This last month she has learned to walk and is so much happier now that she does it all by herself. Lately, she's taken around this little red purse and throws it over her shoulder. Then she will walk all around the house. This takes approximately 3 seconds because our house, well, isn't the biggest. She loves putting on make up and always wants to "touch" everything.
Our little Whitney is an early riser. No matter what time she hits the hay, she is up between 6-7 AM. I never thought 6:45 am would feel like "sleeping in," but it really does these days. She loves to giggle and CHASE around the house. When she wakes up from a nap the first thing she asks for is "JADYN" which sounds a little more like, "Day-den." In fact, each time someone knocks on the door, Whitney gets an excited look in her eye and says, "Day-den!!" Lucky for her, sometimes it actually is Dayden! The two of them are hilarious together. They love to race around the kitchen table and squeal at each other when they are caught. I know you probably think that I'm exaggerating when I write this, but they really are best buds. Even tears are shed when we have to part.
Whitney loves to be outside and now that she can walk we put her little boots (or shoes) and she will tromp around our cement pad. (I can't really call it a back yard when it's only cement, can I?)
Whitney outgrew baby food when she was about 10 months old, but reverted back to it when her molars started coming through. I actually am very happy about this, as it is an easy way to get vegetables and fruit into her tummy. Lately, she's liked oatmeal, Macaroni & Cheese, baked beans, pears, protein bars (p90x, baby!) and graham crackers. She is getting quite good at feeding herself with a spoon.
Little Whit loves her Dada and wants him to chase her around the house and give her tickles. She likes to fake scream at him and then chase and tickle him too.
Whitney has started calling me "Mommy!" which was quite cute when it first started. Now it's more like a yell and scream, "MOMMMMY!" She doesn't like to be put down when she first wakes up from a nap and just wants her Mommy to hold her.
One of the cutest things Whitney does is sit on the bottom stair facing the front door. She likes this as her little spot and will often go sit down and fold her arms like she is saying a prayer. She loves folding her arms and opening her eyes during the prayers. Then when we say, "Amen" she will say something that sounds nothing like it and give us a big smile.
Rolling her eyes at her Daddy has already begun. She likes to do this in the car or when she is eating her dinner. I have no idea where she even learned how to do this, so it must be instinct.
Whitney is a good little car rider and doesn't even mind sitting rear-facing. The easiest way to get her to sleep is letting her fall asleep in the car.
One of the things Whitney loves is being rocked before she goes to sleep. She never liked this until recently, so I have really enjoyed it. She tries to get us to giggle before she goes down and will even pull out the big guns: requesting books, crackers, milk, Jadyn, go, eat, Dada, bear, dog (basically anything) so she doesn't have to go to sleep. Poor girl loves to party.
Some of the movies Whitney loves are Baby Babble and Brainy Baby. I accredit Baby Babble for teaching Whitney so many words. She says between 60-70 words right now. I understand them all, but you might not. For instance, "open" is "na-na" I have no idea why, they don't sound similar at all. Occasionally she'll put 2 words together: "Dada baff" (Daddy's in the bath), or "Go Day-den" (Go to Jadyn's) One of my favorite words of hers is "dance!" After she says it she starts to be-bop and look around for you to join in the fun. She loves pictures of Jesus (she says it like "Jezuz") and can figure out who He is in just about all of her pictures.
Recently she's told us when she needs to go poop. Poo-Poo! It's very grown-up of her to make an announcement before she goes.
Whitney loves animals and can say most of their sounds. In fact, she stopped calling a duck, "du" and now just says, "Quack Quack Quack!" She really loves going to the zoo and seeing the animals in real life.
She still loves the baff (bath) and would stay in there forever. On a rare occasion, she won't scream when we take her out to put on her pajamas.
Many of her new words are taught to her by Bart. He's taught her who Santa is and also "elf" and "tree." She loves SANTA and says, "Ho!HO!HO!" whenever she sees him. I think Christmas is her favorite holiday because she can't keep her hands off that Christmas tree.
We think she may weigh 20 pounds, but we'll find out for sure at her 15 month appointment.
Recently, Whitney was able to have a good time with her Grandma (Maa-Ma) and Grandpa Paxton. They came for a visit, and Whitney keeps looking around the house for them. Luckily they come back tonight for a couple more days!
We went up to Kirtland, Ohio to see the Church sites. Here is our family by the first temple:
And that's our little dolly. We love her so much!
Whitney with Grandma & Grandpa Paxton
