15 Months

Today Carly is 15 months old!! It is unbelievable how time is flying by. This evening we took a family trip to the grocery store and ran into the older brother and a father of a former student. The older brother made a point to call out my name, then walk over and tell me how he now has his learner's permit and drove to the grocery store. Not only did this make me feel old, but as his dad pointed out... we would be in this same spot in a flash. And reality is, we will be. I know that 13 years and 9 months is a long ways off, but eventually (as in some time in elementary school) Carly will be counting down to this day. SCARY!! I have decided to push such thoughts out of my mind at the moment by focusing on the things that Carly can do at the moment, and driving a car is NOT one of those things.

~ Carly is feeding herself "successfully" with a spoon, and I am becoming an expert at using various stain remover products.

~ She is walking very well, and working on speeding up her stiff run. Unfortunately, it is leading to bumps, scrapes, and bruises.

~ She is continuing to eat all types of fruit and bread products. She loves deli ham, cheese slices and small cubes, baby cereals, yogurt, and pureed vegetables. She is currently not interested in whole peas or any other table food vegetables, pasta, or meat.

~ She LOVES to read books and can go and pick up her favorites from her book table if you begin telling the story from memory. At the moment Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Froggy Boots Go with Everything, Where is Baby's Belly Button?, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and Little Drummer Boy are her favorite!

~ She enjoys looking at photographs, especially the photo baby announcements and cards we have displayed on our refrigerator.

~ She can crawl up the stairs and walk up holding the rail if it is low enough for her. She can also crawl down backwards and side step down if the rail is low enough for her to hold on to. (However, she doesn't always want to travel in the same direction that Dave and I want to travel.)

~ She is following one step verbal directions and using a nod for "yes" and "no" to answer simple questions - "Are you hungry?" "Did you go poopie? Do you need a new diaper?"

~ Daily play time involves cooking in her kitchen, going "shopping" for plastic fruits and vegetables with her shopping cart, pushing her stroller around, and mimicking me in daily chores (sweeping, dusting, using the swifter). She also finds plenty of time to build and tear down a tower of blocks, push cars and trucks around various surfaces, and use her wooden puzzles.

~ Art time as evolved to include colored pencils, (She demonstrated she was ready for these 2 weeks ago by coloring in the front cover of a book on my bedside table.) although she is uninterested in using crayons.

~ She really enjoys going to the library for story time and to find new board books.

~ Recently she has added going outside to her regular routine. During the summer and fall I made a point to take her outside at least once if we hadn't been to a park or had an outside playdate. This winter we have gone outside after her nap time to play with a few of the neighborhood kids as they walk home from the bus stop each afternoon, assuming the weather at the time was above 35 or so. However, as of this week she has begun going into our mudroom and pointing to her jacket and hat and saying her version of outside - "aw". She LOVES to go on wagon rides, play with her pink lawnmower, ride her little scooter, and play on a slide that is currently being stored in the garage during the winter months. (I can't wait until the spring when I can let her loose in our fenced in backyard!)

~ Music and dancing are becoming bigger and bigger aspects of her daily routine. She likes to turn on Violet and dance around, play with the musical instruments she got for Christmas, and dance to cd's we get from the library.

~ She is also working on her vocabulary. She has added the word "please" to her sign language vocabulary (or at least her own version of the sign) and is starting to say a lot of D words. Daddy is "daDEE," doggy is "dauDE," and ducky is "DAUde". Also, in Carly's world a doggy says, "mumm, mumm" not "ruff, ruff"

~ Tonight she also figured out how to get small objects out of a bottle.

~ We are still patiently waiting on teeth; however, today's actions and behavior are looking promising. She may actually be teething. OH BOY!!!!

It blows me away how much Carly changes from day to day, week to week, and month to month. I don't notice the physical change as much until I look at pictures, but its hard not to miss the developmental changes. I thought she was such the little person/toddler when she turned one, but now this little person is answering my questions with gestures and nods and expressing her wants and needs through a few "Carly" words, pointing, and gestures.