It Just Keeps Getting Better

Katie turned 15 months old on Valentine's Day and after we got to Raleigh that day, I realized I left my camera at home and had to get Melissa to take a few pictures so I would have some of the actual "15 month" day.

When I was going back through pictures of the month, I got to a few that felt like they were taken so long ago! And I realized this past month has seemed so long when I think about it. Katie turned 14 months the day before we closed on our house and when I look back at all that has happened since that date, I can't believe it's only been one month. It's certainly been a fun month as we've settled into our new house, played in the snow, and hosted a few get-togethers. So - on to news about Katie!

 

Katie is still not very interested in food and certainly not any food that is actually good for her. She will eat really well for about 5-10 bites of things and then she'd rather get down and play. Breakfast is certainly the easiest meal of the day. We are working on letting her feed herself so now she wants to grab the spoon or fork and rarely likes to have us feed her anymore. But when she gets the spoon or fork, she usually likes to see how quickly she can use it to spread the food on her tray and then tosses food and fork on the floor. We give her the "all done" sign, she nods "yes" and she's down and out of the chair and ready to play.

 

At her 15 month check she weighed 21.13 pounds (35th percentile) and was 30.5 inches tall (53rd percentile). I'm still not convinced of the accuracy of the height because the measurement on the back of the laundry door that we did measured at 29.5 inches and that was a few days before her appointment. She still isn't saying too many words - although she babbles plenty. But I feel like her cognitive recognition is really good - she knows the body parts on her head (eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, teeth, nose) and her belly. And if you ask her where her [insert body part] is, she points to hers and then wants to come show you your nose, ears, etc...

 

One of my favorite things to do with her these days is play with her wooden Noah's Ark. I need to remember to tell her about the actual biblical story behind the ark. But for now, we pull out all of the wooden animals and lay them on the floor. Then I pick out one of the animals and give it to her and ask her to find the match to it. "Katie, mommy found a monkey. Can you find the other monkey?" Then after she finds it, we put them in the boat! So far, the monkey is the only one of the animals she can pick out by name. But all the others, she can at least match up.

This is Katie in nightime mode - She has one pacifier in her mouth and another in her hand in case the first one should fail (like 1st runner up in a beauty pageant). And of course, bunny is always around when it's time to head to bed.

 

She is still in love with the outdoors and I am so thankful for the temperatures warming up so we can be outside more. I need to go ahead and buy stock in Coppertone as I am sure we will go through our fair share this summer! She battles with us when we bring her back inside. I have had to find ways to trick her into it - Lately I've been letting her take Jack's leash and she does a good job trying to walk him. So I tell her we need to walk Jack back inside and she will come in for that. Haha, I outsmarted her...for now. When she does get mad at me for telling her no or at a toy that she bonked her head on, she turns Incredible Hulk on us. She wants to rip something up. The other night I told her no when she was trying to pull the cord out of the laptop and she went to the laundry basket and clenched the sides and tried to turn it over. It was too full to work, which only frustrated her more. She is a hoot to watch! But discipline mode has to kick in soon - really soon.

 

She is getting much more nimble lately too. She is starting to run a bit and has surprisingly good balance as she trots away. She is up the stairs in a heartbeat and unfortunately because she is so good at it, I don't watch her as closely as I should. Nothing bad has happened yet, but I am sure I just jinxed it. She tries to climb on the couches and chairs by herself and the other day at the zoo, she tried to climb in with the goats.

 

I will close the post with a view from the top and the bottom of our little girl!

She has quite the bed head - a trait inherited from my mom's side of the family! It's out of control and the dry winter weather hasn't helped much. She's such a trooper letting me brush or wet it down, but it usually doesn't help much.

 

And finally - here's my little Katie-Lou Rhetton. She loves to stand on her head and has recently started to flip over from this position. We're going to start looking into little tumbler classes at a local gymnastics studio. She will, no doubt, kill me for this picture one day. But I will blame it on Aunt Melissa who actually took it!

We love you Katie and can't wait to see what the next month holds! Sweet Sixteen? We shall see!