16 months is GREAT

Wow!
I am loving this phase! I have loved lots of the phases so far, but I must say this is really fun. 12-15months was a bit like having a loose canon. Joel was so mobile and able, but did not seem to understand much on what was ok to play with and explore and what might not be as good (safe or delicate). So we did spend lots of time redirecting that too often ended in his frustration or ours. Not to say that those 3 months didn't have their great moments too! Joel has had so much fun running around in the back yard. Rolling around the shopping cart, learning to ride the tricycle, climbing the slide, climbing stairs, READING, READING, learning some signs to communicate.
It just seems like at 16 months so much of that learning came together in such a great way. Now, I can say come on lets go change your diaper and Joel runs back to his changing table. Or lets go take a bath and he heads to the bathtub. I can ask are you all done or do you want more and he can tell us.
He is also learning so much and can point out lots of different animals, he knows all the words in a set of books he has, he will hold our hand and we can walk around the neighborhood. He is also enjoying playing with paint, crayons, and play dough.
It is just so exciting to see him grow and see all the learning start to come out. He is growing a real personality and is really just so much fun.
Sometimes I still can't believe we get to be his parents!