Annie is 15 months old and good gravy is she something; she
is so full of spunk, joy and certainly keeps us on our toes.
She isn’t saying a lot of words yet but does know some baby
sign language. She can say ‘Mama’ clear
as day. We know she knows how to say
‘Dada’ but isn’t saying it quite as much right now. When you ask her what a dog or Charley says,
she replies with the cutest ‘Woof, Woof.’
And when she reads a book with a dog in it, she points and instantly
goes ‘Woof, Woof.’ When you ask her a
question, you can usually get a yes or no nod of the head, which has made my
life a little easier when asking if she is ready to get out of the bath or is
hungry. When you ask her where her belly
button is, she lifts her shirt up and points right to it, we find these little
things pretty comical. Aaron likes to trick her when she is wearing her swimsuit and ask where her belly button is and then she can't figure out why she can't find it in her one-piece. I think that is borderline mean {as I laugh at her struggling to find it}.
She’s not really into any toys right now. In fact, she hardly plays with her toys, what
she is into is books and Legos. In
particularly picture/word books and books with flaps to open. I usually just sit a pile of books in front
of her and she can entertain herself pretty easily but mostly really loves to
be read to. She definitely has a few
favorite books which do get a little old by the 20th time thru in a
row.
She has teeth galore coming in, which has made for some
challenging teething days. She pretty
much has half of her teeth now and I’m looking forward to just having them
all in. It’s funny, sometimes a new
tooth doesn’t even phase her while others pretty much make for an entirely
miserable day {and night}. Some of her
friends at daycare have given up the paci, we think it really helps with
soothing thru this teething process so for now I think we will hang on to the
paci until teething is over.
I wish I could report that Annie has become less clingy but
it’s actually gotten worst. She
constantly wants to be held by me or needs me nearby. If I leave the room she starts screaming, running
after me. I can barely catch a bathroom
break! Recently I was cooking in the
kitchen, my hands were a mess and she was hysterical, with a total death grip
around my leg, I had to literally drag my leg with her on it across the kitchen
so I could clean my hands and pick her up.
It’s gotten that bad lately! I
love her wanting me and I do enjoy holding her but it’s becoming too constant
that we really need to get to a happy-medium soon! My chiropractor visits are becoming too
frequent from carrying her around everywhere!
I’m always amazed at how well Annie excels at Daycare. The other day I picked her up mid-day and was
spying on her before she saw me. She was
eating lunch and I couldn’t believe it, using a fork to eat and she was doing
it so gracefully and so focused. I was
like when did my child start using utencils?!
She learns way more at Daycare than she does from Aaron and I. Daycare has been great parenting for us
too. They help prompt us when she is
ready for a change. She hasn’t been on
bottles for months now and sleeps on a cot at daycare, no more cribs for day
naps. She is also very influenced by her
little toddler friends, she sees them all doing it so she wants to do it
too. She is a way better eater at
daycare then she is for us at home, again we think it’s because her toddler
friends are more influential than we are when it comes to eating. Dropping her off and going to work is easy
when we know she is in good hands during the day.
Asleep in the cart, who knew that could be comfortable? |
Lately, we’ve noticed something Annie has been doing. Sorting.
One day I was watching her take her 3 Leggo sets that are all in one tub
and sort them between tubs. I was kinda
shocked that she knew how to sort them so well.
It was a proud and terrified moment for me because I think she has OCD
like me! I didn't mention it at first and then Daycare
mentioned one day when I walked in during one of her sorting moments. I watched her as she walked around sorting
like items and they said she does it all the time and is very meticulous about putting
like-items in tubs. Since, we’ve noticed
that she does it pretty often. She
watches me sort her toys but I’ve never sorted her Leggos before so that tells
me OCD is definitely a hereditary thing!
It’s like I’m proud when I see it and think this girl is going to have
amazing organizational skills but terrified because I know how life consuming OCD can be.
Oh Annie!
Annie has also started to learn how to give us kisses on the
cheek when asked. Her wet sloppy kisses
are the best. She even makes the 'smacking' noise when she goes in for a
kiss. They usually are wide open mouthed
kisses, which is quite comical when she comes at you with her mouth wide open,
going “muah!”, she even pulls back kinda fast, which is funny because she is
totally mimicking how we kiss her (minus the wide open mouth thing, not sure
where she got that from!) She loves to
wave bye-bye, blow kisses and give hugs too.
The running hugs with huge smile on her face might be my favorite. Aaron and I keep saying that this is one of
our favorite ages so far!
This video pretty much sums it up. Life is oh so joy-filled with Miss Annie!