Stella is 16 months and 2 weeks old. She has 12 teeth which is two less than Amy at this age (but that is another post for another day.) She sleeps from 7pm until 6.30am and has a dummy but isn’t as attached to it as her sister was. Stella likes to climb and hide behind things. She is permanently inquisitive and will grab a chair and push it over to whichever counter I am at in the kitchen to check out what I am doing. She will nap in the morning and the afternoon  if we are out and about in the car but otherwise she goes down without a cry at 12.30 and sleeps for two or two and a half hours. She wakes up grumpy like me and takes a while to cheer up. Stella is quick to laugh, she adores her big sister and is the only person who laughs at Amy’s terrible knock-knock jokes. Stella is also quick to cry and has big, fat tears on tap however she doesn’t cry for attention, just for effect. She is a very laid back, relaxed child. Happy to play on her own, turn the pages of a book or sit at the table and scribble with Amy’s kokis (texta pens). Stella loves to be around her big sister and Amy is a wonderful influence on her (but thats another post altogether.) Parenting Stella is fun but quite challenging, she won’t sit in a high chair, refuses to be spoon fed, doesn’t like to be told no, is obsessed with the bathroom and especially the toilet. I adore Stella, I love that she is so affectionate, she climbs me like a jungle gym giving big soppy, open mouthed kisses. She cuddles and holds on tight, she rests her head on our shoulders and gives a wave as she goes to bed. She likes to touch and will absentmindedly pat my hand or put her hand down my top while she is watching tv or reading a book.

But the one thing Stella won’t do is talk. She is 16 and a half months old and at this stage Amy had many words. As evidenced by this video. It actually shocked me when I watched it recently, honestly, Stella has NO words. If you ask her to say Mama she might say it, if you ask her to say Dada she might say it but the only word she actually uses in context is “nana” when you offer her a banana. Otherwise, the occasional whispered “ta” and thats it. We are all going to actively encourage her words over the next two months and I won’t start to worry until she is 18 months, at which point Amy started talking in complete sentences! Stella is able to communicate her needs in a very clear fashion without speech so why would she use words?