Anna Kate: 15 months (EDITED)

((HAHAHAH! For anyone who caught my blunder earlier, I'm sorry. My child is 15 months, not 18 months. Therefore, I turn over my mother-of-the-year trophy and charm bracelet to GAMzu and NBJenni for pointing out the err of my ways!))

This is for my own record keeping purposes and also for family members to keep up with Anna Kate’s progress, so don’t send me any hate mail if this post isn’t entertaining enough, k?

Today was Anna’s 15 month appointment. Anna behaved like a little lady, and she looked especially cute walking around with only a diaper and her boots with the fur (synthetic fur, of course). Sorry, I can’t let my daughter walk barefoot on a nasty public floor like that – let me just roll out my plastic bubble and call it a day.

Here are her stats:

Height: 31"/60th Percentile
Weight: 22 lbs. 5 oz./40th Percentile
Head: 18 1/4”/60th Percentile

So, basically she's a tall, skinny girl with a big head - just like mama. The good news is that she’s increased in heigh/weight/head size since her last appointment, so we’re headed in the right direction after a little dip.

The somewhat bad news is that the Dr. noticed she had a heart murmur at this visit. She’s never noticed it before, so she wants me to take her to a Pediatric Cardiologist just to rule out anything significant. She thinks it’s an “innocent murmur” which is pretty common in young children. I’m staying away from Dr. Google because I’ll be convinced my child is really sick when she isn’t. Her appointment with the specialist is this Friday, so we’ll get to see an ultra-sound of her heart to see how bad the murmur is. Her daddy had a murmur as a young child, so I’m thinking it’s genetic. Darn genes! Wish us luck and send some good vibes/prayers our way if you’re into that sorta thing.

Other than that, she had two shots, one in both leg, so that made her cry for a significant period of time. Once we left, she was knocked out in her carseat, so the ride home was nice and quiet. Now she's watching Desperate Housewives with her best friend Dot.


What can Anna Kate do?:

• Anna is a very active toddler. She can walk, run, kick a ball, throw a ball, bounce a ball and pass a ball back and forth with you. It’s fun to have someone to play keep away with when we’re teasing her dad.
• She is babbling up a storm. I think she’s going to have a word explosion soon. As of right now, the only words that she says on a frequent basis are mama and dada. She can somewhat enunciate the words ball and hi, but when I ask her to say, “dog” she will go “gah.” I think she’ll eventually get the hang of this whole talking thing and talk our ears off. The other day she said, clear as day, the words “fire” and “grass” for my in-laws. I think since she’s around me so much, she is just taking a little longer to speak up since she and I have our own way of communicating. We sign for “done” when she’s finished with her meals or “more” if she wants more food.
• She loves to mimic what you do. If you brush your hair, she will pick up anything that resembles a comb (usually a remote control, a tooth brush or even a cell phone) and brush her hair with it. If I pick up my cell phone, she will pick up her pretend cell phone and hold it upside down while trying to say, “Hello.” She understands the concepts of daily tasks and will emulate them. This is probably my most favorite stage so far. Earlier today she took a make-up wedge and pretended to put make-up on her face.
• She has learned to softly pet our animals. While she’s petting them, she will try to say the word soft. It sounds like “ahhh,” but I know what she’s saying because she has the same voice inflection that I have when I’m telling her “soft.” It’s precious.
• She is eating table foods like a champ. She will like certain foods for a while and then toss them off of her high chair the next time. I never know, day to day, what she’s going to like. She’s gotten much pickier since she’s hit the toddler phase, and I can’t say I’m too happy about that. I’m not much of a cook or one to be inventive, so I feel like I’m boring her with food. She loves, loves, loves fruit, though. I’ve learned to give it to her AFTER she eats meat and veggies. We haven’t mastered the fine art of spoon/fork self-feeding yet, but that’s my fault. Today she took a spoon and pretended to feed herself from an empty bowl, so I think she’s ready for that transition as well. I know it’ll be messy, but it can’t be any messier than this ---> Click if you dare!
• She has been off the bottle since about 13 months or so. She’s now drinking her whole milk and juice from a sippy cup. She’s still stuck on her paci, though. I will wean her of that one day, but for now I’ll just deal. There’s only so much stress I can handle as a mom.
• She sleeps fairly decently through the night now even though at least once or twice a week we have to lug her in our bed to make our family H. I’m not sure if it’s teething related or not, but if she wakes up and is crying, there’s no getting her to go back to sleep in her crib. The only way she’ll fall back asleep is if she’s with us in our bed, unfortunately. I’m not a fan of co-sleeping, but when it’s 3 a.m., and you’re going on 2 hours of sleep, you will do whatever it takes. Never say never, moms.
• Anna is getting to be more active when we go out to eat. This means that she is no longer content sitting for an hour+ in a high chair while we eat and talk about life and such. She’s good for about 20 minutes, and then she wants out, she wants to crawl on the table, she wants to touch the waitresses boobs (yes, I’m serious), she wants to put her hand in whatever you’re eating or she wants to eat whatever you’re eating. So, we may have to step back from eating out for a while.
• She has four full teeth now – two top, two bottom. Her molars are coming in as well – I can see the tip of them breaking through her gums. Surprisingly, she’s been very happy and doesn’t seem to be affected by the pain. What a little trooper.
• She’s such a mild-mannered and easy going baby. She loves everyone, she loves animals, she loves Yo Gabba Gabba, she loves to take baths, she loves going Bye Bye (and loves to wave), she loves when we chase her around the house – she giggles the whole time. She’s just a complete joy to everyone who meets her, and I can’t tell you how blessed we are that she’s our child. I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful little girl.

I love you, Anna Kate!