Rory Jane- 16 Months

This age can be hard, physically because you are all over the place and into everything but not quite old enough for punishment beyond redirection which can seem constant sometimes. But goodness, I love this age because your personality is just flourishing and I feel like when connections are made they are on your own accord and not because we initiated it, and it just makes loving you that much sweeter. Please, Please, Please can we freeze frame time.

Some Highlights:

-You will blow kisses saying "mmmmuh" and sometimes adding your had to your mouth. When we ask for hugs you will give us hugs but you have started coming up to us (especially Caroline) and just leaning in for a hug every now and then

- Just recently you have been coming up to me holding your "baaah"s (books) wanting to sit in my lap and read them. Sometimes you will even bring a blanket with you to snuggle up in. Your favorite books right now are Spot Books, Hand Hand Fingers Thumb, There's a Wocket in my Pocket, Hop on Pop and A Million Chameleons. I am so glad you are finally interested in sitting for a story. You had no interest in books before and now all of a sudden you love the little board books you can carry around.

- You love to play peek a boo and we will say "where's Rory" and you come out from behind your hands and we say "there she is" and you just smile.

- You have started to count to three. We will say one and you will say two and "teeee" for three, it a drawn out/excited way.

- You say "Thank you" pretty clearly now but if you are being lazy, you still say it but your sort of just grunt "uh uh". "All Done" is also very clear. You can also say, more, please, hi dog, bye dog, good girl, we even got an "I love you" on Valentine's Day. Milk still sounds like "more"

- You like to help me do the laundry and push wet clothes into the dryer. You will also hand me clean clothes to fold one by one and also hand the folded clothes to me when I put them away.

- Even when you are full you will always walk up to us saying "more" to have bites of the food we might be eating.

- Your favorite songs right now are "If You're Happy and You Know It", "Wheels on the Bus" "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and you really like the song "La La Lue" at bedtime. If I start singing it you will bury your hands between us and put your head on my shoulder. It's the sweetest.

-It is your mission to throw away your wet diapers. You get really mad when it's a dirty one that I take outside, because you really like to throw the others away yourself.

-You love to go outside, for any reason, but we can't just let you out the front door or garage because you bolt for the street. You have started to explore the new back yard this month and found a pile of rocks in the corner of the yard that you have the best time just picking up and examining.

-You will choose the blocks to play with upstairs more than most toys but this month you discovered a love for baby dolls. Caroline gifted you her prized "Baby Anna" Doll and you are in LOVE. It has even translated into you being interested in real babies. You will go up to any baby car seat or stroller and say "baby, baby" over and over, and you get very excited when there is actually a baby inside.

-When we take Caroline to gymnastics, there is a TV in the lobby that you have to watch to see the slide of the owner's dog's picture on it. You clap your hands and say "woof woof" and want to run up to the screen when you see it. The staff thinks it is so funny, and you actually got to meet that dog this month when the owner saw you get so excited.

- You are starting to listen to us a little bit better when we are trying to steer you away from getting into something you aren't supposed to. You at least pause to consider our opinion haha.

- You are learning to master the stairs like a champ and can come down them pretty quickly. We still have a gate at the top of the stairs but let you attempt them when we are around and it won't be long before you will be trustworthy to master them on your own.

 

Rory- 15 Months

Stats: Weight: 23 lbs 7 oz (60%tile), Height: 31.5 in (75%tile)

Some Highlights:

- We moved to our new house this month. So far your favorite place in the whole house is sitting under the table we have upstairs in the gameroom. But you love being upstairs with all of the toys. Downstairs you love to climb onto the fireplace step and say cheese for us to take your picture.

- You can follow the command to sit down, when you agree that you should, haha. You also will go and get you babydoll or different toys if we ask.

- You know where your belly button is and will proudly lift up your shirt to show it off

- You love bananas, broccoli, chicken nuggets, applesauce pouches (you always want 2, one is not enough) and you always ask for "mah" (more), cheese, yogurt. You will eat just about anything we give you and you always want a bite of whatever anyone else is eating, even if you just ate and are full.

- you love to dance for us when we ask, and its more of a rocking back and forth or bouncing up and down.

- You flap your hands up and down when you are really excited and you will almost run in place too.

- You love to throw things in the trash (like your diapers) and you can follow the instruction to close a door (to the pantry or a kitchen cabinet door)

- You have been enjoying our stroller walks around the neighborhood, and are happy to watch your sister on her scooter when we are out.

- The swings are still your favorite at the park but you like to do the tall slides riding in mommy's lap. Most of all, however, you like to just run, preferably in the opposite direction to where we are. You keep us on our toes for sure.

-You discovered the mega blocks when we were unpacking and you like to take the pieces apart and take them in and out of their basket.

-You get really excited when you see a picture of a dog, see one in person, or here one barking. You will say "Oh" and then try to say "woof woof"

- You will repeat the same number of syllables for words we ask you to say. Sometimes the words sound clear and sometimes its just more tones but the correct number of syllables for the word. Thank you, more, milk, love you, Sis, dog, ball, mama, dada, woof woof, uh oh, na na (banana), Peek Boo, please, diaper

- You will nod when you want something, and very recently have started to make the connection that shaking your head means no.

- You climb on EVERYTHING

- You also have been blinking your eyes really slowly, because you like that it makes us laugh.

Rory- 14 Months

Clothes: 2T clothing

Diapers: You are wearing Luvs Size 5 diapers (which I think run a little bigger than other brands) and size 5 Huggies Overnights

Food: You are completely off of bottles! But you drink milk out of a sippy cup and water out of a 360 cup, you know how to work a straw but still are not very good at it and you get frustrated if its not instant or if the straw is too long. You typically eat a banana and waffle in the morning and then want a snack after we drop you sister off at school. You take your nap and then eat lunch around 2. Which is usually more fruit and maybe some turkey, cheese stick or other sandwich type food. Then, at dinner you either eat what we are eating or have chicken nuggets and a veggie, usually broccoli.

Sleep: You sleep from about 7:00pm to 7:00am and then you take anywhere between a 2 and 3.5 hour nap starting around 10:30am.

Likes: You really love your sleep and have become very attached to your blanket and your puppy for nap and bedtime. When you are upset and we give those to you, you tend to calm down pretty quickly. It is beyond sweet. You still love your pacis too and we make sure to have them on hand everywhere we go. You still really love playing peek-a-boo and have become proficient in creating situations where you can say "uh oh"

Dislikes: When you don't get to eat what other people are eating. You don't like sweets, and will take a bite of a cookie or something else and then spit it out.

Highlights:
This month you got to meet Santa for the second time. You had just woken up and have been going through a bit of a Mommy phase lately so you were not happy that I handed you to anyone much less a stranger. (see picture).

We also learned that we sold our house and we will be moving in January, we are beyond excited for the neighborhood and house you will grow up in.

You attended your first wedding this month for Brent and Sheridan Miller and you were the life of your own little party. You walked around the reception like you owned the place. You had everyone laughing and you loved dancing with your Daddy and with another little girl that was there.

You continue to be a little stinker, and you are trouble! You are into everything you shouldn't and watch out when you don't get your way. You are so funny about it all and are so cute, we can't help but overlook it all and just think you are the best little girl.

Some Favorite Pics from this Month: