Babycakes: 15 months!

Health: 
Lizzie girl has continued to be completely happy and healthy this month, but that doesn't mean it's  been uneventful! We had her 15 month appointment a couple of weeks ago the day after her 15-month birthday, so we did get some official stats as far as weight and height are concerned. Girlfriend is 20 pounds, two ounces -- which puts her around the fifth percentile for weight (where she's generally been since birth). She's around 30 inches tall, which is around the 30th percentile -- a little down from past months, but not surprising really, considering my stature.

I've been wondering if one of Lizzie's eyes turns in slightly every once and awhile, so I mentioned it to her pediatrician at the appointment. She could see what I was referring to somewhat, but she wasn't sure if we're seeing something or just making it up -- or if we're seeing something that's really not there. She explained that sometimes, the shape of our eyes can make it seem like we have an eye turning in, even if it's not -- and she happens to have that particular shape on the inside corner of her eyes (it matches my eyes, actually). Anyway, she wasn't sure, so she referred us to an eye specialist in town. We went to see them, and they basically had the same reaction as her pediatrician -- not sure, but something to look into. They wouldn't do any type of testing there, as they're not pediatric eye specialists -- so they've now referred us on to see a Pediatric Ophthalmologist in St. Cloud. I had hoped to get in prior to school starting (because A: I'm impatient and need answers now, and B: then I wouldn't have to miss school), but, alas, no openings. So we're headed there in mid-September and will find out if it's really something, or if it's just nothing.

There was also a question about whether or not Lizzie had hip dysplasia at her 15-month check up as well. Lizzie was checked for hip dysplasia as an infant, because a doctor noticed a slight click in her hip when she was just brand new in the hospital. We did an ultrasound when she was just a few weeks old, and everything looked perfect, so we laid it to rest. But at her latest appointment, the pediatrician saw an indicator of it (an uneven gluteal fold... Google it if you're curious!), so she was sent for x-rays to see if it was, again, something or just nothing. After a day of fretting and consulting Dr. Google (did you know that hip dysplasia treatment at this age is surgery with a lower-body cast for six months, followed by a hip harness for at least three months?! I was worried sick over it), it turns out that all is well and my baby just has a little extra chub to love on one of her glutes/thighs :)

And finally, Girlfriend was vaccinated for rabies this month after sleeping in a room with a bat without our knowledge while visiting a family cabin a few weeks ago. Again, I was worried sick over the whole thing. My main issue was with the vaccines -- a series of five shots in a two-week window. I'm not typically a momma who's concerned with vaccines, but in this case, I worried about that much vaccine in that short time-frame... but from everything I read and what all of the doctors told us, it's perfectly safe. Plus, what are parents to do? We are sure she didn't get bit, but what if she did? And what if she got rabies? Then what? I'd never forgive myself for not giving her the vaccines. Anyway, we finished up our final shot yesterday, and Lizzie was rewarded well from the nurse, who felt so bad she loaded Lizzie up with stickers and a coupon for a free ice cream cone :)

Sleep:
Continues to be great! Nice, long naps and good night sleeps. Still wakes up occasionally in the night hours, but just needs "Buddy" (her pacifier).

Lizzie started daycare again this last week. She's at a different center now, and is in the toddler room there. Due to the bump up in the world, she's now no longer being rocked to sleep for naps and is sleeping on a cot versus a crib. I'm guessing Mommy had a harder time adjusting to this idea than Lizzie did, because apparently she's done just fine with all of the above! But it doesn't change anything at home... I'm still rocking her at bedtime and naps on days off ;)

Diet:
Still doing well on the food front! She continues to be compelled to eat only the exact same thing as Mom and Dad are eating -- which continues to surprise me when we eat things like buffalo chicken calzones -- I'd think it'd be too hot for her, but apparently not! She gobbles it up without batting an eye.

Every so often, she seems to go on a veggies strike (broccoli is the latest that is a no-go). I try not to get too concerned about it, as she always comes around within a few days. And just to be sure she's getting her veggies in, I'll give her hummus or a green monster smoothie (spinach + banana + other fruits) to sneak them into her diet.

As mentioned previously, we started daycare again at a new center. I'm kind of crazy in terms of food for her, and I don't feel like their food is the healthiest, so we are currently bringing her both breakfast and lunch each day. We are letting her eat snack there for now -- though I'm not terribly crazy about that either :)

Social:
With daycare starting up again this week, we've had our fair share of social time with other kids! Although she's the peanut in her bunch -- she's already small for her age, but the toddler room at daycare doesn't usually start until 16 months -- so she's quite a bit younger than the others in her room. It sounds like quite a few kids are getting ready to move up to the preschool room (which means they're around 32 months... whoa!), which is a pretty big age gap. We've had some concerns about this, just because her gross motor skills just simply aren't where the other kids' are at this point. I think she's feeling a little "lost" right now -- on three out of the four days we've been at daycare so far, I've come to pick her up at the end of the day and she's either standing in the middle of the playground or by the door of her classroom, crying :( It breaks my heart! It's not been the easiest transition, and definitely has me wondering, "Is this really worth it?" My working isn't something that is a "need" -- but I do enjoy my job, and I'd like to be teaching when my kids start elementary school so I can be there when they are. But this type of stuff really makes me second guess my decision to continue to work... it's such an internal battle. Anyway, we'll see how the next week or two goes before making any decisions to find another option for us.

Lizzie continues to be very afraid of cars and new people. I think she fears cars because she now realizes there are people in the cars that can come out, and I think that scares her a little. And she's not afraid of new people at mass or when we're out shopping, but at daycare, she has a really hard time if someone new comes in to take over on a staff member's break -- but I assume that comes from being in a new place with new people and not being completely comfortable yet.

Milestones:
No new teeth this month to speak of, but I think there might be one on the way...

Lizzie goes down slides all by herself! (Depending on size, of course ;))

New words this month: bike, meow, down, knows what a lion and a bear say ("Raar!") and when I say "What's a crocodile do?", she opens her arms up vertically and slaps them together :) She also learned the sign for "help". I'm estimating that she can probably say 20 different words/animal sounds at this point.

We're just starting to try some of our 12 month clothes at this point. We're still doing the 6 to 12 month in Gap and 9 month clothes in Carter's right now -- but our pants are slowly getting a little too short. So we're trying out the 12 to 18 month sizes, but the waist is too big! Luckily, if I buy in the toddler sizes at Gap (versus the baby sizes), they have elastic bands that you can tighten in the waist, so that helps some -- but most of the time, Girlfriend's jeans are sagging pretty low in our new, size-up pants :)

Babycakes: 14 months!

Health: 
It's been one healthy 14th month for our Lizzie Kate! Nothing to report, except for getting three more teeth since last month, which puts us to a grand total of four! So regardless of not being sick, it's still a pretty monumental month :) We now have two on top and two on bottom. I was poking around in her mouth yesterday and couldn't notice any signs of anymore coming anytime soon.

Sleep:
Last month, sleep was a d i s a s t e r. Girlfriend was taking 15 minute naps sometimes just once a day, and I was at a loss for what to do. We attempted having her "cry it out" (against all my Mommy instincts!) and that didn't work -- but then the expert, Grandma, just happened to show up in the middle of one of our nap battles one afternoon. She recommended going in every time she cried (yes, every time. As in, every 30 seconds, if need be). And you know what? In 20 minutes, Lizzie was out for the count... for an hour and a half! So I kept the routine up, going in when she'd cry, laying her back down, rolling her onto her tummy, putting a blankie on her and laying my hand firmly on her back and saying, "time for sleepy. Nigh-night, love you." The first day (sans Grandma), it took about an hour and a half for success (for a mere 30 minute nap). The next days, however, were less and less, until there became no battle at all. She does occassionaly wake up after 30 minutes of napping, but I just roll her on her tummy, give her the pacifier and say, "time for sleepy. Nigh-night, love you," and walk out... and she does fine, and sleeps for at least another hour and a half. So we've now gone from one 15-minute nap, to one, two-to-three hour nap. Amazing!

In terms of morning naps, we generally skip it -- I really think she'd take one, but I teach two classes at the Y on weekday mornings, so that prevents us from developing a nap routine -- so if she snags 15 minutes in the car on the ride home, great!  And if she doesn't, we don't worry about it.

For nighttime, she typically falls asleep easily and sleeps through the night lately as well. We did have a rough stretch last week where she wouldn't want to go down at night for us, so we had to go to the naptime routine we did to get her out of her 15-minute "funk" to get her to go to sleep at night, too. Again, it took an hour or so for her to finally lay down and sleep, but it's better in the long run than taking her on a car ride at 10:00 to get her to fall asleep after two hours of attempts at home. Girlfriend usually sleeps until eight in the morning :) Happy Mommy!

Diet:
We're still eating great. Girlfriend continues to surprise us with her being completely unphased by spicy/hot foods. She's now got to no problems eating buffalo chicken -- what?! It's still a little hot for MY taste buds even! Lizzie eats a little less than I think she has in the past, somedays hardly touching her breakfast or lunch -- but I've heard that's not uncommon for toddlers (seriously? Since when did I get a toddler?!).

She still eats her veggies really well (beans, peas, broccoli, sweet potato and carrots are our staples. Cauliflower is also pretty common as well), and she won't say "no" to any fruits. Favorites are from the berry family :) She loves to go out to our strawberries, blueberries and raspberries at our house and pick them right off the plant. She's finally begun to accept that the strawberry plants don't have anymore berries on them, though it was a sad realization. Peaches are a new favorite as well, since they're in season and we bought a crate of them (so keep eatin', girl!). She still loves avocado, and I made some organic, homemade hummus last week that she'll eat by the handful if I let her :) Can't complain there! But I've taught her how to dip things in it, and she's good at that.

It does seem that her ban on red sauce and pasta is lifting... she's been apprehensive about it for the last few months, but she's finally trying it and giving it a chance again -- and once she does, she remembers how yummy it is! She just takes awhile warming up to it :)

She's been slowly exposed to the realm of "added sugars". She doesn't get them on a normal day, but on the weekends, certain individuals have a tendency to sneak her bites of ice cream :)

Social:
No more tears at the Y for my baby this last month! Girlfriend has really warmed up to the workers there, and she smiles when she sees them now and doesn't hesitate going to them. She's getting down to play now, too, which she didn't do before -- just snuggled in to them instead and sat there for an hour. So glad she's feeling better about it!

She's afraid of strangers when they come close, but she'll very readily say "hi!" to them as we go by in the store... it's pretty adorable. She's in love with her Grandpa Wayne above almost anyone else, which is hilarious. It might have something to do with him supplying her with ice cream, taking her outside to play and taking her to the garden to pick raspberries.

Milestones:
Three new teeth! (Bottom left first, then top right, and then bottom right)

Girlfriend decided she wanted to officially try out this whole, walking thing on July 2nd! Since then, she's been unstoppable! :)

Lizzie can climb up on things now... yikes, look out!

She's now saying quite a few words. She says... ma, da, duck, quack-quack, puppy (doesn't sound like puppy, though -- her own, made-up word!), woof-woof, car, vroom-vroom, moo, ball, bye, hi... and some more, too. In sign language, Lizzie knows "more", "please", "thank you" and "milk"... proud Momma!

Lizzie is also getting the hang of using a fork these days. If the food is harder, she needs help "stabbing" it, but she can get softer things a little easier.