snippets at 16 months

sorry for the long lapse and it's been such a long time blah blah blah... you know the drill

just wanted to offer some quick little update snippets on James-- growing like a weed and becoming such a little man at 16 months... his vocabulary is exploding, Corey and I just can't get over it... yeah, they're garbled and pretty much only mommy and daddy know what they mean, but he is saying things with definite intent! so far he uses the following words on a regular basis and at his own initiative:

trash (still his favorite word), truck, tractor (1st 2-syllable word), choo-choo, more, cookie, chicken, cheers (while banging two cups together), bottle (ba-ba), ni-ni (he'll actually request to go to bed), bye-bye, car, bat, ball, baby, shoes, wash (for washing hands), bath, water, stuck, bee, bird, tree, corn, popcorn, seeds (he eats a lot of pumpkin seeds), diaper (when it's dirty), cold, color (he loves to color with pens and crayons), football (BIG favorite), uh-oh, keys, block, all done (only one he'll use a sign for), and sock... over 35 words so far when you include mama & dada!

he will also say a few others when prompted: chair, dog, jacket, juice, apple, pasta, grandpa (comes out like "papa"), chapstick, walk, and brush... he also said a sentence yesterday (bye-bye car) and Corey swears James kept calling for him saying "where you at?"

now for the snippets:

we came home from work/daycare and James runs into the living room, grabs the remote off the coffee table, points it at the TV, and very clearly exclaims, "football!"

yesterday he followed me into the bathroom (such is the life of a mom) and he wanted to pull his pants down like me and then he grabbed some toilet paper off the roll and handed it to me... such a little helper

every restaurant we go to James will correctly identify items of trash and then they get dutifully marched over to the nearest trash can for proper disposal

when prompted, he can point to his nose (and mama's nose), to his head, to his hand, to his ear, will hold out his foot, and pulls the neck of his shirt open to peer at his belly button

can turn the lights on and off (thanks to those low light switches)

dances to music and claps his hands... constantly tries to jump and loves jumping on the bed like a little monkey

grabs daddy's hat and shoes to go outside... will also climb into the stroller when he wants to go for a walk

can feed himself with a fork (but usually needs help getting the food on the fork)

still shows a strong preference for his left hand while throwing, drawing, and eating (altho uses fork in right hand because he uses his left to put the food on the utensil)

stacks cups and claps when done... also claps when feeling particularly proud of himself like when he draws a line

shakes his head no

and can put a straw into the little hole of the disposable lid on drinks... will thread the straw through the little holes in The Very Hungry Catepillar as well... very detail oriented