14 months old!

Marissa will be 14 months old on Friday!
She always wakes up around 7:30-8am. Then we cuddle and she nurses for about a half hour. After breakfast around 9:30-10, she plays with her baby and we read her books over and over and over again. She consistently takes a 2+ hour nap every day around 11:30, then we eat lunch when she gets up, around 1:30-2. If it's nice, we walk outside, go to the playground, or go swimming. Sometimes she takes a short nap around 5ish, but it makes her cranky, and she still goes to sleep at the same time, so it doesn't seem to do any good. She stays up waaaay too late. I really can't figure out why. I know I should start to establish a strict bedtime, but she still nurses to sleep, and I don't think she's quite ready for the whole CIO method of toddlers-going-to-sleep. Sometime this summer I will start that though, because I know she needs a better routine, and I'd like for her to go to sleep earlier than 10:30 or 11!

She regularly says these words:

• Uh-oh
• No
• Hi (only at home, never out in public of course - lol)
• Bye
• Tickle-tickle (sounds more like tik tik tik - but it's cute, and she knows exactly what it means)

And loosely imitates:

• Cup
• Ball
• Teddy bear
• Shoes
• Where did ____ (person, cup, ball, baby) go? (with arms outstretched appropriately - lol), then proceeds to look for that object all over the place!

She signs:

• More
• Please
• All done

She knows what the doggy says, and what the cow says, and we're working on duck, birdy, etc.
She does the fish face every time we come to the fish page in her "First Words" book, which happens to be her favorite (while I'm trying to type this, we're on the 4th time of this book, and she gets mad at me every time I stop!)
She loves Peek-a-boo, but if we're not paying enough attention and say it right away, she says it for us, only it sounds more like "tod-ul-da" - it's pretty cute!

Yeah, I know she's supposed to have more words by now, but she seems to be soooo close to lots of words, and she completely understands everything we say to her. So I'm not worried. Yet

The other day, Dan, Rach, and I were all sitting in different spots in the living room, and Marissa was playing on the floor. We took turns asking her to "Give Daddy a kiss" "Give Aunt RaRa a kiss" and "Give Mommy a kiss", with random people saying it each time, and EVERY TIME she went directly to the correct person to give them a kiss. It was too funny.

All this to say, we are completely and utterly enjoying every new thing she throws at us! She is hilarious to watch and interact with, and such a joy (I accidentally just typed "job" instead of "joy" - she is a handful too!). I love my girl!