Smart Cookie

Dakota learns like 10 new things a day. I just wanted to write down a few things mostly for my record...

Words she says on a regular basis:
da-da (daddy)
tsssss (drink) (sometimes means binky also)
mama
momo (more)
tsh (fish)
boll (ball)
ba-ba (bye-bye or night-night)
baa (bath)
sssss (snack)
uh-oh
pul (apple)
YAY
dow (down)
whoa!
buh-bow (bubble)
eh-LO (hello)

Words she's said a couple times or attempted to say at least once:
starfish
wrock (rock)
car
good girl
boat
Eden
baby
book
nemo
shoes
i love you

She understands so much. I can ask her if she wants to take a bath, go upstairs, downstairs, eat, play, take a nap, change a diaper, get dressed, go outside, go bye-bye.... and she completely understands. She'll react immediately to what I'm asking by going to the door, stairs, pantry, diapers, bath, etc.

She loves to give babies kisses. She'll give a kiss when you ask (if she's feeling giving)... she makes the sound "Mwah!" when she kisses you. She gives eskimo kisses by pressing her forehead against yours and nodding back and forth. She gives 'loves' by resting her head on you. She gets jealous (sometimes mad) when Doug and I hold hands or snuggle and she'll try to push us apart and come inbetween. We are working on learning to share in various situations! ;)

She also makes car noises when she's playing with cars or driving fake ones. She loves to swing and slide. She does 'Ring Around the Rosies' and spins in a circle and falls down and claps. She rubs her hands together for lotion or sanitizer. She likes to have "pretties" in her hair and holds very still while I do her hair. She also washes her hands and wipes her face with a cloth when I ask her to.

She just started answering questions by nodding her head yes or no. But, she still mixes them up some of the time.

She knows her Gamma, Jichan, Grandma Marsha, cousin Lucy, Aunty Anna, Uncle Matt, and a few people in our ward.

She loves water in any form and has enjoyed swimming and beaches a lot this summer so far!

She has 12 teeth and can eat about anything! She loves: spaghetti, chow mein, ramen, green beans, wheat thins, cheerios, goldfish crackers, pretzels, rice, pizza, mac-n-cheese, string cheese, apples, pears, applesauce, bananas, deli meat, PB and honey sandwiches, french fries, chicken nuggets and hamburger. She'll eat about any kind of meat.

She finally adjusted to regular milk and can now have milk diet! She drinks about 16-20oz a day of whole milk. She of course loves ANYTHING chocolate and can spot chocolate a mile away. We recently introduced her to chocolate milk boxes from Gossner's and she downs them in 2 minutes flat. I've never seen her drink anything so fast. She doesn't stop to breathe. But she only gets one a day if she's lucky :)

She gets around very well by herself and just started climbing up on things all the time. She can pull herself up on the couch and climbs up on the arm-rest and switches the lights on and off. She can turn the channels and volume on the TV. And she loves to pull everything out of drawers and cupboards. She also likes stuffing various things in bags, carry the bag around for a while, and then unloading everything somewhere else. She has no fear when it comes to climbing etc, which worries me a little!

She is a fantastic sleeper. She takes two naps per day, morning and late afternoon for about 1.5-2 hours each. She also goes to bed at 8 and sleeps till 7:30 in the morning without waking up at night. And in all situations, she just goes in her crib and falls asleep on her own. All my work in sleep training her as a baby has definitely paid off!!

She is such a character. She is very smart and its really hard to fool her when she's paying attention which is almost always. We are constantly trying to stay 5 steps ahead of her and she makes it really hard. She has her own sense of humor and she makes us laugh on a daily basis! We seriously can't get enough of her. She is the cutest chu chu bee in the world!!!

A couple of recent pics... because a post is no fun with pictures :)