16 Months Old!

Josie's 16 month stats: 28 lbs and 34 inches, size 4 diapers, size 18-24 months in clothes, and about 75% the height of a giant Home Depot bear she refused to put down until her mama told her the following story: He is the Chief Hug Instructor and needs to return to the shelf to teach all of the other bears to give babies nice hugs while their parents shop at Home Depot. Without him the others won't know how to snuggle with their new friends. She nodded and waved good bye to him. She also blew him a kiss.  

Josie's new words (these require explanations so hello bullets): 

• "Walkka, walkka, walkka" which means "I want to walk". Special thanks to Grammy for turning Josie's polite little baby dictator command of "WALK" into this. In case you need a reference refresher:                                   
• "Happy!" Perfect parenting moment #43854: Jaimie and Jonathan (showing Josie the pic of herself below): "Josie, look how HAPPY you were last year to see Santa! Babies are happy to meet Santa. HAPPY!" Josie: "Happy!"  35 minutes later... "Josie, this is Santa! Happy, remember!?" "No Santa!" Please note her baby death grip in the photo on the right. 

Ultimately we decided it's okay to stand next to Santa and pound it out, a new favorite greeting.

• "Hooray!" She's learned this from the "If You're Happy and You Know It" song. I never knew there was a hooray verse, but so be it. This video is everything.

• "Again" and "more" are also recent additions, which pleases our mini dictator. She's basically Oliver Twist, sans manners. I recognize "Please sir, may I have some..." is a mouthful for a toddler but c'mon lady! You catch more flies with honey.
• New animal sounds of note include the ssssssssss for snake.

In other Young family news:

We spent Thanksgiving with Grammy and Grampy on a cruise and celebrated Grampy's 70 birthday! Josie was not impressed, but it's because she's can't count past 2.

That's a better birthday snuggle for Grampy!

We also snuck in a quick hangout with Cousin Pierce and Uncle Phil and Auntie Ale! Josie and Pierce remain disinterested in each other. :)

This towel turkey should win an award.

Josie experienced a series of firsts and had a blast in the baby pool with her new toy ship (not pictured).

We watched our first play, Grease! She was perfect and was riveted by the singing and dancing. We were truly amazed, given the chattiness of our child.

We got our first Cabbage Patch Kid! Her name is Kenzie Addison and she's perfect! Please enjoy the "then and now" photo collage. We are the luckiest to have such a thoughtful Grammie! 

We did our first TWIRL! I decided to keep in the part where she spins herself dizzy and I pounce like an overprotective mama bear.

We successfully used a fork for the first time!

We played our first round of mini-golf. Josie confused golf with softball, but it was incredibly adorable. 

Let's be honest: she smashes eggs into her face and I think it's adorable.

Off the ship and stateside, we kicked off a little holiday cheer!

We got our tree! It's Texas-sized and I'm waiting for the big reveal when the extended Young family can be pictured together (soon!).

We made our first gingerbread house with Jen!

Finally, we've got a big Young family announcement!

Jonathan will be the Director of Education at the Georgetown Palace Theatre. We're so, so proud of him!

Until next time!

Xoxo,

J Cubed