Joy makes jokes (and enjoys peanut butter)

Joy is now 17 months, it doesn't seem possible. She stayed a "baby" longer than either of the others, but there is just no denying that she is well on her way to being a "person."

She has several words that she uses now along with her signs so we can generally tell what she wants. She is learning the art of a "fit" and is prone to dropping on the floor to weep pitiously or fold her arms and lay her head down to cry, or lacking a floor to drop on or a place to fold her arms, will resort to dramatically covering her face with her hands and weeping. This is one of those things that we are trying to nip in the bud, because while it's adorable right now, it just ain't so cute come 2 1/2, or 3, or 5... On the other hand, I am trying to sneak some pictures becuase it really is funny. She's going potty very well, communicates to us by saying "ta-ta" (apparently that's baby for "potty") and tapping her diaper. I would like to get her out of dipes and into panties this summer, at least for day time, but she still has a rather strong dislike of going in public restrooms... not that I blame her, but that is our main obstacle.

She does of course engage in a lot of pretend play, talking on any "phone" she can find, playing with baby dolls and stuffed animals by wrapping them up or diapering them, and she does an excellent job of copying the other kids by laying on her belly and propping up with one arm to draw on paper. She likes to play "where's Joy?" and point to her nose, toes, and belly.

Her latest accomplishment is that of making a joke! Last night I was playing with her, tickling, wrestling, kissing, etc. and she was playing right along. Then she sat up and started "kissing" my face, looked at me, pointed at my nose and said "Ka-ka" (that's cookie/cracker) and bit my nose! We are always "eating" her toes and neck and belly, so I guess she figured she'd return the favor. What really cracked me up was that this wasn't random play-biting, she used her food word to identify, then munched!

Now, I won't go into all the developmental psychology that explains the complex thought patterns she had to process to do this. You'll just have to take my professional word on it and disregard any parental bias that I might be inclined to show and believe me when I say that she is not only incredibly cute, she's undeniably smart!