Caitlin at 16 months

Caitlin is 16 months old today! Yay, Caitlin! 16 months. She is a walking, almost talking, running active little girl. She has recently discovered that she has a will, and when I squash that will and she doesn't get her own way, she howls and throws a fit. It's easy to tell the difference between the real-pain cry and the I-didn't-get-my-way cry. When she does the I-didn't-get-my-way cry she squints her eyes, raises her head up (as if she's looking at the ceiling) and makes a howling noise. Sometimes there are tears, and sometimes there are not. Caitlin often does the I-didn't-get-my-way cry because I am constantly stopping her from doing dangerous things, such as doing a head first pitch down the stairs, jumping off the outside stairs, or doing a head-first dive into the bathtub. Sometimes I have to physically stop her, and other times I just say "no". They both elicit the same response. Other things that Caitlin does, in random order:

*walks
*runs
*falls (a lot)
*can eat with a spoon and a fork, but it's sloppy
*talks a little. Babbles a lot.
*Favorite things to say are "here you go," "thank you," and "uh oh" (We are trying to teach her that it's not "uh oh" but "bye bye" when she chucks her paci across the room or throws her sippy cup on the floor.)
*twirls on command (this is so funny. I need to video tape it)
*wants to do everything Brandon does
*tries to say Brandon
*tries to say "milk" or "mine"
*loves her stuffed animals - especially Eucalyptus the koala and her stuffed cat
*signs "all done" whenever I give her a diaper change
*signs "milk" when she wants to be all done with dinner
*signs "milk" whenever she's thirsty
*has discovered she can scream, but so far seems to just be testing her voice
*has already taken a dive down the stairs (I'm not use to the stairs, and didn't put the gate up as soon as she got up from her nap)
*has learned to remove the tops on the Take-and-Toss cups
*wants to push the buttons on the elevators. Brandon gets highly offended because, as he says, that is "his job."
*is in to every cupboard and drawer in the house. I haven't found the drill yet, so I can't put the child-locks on the door yet.
*Has only 6 teeth
*Has already had 2 haircuts (mostly to trim off the fuzzies and make it more even)

There are a million little things that I can write about, but Caitlin has just found my keys, and is busy opening and closing the garage door (yes, I have a keychain friendly garage door opener). I thought the dishwasher was going out the other day until I discovered the true source of the odd noises. Caitlin also hates it when I'm on the computer. Caitlin is a lot of fun and a headache all rolled into one. She is extremely active and demands your attention. She is very independent, and makes me laugh all the time. We love her just as she is!