Cara is 15 months old!

Can you believe it? I've had several friends tell me that 15 months was their favorite age, so I'm excited to see if it holds true. So far, I can see what they mean. So much has gone on with Cara in this last month.

Stats:

• weighs 26 lbs and was 29 3/4 inches at last count. I think she's grown since she was measured for height. Her head is still really big too. Almost unable to wear headbands--bows all the way!
• maybe going through a growth spurt. She has been eating a ton lately and sleeping a lot too.
• has 8 teeth and 1 molar up top--I keep waiting for more molars to pop through!

Milestones:

• first surgery on 11/25--the dreaded tympanotomy... She has been a normal little girl ever since
• running through the house--a few quick steps before she falls to her hands/knees again
• 2nd Thanksgiving holiday, 1st time to eat yummy Thanksgiving food!
• language explosion--she is a little parrot! We say, "Can you say ___?" and she repeats back to us whatever it is. Even if it's a partial syllable, you can tell she's trying to say what we are. Lately, here are some new words she's saying:
• love you ("luh lah", but close!)
• lovie ("luh)
• diaper
• up
• down
• cup
• book
• bath
• outside (more like "si")
• most body parts, at least partial words, like head, hair, eye, nose, mouth, ear, belly button, toes, knee, hand, tummy. She can identify these on herself and most on others.
• Nana
• Grandad
• but not Mimi, much to her chagrin--she came close by saying "mami" once, but it's not there yet
• sleeping with a lovie
• started dancing to music playing
• first babysitter for a Baylor football game, shared with Murphee

Personality:

• an entertainer--loves to do a trick and then watch for our reactions
• a pleaser--always smiling or flirting with someone, even strangers, wants others to be happy, so she smiles or makes a cute face to make that happen
• a social butterfly--says "hi" and waves to everyone we see in public. Brings smiles to people's faces at HEB. Takes a minute to warm up in a new environment, but then feels at ease. Prefers to share activities vs. doing them on her own--reading books is 90% of the time a lap activity, back and forth from book basket to lap for 30 minutes.
• a laid-back little girl--transitions from activity to activity easily, goes with the flow
• an independent spirit--is getting to the point where she knows she has a choice in some matters (like "come here" or not) and exerts her will. Small matters, but nonetheless

It's so fun to be able to pinpoint more specific things about her personality. I know it will just keep developing and making her more unique, and I think that's just so cool. It will be interesting to see which of us she favors more behaviorally, or if she is a blend of her own unique person!

Sleep:

• straddling the 1-2 nap a day thing still. Set back with the last ear infection and tubes and holidays, etc. 
• takes "rest time" at school in the morning, or takes a morning nap from 9:30/10-11:30
• afternoon nap from 2:30-4/4:30
• goes to bed at 7:30, wakes up at 7. Stayed up until 9:15 over the holiday, but only because she napped until 5:45 that afternoon. Her schedule is super flexible when we're not in school.
• loves her lovie, holds it in her little hand when she sleeps and abandons it in the middle of the night

Clothes:

• 12-18 months, 12 month clothes are WAY too short--sister is tall!
• size 4.5 shoes, can fit loosely into size 5
• size 4 diapers, leaks through overnight sometimes, but not all the time, so we'll stay with size 4 for now
• I love love love feetie pajamas in this size--the feet have grippers on the bottom, so they make walking around the house easiest. She lives in these a lot on the weekends.

Food:

• discovered she LOVES PB&J--what kid doesn't? I started buying honey wheat bread, natural peanut butter and natural grape jelly with low sugar. It's really better that we all eat that anyway, but I usually make her one with a single slice of bread and cut it into pieces. She inhales it!
• I don't know how to stop this aside from giving her one bite at a time, but she takes a ton of food and shoves it all in her mouth at once. Like 7 Goldfish or 4 pieces of PBJ or 5 bites of roll, etc. We joke that she should play Chubby Bunny looking like that.
• loved Thanksgiving food, especially nutty buddy yam bake (whipped sweet potatoes with butter, cinnamon sugar and other ingredients), mac 'n cheese and turkey. She also ate some green beans in the bundle with bacon and dijon mustard.
• prefers pears/peaches/mandarin oranges with meals, fruits that are sweet that she can pick up easily
• loves canned pineapple chunks, especially when Mommy feeds her off a fork!
• I bought some frozen blueberries and thaw a few at a time for her, and she likes those--but she likes to squish and throw them more than eat them!
• tries to say she's "all done" way before she really is--I think she doesn't like to sit still.
• says "no no" and then drops food off the side of her high chair, and then gets her hand smacked. Typical toddler!
• has started to feed herself with a spoon a little bit. It's messy and she doesn't always meet her mouth, but she's way better than she used to be. Meal time just keeps getting easier (and messier)!

Likes:

• animals, asking for them first thing in the morning when she wakes up
• milk and more milk!
• reading books in your lap, bringing them to you and saying "booh?"
• her 1-2-3 Baylor book (does a "sic em" at "2 Bears" and shows her hands at "5 helping hands")
• splashing in the tub
• giving kisses
• mimicking and parroting what we say
• helping herself get dressed (pushing her arms and feet through the holes)
• changing her diaper
• "rough-housing" on the floor with Daddy
• running through the house, exploring everything

Dislikes:

• riding in the car for too long
• waking up unexpectedly
• being rocked to sleep--snuggle time is generally over before bed, now she just wants to be put down :(
• being confined to her high chair

Noticing a trend? Her dislikes stem from being penned in for held down for too long. This girl is on the move continually! Busy busy busy.

Looking forward to:

• more words! Two-word phrases, sentences along with signs--I'm ready to communicate with this little girl!
• feedback about her feelings--I want her to be able to say "I'm hungry" and "It hurts" or "Love you, Mommy".
• Christmas with a little one who understands more than last year. She doesn't get Santa or baby Jesus in any depth yet, but each year gets better. Looking forward to giving her presents and letting her open them herself!