Chase at 16 months

*************UPDATED WITH PICTURES**************

This month Chase really became a toddler. That loving kissing phase was short-lived and he is now quite a little daredevil who climbs on everything and laughs hysterically when we tell him no. He can understand almost everything that we say to him and his vocabulary is expanding. Chase is also expressing his preferences LOUDLY and has started yelling for MAMA! DADA! ABU! to come to him.

At 16 months, Chase is

-Talking up a storm- He's really into saying "yeah" and "no" although no can mean both. The last couple of days he's seemed to figure out what no means. Chase is saying walk, out, car, truck, apple, home, and many other words that we ask him to repeat after us--this morning he said moon.

-Understanding most words and concepts- He will do things when asked (if in the right mood) that demonstrate his understanding. The other day I told him I needed my socks if we were going for a walk. So he walked into the bathroom and picked a pair of dirty socks out of a pile of dirty clothes and brought them over. Chase is starting to understand consequences and sequential processes, like "we have to put the toys away before you get a bottle."

-Pretending to be a big boy- He imitates what we do. Sometimes it's hilarious...

-Climbing on everything- the sofa, the bed, standing up on his push toys (yes, like he's in a rodeo show riding the pony), stairs, the kitchen chairs, the oven door...He's really active. At the Little Gym he is very adventurous and wants to hang from the high bar and walk on the high balance beam. Last week three parents asked me how old he was because he was so active and confident. He's also running now. Chase has bruises all over his legs, but doesn't let falling down keep him from running more and continuing to climb.

-Just got two canines and one molar- no wonder he hasn't been in the greatest mood.

-Eating everything and a lot of it.

-Waking up at 5:15am. Sweet. This week has been a little better- 5:45-6am- but still not great.

-Really into naming things in books-- He loves his "first words" book and will make us go through it multiple times in a row naming things in it. He's also started finding the cat in "One Moose, Twenty Mice" and pointing out other features of pictures.

-Hitting- Oy, this is not fun. When he gets mad/frustrated he hits us (and sometimes other people and Mueller). We tell him no and he laughs. We ignore him and he keeps doing it. We try to distract him and he still does it. So we're out of ideas. I'd love to hear some. Hopefully he'll just grow out of this phase....

-Picking up the remote control, pointing it at the tv, and asking for Elmo. We let him watch 10 minutes of TV in the morning while I'm getting dressed and a few minutes while he has his bottle before the bath. He doesn't usually stay interested for more than a few minutes, but it's so funny that he's figured out all the steps that it takes to get Elmo on tv.

Happy 16 months, sweet Chase! We can't believe what a big boy you are becoming. We love watching you grow and learn new things every day.