Month 15 Must-Haves

It seems like once your kiddo turns one, there isn't a ton of change in the toys getting played with or the stuff we find useful as parents. It also seems like, after the fifteen month mark, it's time to get a bunch of new stuff! I'm looking forward to puzzles, a water table, and I'm planning to DIY a rock box. But that's all for the next must-haves list. Here's our list for months 13 thru 15:

1. Activity Walker: Z got this as a Christmas gift, but wasn't quite ready for it until a couple of months later. Now, she'll but random stuff in the little basket and walk the thing all over the place. The activities on the front are fun, too!
2. Sandals: Once the weather started warming up a few months back, I began the search for some cute and sturdy sandals that didn't cost a billion dollars. I love, love Saltwater Sandals, but for this age, I just didn't want to shell out the bucks. Maybe when she's older. That's why I was super excited to find these at the Children's Place. They're way cute and have a nice thick rubber sole. Perfect for a kid who wants to do nothing but walk all. day. long.
3. Snack Cups: These snack cups are great and they seriously reduce the numbers of Cheerios loose in the car seat.
4. Hug Time is definitely on Z's Most Often Requested list. It's gotta have the cutest illustrations ever, and is probably the only children's book to mention a gnu.  Baby Woof Woof! has pictures of different baby animals, not just dogs like the title suggests, but Z goes crazy for the dachshund puppy on the first page every time!
5. Ball Ramp: We love this one! The balls have "sprinkles" in them that Z likes to shake before she drops them in the ramp. She also likes to pull off the top level and carry it around. No clue why.
6. Stacking Bowls: These guys have made the must-haves list before, but lately, Z is actually stacking them and putting them together as balls. It's pretty cool to see her rediscover old toys as she grows.

Month 15 Update

Age: 15 months
Stats: 30 ¼ inches long (66th percentile), 21 lbs 2 oz (37th percentile), Head- 47 cm (97th percentile...apparently our kid is a bobble head!)

Clothes: Still rocking everything from 6-12 months to 18 months. It really depends on the brand. She's close to growing out of the size 3 shoes, though.

Favorite Foods: This past month, Z has been crazy for blueberries, bananas, and strawberries. If she could eat nothing but fruit, she'd be one happy little camper! She also loves those Go-Go Squeeze applesauce pouches, which I guess is technically more fruit. I even caught her screwing the cap back on her empty pouch the other day, which is a big switch from her usual behavior - trying to shove the cap in her mouth.

Favorite Words: If you read my last post, you know that Z has been a big fan of "ta-da" (although she rarely says it anymore), but in the last few days, we think she may have added "hi" to her vocabulary. We aren't exactly sure if she's saying it or just repeating the sound since she almost never says it without us saying it first. She also started saying choo-choo ("ti-doo") when she hears the train horn. But again, is she saying the word or repeating the sound?

Favorite Activities: Walking, walking, walking! Walking around the park, the pool, the dining room table, and especially walking down the sidewalk while momma is trying to sherpa five full bags of groceries into the house in one trip, and then screaming like a banshee when I pick her up to go inside. She also loves yanking Scout's tail, pool time, dancing, music, and "reading".

Least Favorite Activities: Going down for a nap, being told no, and diaper changes.  For about a week, she also hated baths. We have no idea why, but she would cry through the whole thing. Thankfully, Z's back to her bath-loving ways.

Signature Moves: Pushing objects around the house. Z will push around anything that isn't nailed down: push toys, cardboard boxes, laundry baskets, the Zany Zoo activity box, her high chair.  I'll come out of the bathroom and a dining room chair will have appeared by the front door. Random.

Milestones: 
Using Utensils: Baby Tuna has started feeding herself with a fork. Hooray! It's a lot of banging the fork around till something sticks, but we're getting there.

Movie Watching: The Easter Bunny left Frozen in Z's Easter basket, so we had to watch. I wasn't expecting much, thought she'd pay attention here and there, dance and sing along to the songs she already loved, and pretty much ignore the TV for the majority of the movie. Boy was I wrong! I had a full-fledged Frozen zombie on my hands. What is it about that movie?!

Mesmerized by Elsa

It seems like this month, Z really started becoming a kid. While folding laundry the other night, I got all teary when I realized she's moved on from Monkey, her beloved finger puppet friend. Now she's getting snuggly with real stuffed animals. Next thing ya know, she'll be talking.

Baby Talkin'

Every parent waits with bated breath to hear their precious babe utter the first word. After months of interpreting each coo and gurgle, the little one finally says "Mama". Or maybe "Dada". Other common first words include dog, no, and hi, all of which seem like words our kid would easily pick up around here (let's go ahead and leave shit off that list...I'm working really hard on removing it from my vocabulary.)

But my question to the universe is what actually constitutes a first word? How clear does it need to be? Does it need to be repeated to be counted? What if your child is only repeating a word after you say it? Is it a first word only when used correctly in context? My mom has said for years that my first word was "uh-oh." Is that even a word? Does onomatopoeia count? 

Z is a very verbal kid. She does lots and lots of talking, just not in any language we can understand. There's finger pointing and hand gestures- she's very animated. But rather than hearing a chirpy "mama" come out of her mouth, we hear "ta-da"! We hear it a lot. With hands thrown up in the air as if to say, well, "ta-da!" Sometimes she will even say it in "ta-da" kinds of moments, like when she's done with lunch, or when I pull the towel off my wet hair after a shower. This kid has a flair for the dramatic, for. sure.

Blurry. This kid is never still! 

It's my own fault, really. To keep her calm in Target one afternoon (one of those trips that was pushing nap time a little later than usual), I kept saying it over and over in a sing-songy voice and she would kind of repeat it. I also kept repeating guacamole over and over, but that only made her giggle.  Safe to say that guacamole won't be her first word.

What started out as an attempt to repeat the sound (her version sounded more like, ya-daa), has evolved into the real deal. But does it count?


UPDATE: After typing up this post about a week ago, the kid stopped saying ta-da. I've been trying for days to capture a picture of Z saying it with her hands in the air, but she's flat-out refused. Instead, I get toothy grins and raspberries, and drool...so much drool. Finally, today, just as the Hubs and I were reconsidering this as her first word, she started up again, so I started stalking her with the camera. I got pretty close...

In this one, Z just finished saying it. 

Saying "ta-da" to Scout, I guess? 

If I was just a little bit shorter...caught her saying it with hands up, but the angle sucks. Oh well! You'll just have to take my word for it. :O)

Month 14 Update

Z hit the 14 month mark the Saturday before Easter. Since I took a little blogging hiatus and missed her 13 month update, I've sprinkled in some pics from the last two months to make up for it. :O)

Age: 14 months
Stats: About 21 lbs & 30 ¼ inches

Clothes: Oh boy! Such a mish-mash! Everything from 3-6 month leggings (which are now capris - perfect for spring!) to 12-18 month tops (some of which are a bit big on her still). She's also wearing size 3 shoes, and she loves having her shoes on. All you have to say is, "Let's put on your shoes!" and she'll double-time it to the chair to get her footsies suited-up.

Favorite Foods: strawberries, blueberries, grapes, PB&J, cinnamon waffles, smoothies, noodles, grilled cheese with steamed kale inside, Cheddar Bunnies

Favorite Words: No "real" words yet, but if I say "ta-da", she will sort of repeat it, sounding something like "ya-daa" in her sweet little sing-songy voice. She also has a distinct sound for when she sees a dog (which is often when we are out for a run/walk), but I haven't got a clue as to how to spell it. And, although it's not even a word, she loves to make a surprised sound. (You know the one, where you suck in air, mouth open, eyes wide?) Turns out, I do that a lot with her and my little copycat has picked it up. Guess it's time to lose the f-bombs before she picks those up, too!

Favorite Activities: Stroller rides, listening to music & dancing, watching for squirrels, birds, and doggies out the windows, "reading", swinging at the park, playing outside, brushing her teeth, peek-a-boo, & walking all over the place (our house is pretty small, so she's mostly walking circles around the dining room table). Z also loves watching Sesame Street any time Murray or Abby are on screen. I think Murray may actually be her favorite monster.

Least Favorite Activities: Going down for a nap, being in the grass, not getting to do something she really wants to do. We've reached the stage where she will turn out that bottom lip and start the waterworks. Such drama!

Signature Moves: This kid can power squat better than any CrossFitter I've ever seen! She also just started turning circles, and has the best dance moves. She does her own version of the running man that cracks us up every time! I just wish I could get it on video, but the little snot sits down every time I get the camera ready. The stinker!

Milestones: Walking, walking, walking!!! Z took her first steps the first weekend in March, the day after her daddy got home from a business trip (perfect timing!). And then she took a breather. I guess she wanted to be sure she was really ready, cuz when she started up again about a week later, she was walking like a pro! Totally skipped that wobbly Frankenstein stage and went straight to total awesomeness. Sure, she walked mostly sideways for awhile, (we think because she honed her walking skills by going in circles while holding on to the Zany Zoo box), but she seems to have gotten over that and only uses her sideways skills when they're needed. For a while, she giggled every time she walked and had her hands up in the air. She totally knew that this was a big deal!

We knew our kid was gifted, but even strangers have commented on how well she walks. Huge sigh of relief for us, given that motor development is a key issue for kids born with a tethered cord. (You can read about that here.) Walking was the last motor milestone for Z to accomplish and she knocked it out of the park!

These days, she spends most of her time ignoring her toys and just walks circles around the house all day, usually with a book in her hand. When she needs a break, she'll plop down wherever and "read" for a few minutes, then get right back up and walk her circles again. It wears me out just to watch her!

It's been so crazy to see how much Z's grown up in these last two months. She's starting to feel like a kid to me, and this may be the best age yet. She can follow directions (Simple stuff, like "go get your milk" and "roll the ball to momma", but absolutely nothing as advanced as "don't eat the dog's food!"), entertain herself, throw little tantrums (certainly not the best part of the day, but a sure sign that baby tuna is growing up), and have full-on conversations, though just not in English. It's clear she's go a lot to say - Heaven help me when she really starts talking!

You can blame the horrible quality of this photo on the iPhone's front camera.