favorite things to do is carry it around and take off/put on the little plastic cap. She always has to be supervised when she plays with this though because Miss Thing will stick that little plastic cap in her mouth despite being told no repeatedly. She also loves to do this with my dry shampoo bottle and body spray.

She also loves balls. Just like Carter Thomas did when he was her age. She even will pick up Carter's basketball and try to put it in the hoop...although she tries to put it up through the basket. She gets on her tippy toes but obviously is still way too short. She loves to play catch and will throw the ball to you for a long time.

Big Brother & Little Sister: It looks like both like(d) to shriek/squeal when they got excited. Carter was biting to show his frustration while Isla (so far) like to throw herself on the ground and pitch a fit. Carter was just transitioning to one nap and I remember it being quite the transition. Isla has been taking 1 nap for a while now although occasionally still takes a cat nap in the morning. Carter was much more into a routine and I feel like Isla is more 'go with the flow' type of gal. Carter loved to swim and was already putting his face underwater while Isla prefers to just walk around when we are at the pool. I am thinking about putting her in lessons this fall to see if we can get her to love the water as much as her brother. The biggest difference is the fact that she doesn't want any help when in the big pool, which is a problem considering she can't touch the bottom or swim. And she doesn't love the baby pool because everyone else is in the big pool. Carter loved to have us read to him and had several favorite books. Isla likes to read but prefers to sit with a book herself (shocker!) and flip through the pages rather than sitting and reading with one of us.

So that is the LONG recap of Miss Isla! This is mostly for me since I don't have baby books for either child and use this blog to document them instead. So if you made it all the way through ~ Great Job! :)