15 Months

Really? I haven't done a progress update since 9 months? Since 15 months isn't exactly a big milestone month, how about I catch up?

Kaycie started walking the first weekend in October (10 months). Crazy talk, I know. I wasn't prepared for that much mobility quite that quickly. She went to spend that weekend at my parents' house so Greg and I could celebrate our anniversary, which was Sept 30. When they brought her home that Sunday she was suddenly a walker! She had been taking steps since Father's Day, but not walking consistently. She hasn't slowed down since.

She may have taken to walking in a hurry, but talking is another story. She still won't give me a Mama or Greg a Daddy on a regular basis. She has the sounds, but doesn't associate the words with anything. She's given Greg a good Daddy once about a week ago at bedtime. That's about it. She does know the words and just recently started pointed out Mama, Daddy, grandparents, and assorted other family members in our picture book. She can point to all kinds of things I call out in our other books. But short of "bye bye," "ball" and the occasional "good job," nothing. Don't get me wrong, it's not something I worry about, just something I've noticed. I figure she'll be one of those kids who soaks it all in and starts spitting it back out in complete sentences when she's older.

Her birthday party this year was supposed to be a small informal gathering at my parents' house - and it was - but she was very sick with a high fever the entire day. Immediately after the party we took her to Urgent Care and discovered she had a nasty double ear infection. I don't think I've ever seen her so miserable. We decided to go ahead and have second party at home a week or so later with Sharonda, Victor, Jen, Rob and Addyson. She stayed well for that one and even got to smash her cake!

Christmas was great. We got to spend a lot of time with Aunt Misty and her cousin Randy, as well as the grandparents and other extended family. She really seemed to enjoy being with the family, which always makes me happy.

14 months was a game changer for us. As I learned from reading The Wonder Weeks, around 14-15 months kids usually go through a developmental spurt where they suddenly start displaying all kinds of new abilities that they've never had before. Poof. Almost overnight the second week of January I noticed she started playing differently, interacting differently, and communicating differently. She suddenly started going to the fridge when she wanted her milk, and wanting to reach in and get it (and sneak a couple of grapes) herself. She wanted to "help" with anything I did. She quit being such a good eater (sigh). She started enjoying interactions with other people more, even with the pup. She'll go over to him on the couch and hug him. Or chase him around the kitchen with her little broom. She tried to copy things I do sometimes. We play games in the car where she tried to copy sounds I make (or make me copy her). She really likes going ttthhhhhbbbbb. She's learned to hold my hand to walk to the mailbox or in parking lots. She will walk herself to the van and wait for me to put her in. I can tell her to go get me her shoes (or my shoes) and she does. I can tell her it's time to brush teeth and she runs to the bathroom. I can tell her to go put her paci back in the crib where it belongs and she'll run to her room and toss it in.

Which leads me to another thing. I'm kicking myself for not going through with Operation Paci Freedom before her first birthday. She wasn't that attached to it until she hit 14 months, now it's life or death at bedtime. My theory was it would be easier to take away later than her thumb would be if she started using that. Now I'm not so sure...

As I mentioned in my last post, she's finally started really enjoying being in her music class with other people. This semester she's started interacting with some of the other kids and the other adults. I really want to get her in a Mom's Morning Out, but the wait lists are ridiculous. I'm hoping for next fall. Maybe. We both need a little change of scenery every once in a while. I really think she gets a bit tired of hanging with me every day!

We go back to the doctor today, but not for her usual round of 15 months shots as originally scheduled. We'll be getting her lungs checked to see if the RSV is progressing. She seems to be coughing a little less, so let's hope she's getting better. Earlier in the week she hit the scales at 24 pounds, which isn't a whole lot of change from when she started walking. I would bet whenever we do get around to her regular check up we'll see some change in her height, though.

Ok, I'm sure I missed a thousand things, but that's the gist of what's going on. I don't think we'll need to do monthly progress reports at this point, maybe just highlights for the big ones. Hopefully I'll be keeping up a little better as we go and it won't be necessary! Thanks for hanging in there.