They're just so friggin' CUTE!!!!!

I know the most trying times are still ahead of us...but at this 12-14 month stage...well, dh and I have just never seen anything like it. Even on her worst days it just bowls us over how CUTE she is. What are your "Jeez, this kid is so cute it's RIDICULOUS?" moments?

My faves:

The toddler toddle...especially when it breaks into a run and she gets that proud grin

The quirky stuff...for dd, it's that she likes to put things on her head, put things around her neck, take off her clothes and request that her shoes and socks be put on - and walk around like that all day, and find bizarre places to sit (like inside of a large diaper bag.)

Finding strange things in strange places. I love it when I open the file cabinet and the dental floss is in there, or get to work and there's a spoon in my bag. LOL

Tackling. Riordan is a tackler. During a quiet moment, if you're sitting down, she will just charge, bowl you over, and climb all over you, snarling and growling like a tiger. (The fact that I think this is a riot is probably why she's like this!)

What are yours?

:)
Jude

ITA, Jude! I loved that stage (and the 18-month stage now too). My mom always tells me that when my sister and I were 15 months old, she looked at us and said, "can you just stay like this forever?"

Ellie (was and is) is always rearranging things too--so we get these really wonderful juxtapositions of objects in our house: travel-size shampoo in the kitchen cabinets, anyone???

My favorite things (right now) that Ellie does:

Says "huggy huggy" and hugs me!

Just says "sit" when she wants me to sit, LOL!

runs around the coffee table (with a purpose, LOL!)

asks for songs to be played (loves "Camptown Races" and asks for "Do Da, Do Da!")

Says "thank you" whenever she accepts something (or gives it to you, LOL!)

What fun!

The other day a friend called. We had a brief discussion, and I said "Bye!" and hung up. DD, of course, looked up from what she was doing and said "Bye!" when I did. I was just about to make another call, when the phone rang again. It was the male, bachelor, mid-30s computer professional I had just been talking to, and when I answered he said "That's SOOO CUUUTE!"

We're really into the animal noises. "Woof" (it's really more like "foof!") is her favorite, but she's got a pretty big vocabulary of them. "Quack" (or "Gakk!") is another big one. I love everything about this game (well, with the possible exception of having to go through every book she owns stopping on just the pages with dogs, so she can point to each dog in turn and say "foof!" -- the "Border Collies 2003" calendar is a big hit, but tedious to narrate -- "It's a dog. It's a dog with a stick. It's two dogs! Look, some sheep, and a dog.")
I love having her think deeply in the morning and then say "Buppy. Foof." or say and sign "bird". I love having her bring you a stuffed animal and say "Foof!" (No, honey, Pooh does not say "Woof". Pooh is a bear, but he's more of a tum-ti-tum bear than a Grr! bear.) I love having her point gleefully to every pigeon and seagull she sees and sign "bird". And I especially love it when people walking their dogs stop and turn around and say incredulously "Did she just say 'Woof'?" Oh, and if you say "What does a kookaburra say?" she says "kookoo" and grins really big waiting for you to do the kookaburra imitation, at which points she laughs and laughs and laughs.

I SO love toddler-speak. DD's version of words is so much cuter than the real word. She's going through a big fish stage now and walks around the house saying "shish," "daw-fin," and "tur-tow." She thinks chickens say "coo-coo" (cock-a-doodle-doo) and that pigs say "ung." I love that she's remembering things and can tell me what she's thinking. She rode a carousel over the weekend and in the middle of playing now she looks up and tell me, "Horse...ride." I love how when she wakes up in the morning she calls out the names of all the people that she knows.

I love how methodical she is when she puts herself to sleep, by throwing her bear to the end of the crib, turning on her music box, and turning on her aquarium, always in that same order. I love how she buries her face in the mattress and sticks her butt up high in the air to fall asleep.

She's not yet a climber. The highest she gets is on top of a 4 inch tall box, but she gets up there and beams the biggest, proudest smile, as if she's climbed Everest.

I'm with the PPs. I absolutely love this age. To me it's so much better than the baby days.

Fun thread!

She'll ask to be put on the porch chair so I can spin her around and sort of rock her. If I don't, she'll bounce up and down requesting that I do it. When I spin her around, every time she sees me, she'll smile. :) She loves it when I slow down when she's not facing me, and then pop up on one side or the other.

She also likes standing up in the chair and bouncing up and down--it sometimes makes me nervous, but I can see that she's quite stable, and of course, I'm right there. She just does it with such glee, I can't help but smile.

She goes into giggling raptures when she sees our kitties, especially if it's the one that lets her play with him.

She quacks when she sees a duck and signs "bird" when she hears and sees and bird. She's also started imitating the bird calls. :)

She's been spreading her snacks (or frozen peas) on the floor so she can eat them off the floor like a cat. It's actually pretty hilarious.

Okay, and since this forum doesn't get as much traffic, I'll share a funny story:

The other day I had just finished nursing Kaya with an open shirt. I handed her to DH and stood up to finish getting dressed. She reached out and grabbed one of my breasts. So DH took her hands, let her squeeze the left side and said, "Daddy's breast." Then moved her hands to the other side and said, "Kaya's breast." I nearly died laughing. :D (I nurse her only on one side.)

Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ies/candle.gif

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbo...n_gold_12m.gif , 15 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

Whenever Alex hears any type of music, he stops, gets a serious look on his face, and starts bobbing his head. It is so cute, especially when it's just the clock he dancing to!

I also love the constant moving of items in the house. Cracks me up what I find.

Oh, and his constant need to bring me our shoes and sweep with his broom. Love it!

Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

I agree, although DS is 21 months now. He is a little more independent than before and seems to comprehend us more.

Kiran says "apeninin" for vitamin, and "fovium" for calcium.

He would open his mouth wide and try to "eat" my nose - it is pretty scary to see his open mouth that close to my face!

He is quite anal about the pantry door being closed.

If he is wearing a shirt untucked, he would pull it up and play with his belly button and showing his belly for all to see. If he is wearing a sleeveless outfit (like a jon-jon or shortall), he would put his hands inside, and play with his nipples.

The highlight of our nights is checking up on him after he is asleep (and before we go to bed), so cute!