My 15 Month Old

When Lucia turned 1 year old, I promised myself I would only do these updates every three months.  Along with professional pictures - it was tough finding time to take her in once a month - but totally worth it for the $7.99 photo packets.  

It's incredible to think how much she's changed since December.  Lulu's now a full-fledged walking, talking toddler.  And I'm loving it!  Don't worry though, I made sure to take notes of all her accomplishments, big and small, since her last update.
  

Accomplished by 13 Months:

 

• says "bear", "ball", "book", and "no"'
• signs "food"
• points to my parents' bedside (where the special books they read with her are kept) and says "book"
• tries on my shoes 
• much more cuddly than in the past
• loves to sneeze, smiles and laughs when she does it
• fake sneezes
• eats with spoon
• drinks with a straw
• throws a ball
• rides on her rocking horses (can get on and off herself)
• pees on potty (when set there on regular intervals)
• raises arms to be held
• has "gentle hands" - with the dogs and in general.  I can generally trust her to read a "regular" (non-board) book and not rip it

Accomplished by 14 Months:

• says "bubbles"
• made connections between the word/sign "food" and other words "eat", "breakfast", "dinner", etc 
• can stand for long periods of time
• walks just holding on to one hand
• first steps - Sat, Jan 26th
• showing a strong preference for using her left hand
• has her stuffed animals kiss people (makes the kissy noise as they do)
• loves to smell things, especially soap
• neighs with her rocking horse
• first thing she does when she wakes up is hug Zoey (her Gloworm), she won't leave the crib without her

Accomplished by 15 Months:

• says "bye", "bottle", "pocket" ("pock"), "baby", "doll", "hot", "hat"
• says "Jew" for Jesus (but thinks every pictures/statue in church is Jesus)
• signs "please", "potty"
• put two signs together "more" and "food"
• loves pine cones and her baby doll
• first molars coming in (on top), canines haven't come out yet 
• puts things in and out of pockets
• loves "The Wheels on the Bus", "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", and "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider" - moves arms along with these, doing these are the only way we can keep her still for a diaper change
• feeds her baby doll and makes smacking noises when baby is "drinking"
• can appropriately do the Sign of the Cross (without words)
• covers her mouth with her hand when she's told "no" or gets caught doing something she knows she's not supposed to
• What sounds does a dog make? "Ruff." What sound does a duck make? "Quack." What sound does a frog make? "Roar."
• can identify her nose, ears, eye, feet

At 15 months, Lucia is an absolute joy.  I haven't spent much time with older babies/younger toddlers before, so I'm in awe of how much she understands.  She says quite a few words and does a few signs, but I have a tendency to underestimate just how much she understands since she can't fully communicate with us in return, but I'm certain that she understands 99% of what we say.  

Whether Lulu decides to truly listen to us is another story.  She can be quite fussy at times, but usually that's directly related to being either tired or hungry (she's like her mama in that way).  She's starting to realize when she's tired and has gone to bed at night many times with a smile on her face (not every night, but we're working on it).  

We have gotten a glimpse of what the terrible twos might be like, although David seems to think that we are currently experiencing the terrible twos and by the time she's two, she'll be a sweet angel.  Ha ha, I'm not so idealistic.  We are very grateful though that she hasn't been much of a picky eater, although she'll often refuse to eat certain foods certain nights (on other nights, those same foods are her favorite).  


Lucia is still nursing, although only 1-2 times a day when I work and 2-3 times a day when I'm home with her.  It's still a very special time for us and one of the only times when Lucia still seems like a baby.  We're planning to keep it up as long as it lasts, but it seems to be naturally decreasing and I'm not sure how much longer supply will keep up.

For the most part though, the word that best describes Lucia is "fun".  She's full of life, always curious, will often cuddle (tell her "put your head on my shoulder" and you get the best 2.3 seconds of loving ever), and gets into everything (in a good way).  She's quite mischievous, which for the time being is very endearing, especially when she gets caught doing something naughty and covers her mouth with her hand and whimpers.  

Lulu's super, super active, very rarely sitting still and very rarely content to be doing something for very long.  Now that she's walking, I feel like I'm constantly on the go chasing her, although for the most part, I can trust her to do her own thing without getting into too much trouble.  I'm working on letting her have some of her own space and figure things out on her own instead of always doing them for her.  I'm also trying to let her make messes and get hurt so she learns.  It's hard to step back though.  I just have to keep reminding myself that my baby girl isn't a baby anymore.

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