15 Months

Halle turned 15 months old yesterday which is so hard to believe. I have been looking at her recently and wondering where all the time has gone. My 4 pound baby is now definitely a toddler. It has taken me awhile to finish this post because I keep thinking of new things that she is doing. She understands SO much and while she is working on saying things, this stage has been a little frustrating at times since we aren't sure what she needs (wants!). She is still a happy baby who likes to be close to Mom. She loves having Dad at home and when he is gone, she will look for him which just makes me so sad. We are trying to take advantage of the warm weather that is left by going on a lot of walks and being outside whenever we can. Halle loves being outside even if it is fairly cold (I guess she is technically a Minnesotan baby and she sure doesn't seem to mind the cold so far). She looks so much more like a toddler than a baby and is learning so much everyday. She is always on the move (which explains the not so great picture of her sitting with the duck!) and she makes us laugh all of the time with her cute personality. We love you so much Halle Kate!

Here is what I could think of at 15 months:

• Loves to read books - she brings them to me and when I ask if she wants me to read it to her, she nods her head - she can turn the pages and find things in the books
  
• Grabs her shoes, heads to our gate and says "go" (she likes getting out of the house)
  
• Nap schedule is transitioning - later morning nap and then later afternoon nap - sometimes just one nap
• Seems to sleep in longer if I put her to bed earlier which makes no sense to me - I was putting her down in the summer between 8-9pm and she was waking up at 7am and now I put her to bed between 7-8am and she is waking up between 8-8:30am! That is fine with me though...let's hope it continues!
  
• LOVES dogs and the dog video I checked out from the library (she will point to the tv and say "dog" to watch it)
• Likes to watch videos that have kids in them (Bible Songs and Barney) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
  
• Is really starting to like her blanket and her dog - she doesn't pay much attention to her dolly and pola anymore -she will even grab the blanket and dog before we pick her up out of her crib so that she can have them with her
  
• Tries to copy a lot of the things we say - can say: uh oh, dog, dada, mama, nana, papa, duck, quack, clap, go, ball, bye bye, hi, car, star, shoes, sun, socks ("sss"), water ("wawa"), signs please, more and thank you (also blows kisses!)
• Toddles all around the house - we now know why she is called a toddler!
  
• Likes anything that I can give her with ketchup! Is a picky eater though and would prefer to just have fruit all day - veggies are hard to get in her and believe it or not, she isn't a huge fan of sweets (if I give her a cookie, she will only eat a couple of bites!)
• Still doesn't like the church nursery or for me to leave her at all for that matter! But, she is very independent as long as I am around in a familiar environment
  
• Does very well on walks which I love - we have been trying to take advantage of the little bit of warm weather that is left
• Likes to swing and do anything outside (even if it is cold - she is truly a Minnesotan baby!)
• Plays pretend with her tea set and her babies
  
• Makes silly faces - she has such a cute personality!
• Walks around with buckets on her arm like she is carrying a purse!
  
• Has no fear and is very tough - doesn't cry when she falls unless she is really hurt and even then she doesn't like to be consoled much
• Walks everywhere and can go up the stairs - we are working on going down - she just has trouble getting started
• Her hair is really getting long - it is always in her eyes so she has to wear a clip almost all the time - I even had to use a hair dryer on it before going to bed last night since it is getting thick like mine!
  
• Tries to find dada when she realizes he is not home - she will go to our bedroom door and say "dada"...so sad!
• Has thrown one thing in the toilet to date and hopefully she learned her lesson! I at least now know to keep the lids closed at all times and the bathroom doors shut!
• Likes to climb on things and sit like a big girl in our chairs - she also likes to rearrange our dining room chairs and stools
  
• Can wear 6-12 or 12-18 clothes - except for pants since she is too tall, size 4 diapers (Seventh Generation no dye because we found out she is allergic to the blue dye), size 4-5 shoes (her feet are growing fast)
• Has 8 teeth and I think she is getting two more on top
• Likes to try and feed herself when I let her (it is quite messy!)
• We are working on learning body parts and she knows her belly button (sometimes she knows her nose, ears and mouth!)
• Has found her nose and likes to pick it!
• Has tried to do a somersault - I think I will put her in a gymnastics class soon!
• Understands so much of what we say which makes this stage a little difficult since she can't communicate everything to us (but she is trying!)
• Loves the bath and has even put her face in the water to try and blow bubbles!
• Favorite book: "One Fish, Two Fish, Three, Four, Five Fish" and "That's Not My Princess"
• Favorite toy: doesn't really have one right now since she just toddles around the house all day playing with all sorts of things