16 months

At sixteen months old, Baby Champuru I have observed a few things about her personality:

• She is nurturing. She cares for her baby doll (given to her for Christmas by my Uncle Toshi and Aunt JoAnn).  She feeds her, tucks her in for naps, and gives her hugs and kisses.
• She is independent. She insists on doing things herself as much as possible and is offended when I try to help her do something she feels she is capable of doing on her own (such as washing her hands).
• She is loving. Lately, she has started giving more hugs and kisses on the lips to her Daddy and I.  She is a little more hesitant to give those away to people she doesn’t know well, but will wave at almost anyone and may even blow a kiss or two.
• She loves to be outdoors. Playing on the jungle gym or running around chasing bubbles are among her favorite activities.
• She is incredibly focused. When she becomes curious about something or sets her mind to a task, she is not easily distracted.  She will stick with a task for quite a while as she tries to figure it out before becoming frustrated and eventually asking for help.
• She is a leader. When she is with other children, she does not often play the role of the follower.  She has her own ideas about what should be done and will make her thoughts known to her playmates by leading them in that direction.

It is such a joy to see her personality blossoming, and what a character this little girl is turning out to be!  She is so much fun!

I have started documenting her developing vocabulary.  So far, her word count is 37.  We’re still working on trying to get her to say “I love you.”  :)