Dear Nicholas,
You turned 15 months a few weeks ago. As usual, it's been an eventful month. But first: your stats. We went back to the doctor for your 15 month check-up, and you are officially tipping the scales at 25 lbs., 2 oz. (50th percentile.) You are 31.5" tall (70th percentile) and your head is 49.5 cm (still rocking the 98th percentile.)
We unfortunately had another trip to the doctor earlier in the month for your 5th or 6th double ear infection (I can't even keep track) since starting daycare last fall. It's been a long winter full of illness, and we've considered tubes, but we're hoping this will be the last of it through the summer and perhaps we can delay tubes a bit longer. Regardless, you've been a trooper. Despite the frequency of your ear infections, I'm still never sure if you have one or not. You don't get too fussy, and only occasionally tug at your ear (which I think is also a sign that you're tired.) If the ear infections are painful, you certainly don't show it. Here's to hoping for fewer illnesses next fall.
On to the fun stuff! Your 15th month began with a visit from Daddy's family, including Dzia Dzia, Grandmama, and Aunt Kristin and Uncle Dan, and ended with a visit from Aunt Laura and Uncle Mike. They all loved playing with you and watching as you began to master walking. You also celebrated your second Easter, but enjoyed your first neighborhood egg hunt and visit to the petting zoo. You weren't quite stable enough to walk around on your own, but you did great when we held your hand. And you couldn't get enough of the colorful, plastic Easter eggs!
While you took your official first steps last month, you really mastered walking this month. You now cruise around the house constantly. You still wobble and lose your balance periodically, but it's pretty cute. It never seems to faze you. You just get right back up and continue on your merry way. Daddy calls you a drunken sailor. You also love walking around in the backyard. The uneven ground is a little tougher to navigate, and you topple over regularly, but each day I can tell you're getting stronger and more stable.
Your vocabulary has also started to really take off. One day we were reading one of your books and you kept saying "fava." I knew you were trying to say a specific word, but it took me a minute to figure out. I finally noticed there was a flower on the page, and from then on you have pointed out a "fava" or "fowa" (depending on the day) every time you see one. I am amazed at how you are able to recognize flowers in different contexts. You will point out a black and white flower in your story book, a painting of a flower over our mantle or on our kitchen wall, and real flowers (and shrubs) growing outside. We also told you to be gentle when touching our house plant (and we've been saying "gentle" for months whenever you swipe at our faces), and you started saying "den-dul." Now you regularly say "fava, den-dul." We're glad you are learning what gentle means, although we'd love it if you started applying it when you're being rough with us, too!
You are also very fascinated with dogs. Two dogs live next door to us and although you have yet to meet them in person, you always notice and pause what you're doing when they bark. The first time you heard them barking, you were eating dinner and you became very concerned. I explained that the doggies live next door and that doggies say "ruff ruff!" Now, every time we put you in your high chair, you point next door and inform me: "Dah. Fuff fuff." I will agree, and we will banter back and forth at length about the dogs who say fuff fuff.
I'm beginning to lose track of all the words you can say, but other favorites include buh-bye, hiiiie, tsahts (socks), shuhs (shoes), ow-siiih (outside - your favorite place), nana (banana), and no-no. In addition to all your new words, you are really starting to take an interest in books. You've always loved to flip through the pages, but now you will sit and actually listen to the story (although your attention span ranges from about 15 seconds to three minutes.) Your two favorite books are Goodnight Moon and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. You have loved Goodnight Moon from infancy (likely resulting in your early enthusiasm for socks), but I think it's so funny that you love Alexander, too. Don't get me wrong-- it's a great book! But it's long and it has black and white pictures, and I'm pretty sure you have no idea what's going on when I read it. But even though I will occasionally bury it behind your other books sometimes (just to get a little break), you will diligently dig it out, bring it over to me, plop down in my lap, and sit still to listen to about 90 seconds of the story.
This month you also got your first two molars on the bottom-- one on each side. You had a very runny nose and drooled quite a bit, but handled it well overall. However, we think the pain of your molars coming in probably helped to ratchet up your pickiness a little bit. You continue to be a real carb lover, but you aren't a fan of much else. You will happily chow down on mandarin oranges or applesauce, but you've decided that bananas (formerly your favorite fruit) are out. And you still love roasted asparagus and broccoli, but that's about it for veggies. You frequently eat meals that consist of nothing more than Greek yogurt and multi grain Cheerios, but we're working on it. Any time you try a new food, I consider it a victory.
And, last but not least, bed time. You are still a good sleeper and still sleep from about 7pm - 7am everyday. You've started waking up crying a few times a week around 10 or 11pm, but it's nothing that a few minutes of rocking and snuggling can't cure. We can thank those pesky molars for that. The cutest bedtime development is that you have become attached to your dad's early 1980s Burt and Ernie dolls. Burt's sweater has a hole in it, and Ernie regularly loses his eye, but you love them! Every night you ask for "Buht" (you call them both Burt), and watching you snuggle them in your bed is adorable.
You are just so much fun everyday and we are loving this stage!
All my love,
Mommy
