Violet at 15 Months

Growth & Appearance: You are very much more toddler-looking. Your hair gets in your eyes a lot, but you usually refuse to wear it up or clipped back in any way. It's long enough in the back now to barely touch your shoulders. When it's damp it will have a bit of curl in the back, but mostly it's fine and straight. You're soft and squishy. I do think your thighs are fatter, and maybe your belly. Your teeth seem more prominent when you smile now, making you look older.

You weigh 29 lbs and stand 31 inches tall. 18 month-2T clothing. Size 5 diapers.

Teeth: Ten. You have two molars. For you, cutting molars means a lot of chewing, whining, refusing food, and weird poop.

Development: You're very intelligent. Your understanding of things and how they work constantly amazes me.

When asked where your belly button is, you raise your shirt and point at it. Then you insist on everyone else unveiling theirs and bending to let you point. You can also identify your nose, eyes, and hair. If you hurt yourself you can show me where you're hurt.

You can pee in the potty when you want to. You enjoy flushing the toilet and waving while saying, "bye bye." You also like tearing off toilet paper and throwing it in the toilet. Like, a lot of toilet paper.

You are very good at the itsy bitsy spider. When someone sings it you want them to sing it over and over and over. You still use your fingers to shame and shhh people. You will also point to the moon. You kiss people on the lips and blow many kisses, especially when saying bye. You just started hugging and it's heart melting. We have a photo album full of pictures of Daddy and you will kiss his pictures.

You love dancing. It's probably your favorite thing to do. You will point at the stereo and insist it be turned on. Johnny Cash is, hands down, your absolute favorite. You like the song Jackson in particular. In fact, most of the time half way through the song you start it over. This goes on for extended periods of time.

You get off the bed by yourself. You flop to your stomach and push yourself backwards going off feet first. You're really good at it. You will lift up your leg when you want to be put on the bed or the couch. You've learned to climb the stairs and you're really good at it. I don't encourage it, but I knew you'd learn eventually. You have learned to tip toe and it's pretty stinkin' adorable.

You love shoes. You bring your shoes to me often and sit and hold your foot up for me to put them on you. Sometimes you do it because you want to go outside, but you're also content to play in the house with them on. You also bring other people's shoes to them and insist they put them on. You're relentless about it too. Whoever you present them to MUST put them on.

You like to get blankets and spread them out on the floor and play on them. You really like pull toys that you can drag along behind you. You will hold toys that play music up to your ear and rock back and forth to the music. You like to hide your toys and other household objects under the couch. If we can't find anything we always check there and 99% of the time find what we're looking for.

You find a lot of joy out of talking to people on the phone. You will grin and say, "hi, hi, hi" repeatedly. You also find great joy out of going outside. In fact, coming inside usually results in somewhat of a mental and physical breakdown.

You pluck pieces of indoor plants off for attention. A piece lily in particular has fallen victim to your wicked ways. You want to be called out for it. I've learned now that when I see you going for it, if I just ignore you usually you won't do it.

Talking: You talk, but only on your own terms. You will not show off your verbal skills when prompted to for strangers at the grocery store. Nope. No way. You will give a brisk, "hi" and that's all they get. If they continue to speak to you, you will mean mug them. Hard.

Words you say: hi, bye, mama, dada, ball, alright, bite, bear, moon, boppa, bath, flower, pup, boo, bird, back (as in back up).

It seems "b" words are easiest for you to say.

Eating: Most days you love eating. When you don't feel well you reject food. You particularly love blueberries, cheese, bananas, fish, well - meat of any kind. I also think you are going to like spicy food. If the pantry door is ever open you will start scavenging in there until you find a suitable snack. You're very much a grazer. You will eat big meals sometimes, but usually like to keep it light so you can snack all day long.

You insist on feeding yourself. Always. You use a fork and spoon well. When you are finished eating or just don't want what you're given you will dump the plate over spilling all of the food onto the floor. You blow on each bite of your food, even when it's not hot.

You are completely weaned. I have mixed emotions about it, but it ended very smoothly and naturally. You began drinking more cow's milk throughout the day, and only nursed once in the night. Then you turned 13 months and - boom - started sleeping through the night. And just like that you were done with the boob. 

 

Sleeping: You take one solid nap every day. Usually around 2 and usually for about 2 hours. Sometimes you wake from it very cranky and other times you wake happy as a clam. The moments after you awaken are very much an indicator of how the remainder of the day will go.

You sleep through the night now! High-fives and dosey does all around! You go to bed around 9:30 and get up between 8-9 am.

Favorites: No brainer. Trolls. We got out some of Aunt Sissy's trolls from when she was young, making them about 20 years old. You love them - nay, cherish them. They are your babies. You spend a lot of time standing them up on the coffee table and arranging them in specific ways. You will line them up on the table and then transport them one by one to the couch, where you efficiently line them up once again.

One large troll with green hair is your favorite. We call her the mama troll because she's a little bigger than the rest and has on an old-fashioned dress. About a week ago we noticed her hair was beginning to come loose. MeMe decided to pull it the rest of the way off and throw it away. It wasn't long before you strolled into the living room and over to your impressive display of trolls on the coffee table. When you saw mama troll's bald cone head you gasped, covered your mouth, and back away slowly. Then you approached her and touched her bald head with your tiny finger and began crying hysterically. We quickly fished the green hair from the trash can and hot glued it back to her head. You recovered, but the whole experience was quite dramatic.