First things first - let's catch up on some official pics.
13 months:
14 months:
15 months:
Is it just me or did she age waaaay more than she was supposed to from 14 to 15 months? There's also a li'l sumpin reminiscent of myself as a wee one in that last pic. It's about time - she's been pretty much 100% Daddy since Day 1!
Growth-wise, we haven't been as hyper-focused on the cold, hard numbers these last few months, following the reassurance by her pediatrician that she's doing just fine, despite our previous concerns. We have tried to do a few weigh-ins, however - 18 lbs at 13 months and about 19.5 just after 15 months (at her last checkup). So still hanging out in the 10-15th percentile range. Height-wise, probably still around 40-50th percentile but we haven't gotten an actual measurement recently. (Though I *did* just rediscover the growth chart which came with her baby journal, so we'll get that up soon and then no excuses!)
She's been cutting teeth slowly but surely since her 1st birthday. Her top two lateral incisors came in during her 13th month (first left, then right) and her bottom left one started pokin' through a few weeks later. 15 months (minus a few days) marked the arrival of her first molar on the top left.
Here she is showing off some of her new chompers, with a head full of narsty, sticky, food-filled pre-bath hair!
Speaking of hair, she's really been rockin' the toddler "short long" (as her Aunt Tracey affectionately put it) over the last few months. Until recently, we've just let it do its thang, for the most part, but it's starting to get out of control.
Enter Taming Attempt #1:
A little too "Samurai warrior" for our liking. Attempt #2:
Much better! (As for the band-aid, let's just say that sharp-cornered coffee table + loose area rug + audacious toddler isn't an ideal combination.)
Meal-wise, she's chowin' down on pretty much everything we eat now, and she's becoming more adept at feeding herself. She's an old pro at spooning porridge-like foods such as oatmeal, and gaining more control over spearing solid items with a fork. She still prefers eating with her fingers quite often, though, and occasionally she'll pull a move like this:
Good 'til the last drop! That's my girl. :)
When it comes to playtime, her tastes have progressed considerably. We've packed away almost two bins full of her young baby toys (rattles, squeakers, early cause/effect games, etc.) and opened the remainder of her more "advanced" toys from her birthday and Christmas.
She really likes the two riding toys from her Granda & Empa: her Rock, Roll n Ride Trike and 2-in-1 Wagon Rider. 'cept when it's in wagon mode, she likes to put herself into it more than anything. Silly monkey!
She's developing a strong affinity for matching games and puzzles, such as her Melissa & Doug first chunky pets and farm animals puzzles. And she's quite good at 'em, too! Here you can see her (at 13 1/2 months) working on both of them at the same time!
She's getting into some crafty things too. She likes her animal stampers set and ol' standbys like crayons and playdoh. Here's the first time we tried a traditional home-made playdoh recipe - it came out just like the real thing!
Other types of toys she's into recently include shape sorters, blocks and builders such as her WEDGiTS. These things are awesome as they're accessible for young toddlers, but can be used to make considerably more complex creations so they grow with your child until 7-8 years or older. (Heck, even Daddy finds it fun to tinker around with 'em!)
S continues to be an avid lover of reading and music. Some of her favourite books recently include Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Animal Explorers: A Swim in the Ocean (a shape-matching book), Little Rabbits' First Farm Book, her personalized Winnie the Pooh adventure book, First 100 Animals, First 100 Words, Light's Out Night's Out, various Sesame Street board books and Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes. The last one is my absolute favourite to read to her, as it's just so sweet (though invariably chokes me up at the end with all the pictures and rhymes of the narrator kissing her own baby, especially when S points out and says "Mama"! <3)
Speaking of words, they're really coming now! Mama, Dadda, Nana, Papa, Yeah, No and Uh-Oh all come out perfectly clear, and she's getting so close with dozens of others (and even starting to string them together)! She loves to study our faces as we say different words and then attempt to repeat 'em back to us, grinning away. She's also into pointing at objects (especially in her books) and having us say the names for her. Repeatedly. "Corn! Apple! Bean! Potato! Apple! Plum! Corn! Potato! [.....]"
A lot of "words" at this point are coming out as just the first sound - for example, "buh" could be many things such as ball or blue, and "buh-buh" could be baby, bottle or bubble. Context is always helpful, of course. :)
She continues to ape sounds very enthusiastically as well. She still loves her animal noises, and, much like her (admittedly immature) parents, bodily noises now amuse her greatly as well. Case in point:
She has been so keen on verbal communication lately that we haven't been teaching her many new signs, however she continues to use the old standbys like "milk", "more" and "all done".
Now for a couple fun videos of S' enjoying one of her most favourite things of all - music!
Unfortunately you'll need to endure her Mom's definitively sub-par vocals in not one, but BOTH of these. But her utter adorable-ness makes it all totally worth it....right?
This one took place at the Blue Moon Restaurant when she was 14 months old. No stage fright here!
...and this one at home a couple weeks later, while we were waiting for Daddy to finish up din-din. Notice the 'tude come out midway through as she tells me "Nope, not into that one, Mom." :)
We took her to a few Kindermusik classes when she was 14 months old, and she had a blast! I did feel a little silly (at first) myself creeping and trotting around the room singing along with the instructor and her odd vibrato. But then I realized that this all came together based on years of investigating what resonates with babies and makes them want to learn, so I got pretty into it myself! We'll probably enroll her again at 18 months when she's eligible for the toddler-level class.
I'm sure it goes without saying that she also loves all those fun movement games - swinging her around and upside down, tossing her on the bed, "I'm gonna get you!" and other tickle games, etc. etc. Nothing's more heart warming than baby giggles!!
Finally, we love to see how much of a social butterfly she has become! Everywhere we go, she's waving "Hi" to people, running around and exploring, and interacting with adults & other children alike. Here she is at 15 months old, tearing around at her great grandma's 95th birthday party without a care in the world!
And here she cuddles with her Nana, all dolled up in her beautiful new dress which Nana and Papa brought back for her from Panama! (Excuse the sweat socks - we got lazy during the outfitting process and only stripped down her top half. :)
She's already popular with the boys too! Here she is flirting with Sam, the son of one of my best friends. (Don't tell Daddy!) Sam is just 2 weeks younger than S and was her first little "friend'!
A few other random tidbits from the last few months:
- She definitely knows who "S" is now! When we look in the mirror and I say "Where is your nose?" (for example) she points to her own nose!
- She's getting better at recognizing colours and shapes, but both are still kinda hit & miss.
- She's beginning to help her mom and dad with stuff like closing doors, wiping down her meal tray and "folding" laundry.
- Li'l tantrums are starting to happen, mainly when she's a) tired or generally cranky and b) something "unpleasant" has happened to her, such as an object taken away or a cupboard closed. Presumably (?) pretty normal stuff.
Now time to join Hubs for a quick episode of Season 2 Community before calling it a night.
So what have your little ones been up to recently?
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