17 Months Old...

What has happened to our little baby?!  

Kensley was recently snuggling with me on the couch and all of a sudden seemed so big!  I'm not sure how time has flown by so quickly!  She continues to make us laugh and is learning and catching onto things so quickly.  I can't believe we have a 17 month old already!

Kensley is a little girl on the move these days.  She is busy, busy, busy all day long and we've discovered that she can move quick.  She can empty a drawer in the mere few seconds I leave her alone in a room.  I'm also shocked at how quickly she can get a hold of things before I even realize she's gone after them.  A few weeks ago, Jeremy taught her how to open doors....which has proved to be interesting.  She's constantly helping herself into the pantry (looking for snacks), opening the hall closet to check out the vacuum (which is she obsessed with) and letting herself "out" into the garage (which has proved to be scary when we leave the garage door open).  While we found this funny at first and shocked she could reach the handles, we're hoping maybe the next house has round knobs or something tougher to maneuver.

Kensley is still working hard to communicate and seems to learn new words every day.  She's got command words down and knows exacting how and when to use them!  She frequently expresses herself through: up, down, off, out, more, and all done.  We've moved into the "hi" stage and she says this frequently.  There is no sweeter sound than hearing the pitter patter of little feet running into a room, followed by a high pitched "hi" to whoever is standing there.  Kens is also saying a handful of other words as well: bye (dye), yes, waff (waffle), luv (I love you), boon (balloon), boom, uh oh (uh uh), cheese (keese), Mama, Dada, Papa, shoes (soos), boots, socks (ocks), snack (nak), etc.  She can also tell you what some animals 'say': dog (woof), chicken (bok bok), bird (teet teet), sheep (baaa), bear (rah), cow (boo).  This is such a fun stage and we love hearing her little voice.

Kensley is such a little sweetheart and she is generous (and sometimes forceful) with kisses.  She's still not a huge snuggler as she likes to be on the go, but she does enjoy relaxing on the couch with us while drinking her milk and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (her show of choice).  She also likes to have her belly and feet/legs tickled (or rubbed) and it's so funny to see her lift her shirt up or lift her leg up asking for us to rub it.

Kens tends to be happy the vast majority of the time and is frequently offering smiles and laughs throughout the day.  She has moved into more of the tantrum stage when she doesn't get something she wants.  It doesn't tend to last for long, but if we tell her "no" to something she wants she'll sit down on the ground, point her chin up and out comes the lip and whine/mad cry.  Often times I find it hard not to laugh as it's such a pathetic little face.

Kensley loves being outdoors and frequently begs to go outside and will find her shoes and try to put them on.  She is so happy outside and just loves to run around the yard and watch cars and people go by.  I have a feeling we'll be spending lots of time outdoors this summer.

A big reality that our baby girl is growing up quickly is that she has started showing some signs of interest in the potty.  We aren't sure if she is quite ready to start the whole potty training process (as she seems SO young), but she is definitely interested.  She even went #2 on the big potty for Grammy on Tuesday.  She'll often grab her diaper or tell us before/after she's gone to let us know to change her.  On Tuesday she grabbed her diaper, took Grammy into the bathroom and tried to lift the toilet seat...and it was a success!  So needless to say, this has caught Mommy and Daddy off guard as we weren't prepared to even try this until several months after baby sister arrives.  We're on the hunt for a little potty now to see if this was just a fluke or if Kens really is ready.  Stay tuned for future updates.

Here are a few recent pictures of our 17 month old.

Practicing floating on her back during swim lessons.  She loved it!

The reason for the life vest...a canoe trip around the pool.

With her buddies Nolan (18 months) and Grady (12 months) at Grady's birthday party.  
It's tough to get all three to look at the same time! 

A sweet wave for the camera...Grady was over it.

Kensley's "cheese" face at her last swim class.