fifteen months

She's officially a toddler. There is very little baby left. In fact I can't recall the last glimpse I got of the baby. She's a big girl. She knows EXACTLY what we are saying at any given moment. 
 

Do you want a snack? She runs for the fridge. She stands in the bathroom and points at the medicine cabinet and says TEETH! approximentally 15 times a day. She has the cleanest teeth of any kid in America. Renee, do you want to read some books? Do a puzzle? Play with your Little People? And she drags out the respective item. She can identify and properly put together her shapes puzzle and knows the difference between a pentagon and an octagon.

I mean SERIOUSLY, WHERE IS MY BABY?

When I ask her if she wants to go outside or for a ride in the car she retrieves her shoes and her coat and not-so-patiently waits for me to put them on. She'll put her dirty clothes in the hamper, dirty diaper in the garbage and put her toys away in their baskets when prompted. She can identify every part of her body (or my body or the doll's body) I've thought to ask her: eyes, nose, teeth, mouth, cheeks, chin, hair, ears, belly button, toes, feet, hands, fingers. She understands EVERYTHING and she loves to be told GOOD JOB! I think the kid would wash the dishes and do the laundry for me if I asked her to as long as I promised to clap and say YEAH RENEE! when she was done. She thrives on it. Now, if only that tactic worked on her father.

She picks up new words every day but the ones I can remember off of the top of my head are: MoM, Da-DEE, light, twee (tree), up, baw (ball), hi, no, eyes, yep, kitty, dog, wow, whoa, teeth, cheese, keys, hot and her favorite word this month: mow (more). More EVERYTHING. More peaches, more water, more milk...even if her first helping isn't gone. She says Dad-DEE when she hears the door open downstairs and I can see her mouthing MoM through the window at daycare when I pull in to pick her up. She has mastered the signs for more, milk and All Done and the rest, well let's just say I sort of suck at teaching baby sign language. Although I was sitting on the couch the other day and she walked over and started making the sign for Milk and then turned around and ran towards the fridge. I literally just about crapped my pants. She has been repeating signs and words forever but for her to put together that she was thirsty for milk enough to come over and sign it to me just about killed me.

She is coming out of her shell more and more every day and the more we encourage her, the braver she is getting. She is putting some trust in people besides us and I am so very proud of her each and every time I see her step away from my hip long enough to play with her cousin or give her grandma a hug. She seems to understand when I tell her that I'll be right back and I think she finally believes me, that I am indeed coming back.

She gives the cheese when I get the camera out and says CHEESE! and I'm ashamed to say that is the only way I can get her to even look in the general vicinity of the camera. Otherwise, she turns her face away from me and runs away. Photographing a running toddler is much more difficult than a baby who sits still or even one that crawls. I have about 1000 pictures this month of her running away from me.

Speaking of which, she LOVES to be chased. And to be tickled. She'll look you straight in the eye and then turn away and take off just hoping you'll follow. Or she'll come and lay down next to me on the floor and sort of awkwardly tickle me hoping that I'll starting blowing on her belly. And I always comply even in my ginormously pregnant state because the belly laughs? I could sustain myself emotionally entirely on that little girl's belly laughs. No day is a bad day when you've heard her laugh.

We've been getting ready for her brother or sister to come and even though I know she has no clue what we REALLY mean when we tell her the baby is coming, she acknowledges it. She will point at the infant seat or go in to the baby's room and show me the baby's diapers. Or she'll point at my belly. She is a helper by nature and while I know a huge adjustment is going to have to be made on all of our parts the day this kid is born, I think there is a part of her that is going to like being a big sister and I think she'll like helping me take care of the baby. The other part? I think the other part is going to be completely and utterly pissed off.

Comments

[jenny]

she is entirely TOO CUTE. the belly laughs are my favorite as well. :)

[nicole]

I love the last picture of her... priceless.

[anne]

The last picture of her is my favorite!! Don't they get old fast? Unbelievable. Ryan is also obsesses with saying "moa" (more) for EVERYTHING these days. More books, more food, more snack, more water, more playing. I guess it's an important one to know:)

[Kim P]

Oh, my! She's priceless! This is such a fun age! In a couple of months, she'll still know exactly what she wants, but when you offer it, she'll say, "NO!" {SIGH} The terrible twos are just around the corner :) Don't worry, though, because they got nothin' on 3!

She's going to be a wonderful big sister! It seems to me that the more sensitive babies are more sensitive to their siblings as well. I can't wait to hear how she interacts with the new little one.

And? I'm pretty sure if you tell your Ski, "YEAH RENEE!" it's never gonna work :)

[Pam]

Love your comments! And I think your daughter is just beautiful! You are a great photographer.