Emery Tracker: Fifteen Months

Terrible Mama Disclaimer:  I have a confession- I was still travelling on Emery's 15 month birthday (June 6th).  Then I returned late on the 7th, went to Kylie's 4th birthday on the 8th, had gender reveal on the 9th plus 2 crazy days of work plus packing and then left for Punta Cana on June 11th.  So suffice it to say that no pictures were taken for the big 15 month mark.  After that time just simply slipped away between work deadlines and regular life.  At this point I could take pictures and try to sell them to you as 15 month pictures but it wouldn't be authentic.  So sweet baby Emery, I am so sorry that I didn't take dedicated pictures for this milestone.  Daddy & I will try to get back on the wagon for your 18 month birthday.

The Story

Ohhh my goodness it is so much harder to do this for a 3 month chunk of time than a 1 month chunk of time!   I'm going to do my best though.  I apologize in advance if this feels disjointed.  Hopefully by 18 months I'll have a better plan for doing this.

 At the beginning of this span of time Emery was just starting whole milk and the sippy cup transition battle raged on.  She took to whole milk like a fish to the ocean.  This kid does not care much what she gets fed/liquidated with- just so long as it happens.  As for the receptacle used for hydration- she didn't follow quite the same methodology.  I basically covered that in her 12 month post though.  

Over the course of the past three months Emery's graduated to taking just about any type of sippy cup you offer her.  I'm not even sure she cares if it's her's or not.  Her teachers at school have told us that she and one of her friends at school think it's hilarious to switch sippies.  If only they enjoyed sharing doctor's appointments as much because it has definitely resulted in more trips to the doctor for colds, viruses, etc.  Such is life with a toddler though, huh?

Emery has perfected the art of walking over the past few months.  She pretty much runs now and her falling down has really decreased which gives me the slightest glimmer of hope that she didn't inherit my clumsiness after all.  

She also started to really love trying to figure out what all spaces she can fit into.  She now squeezes herself between our entertainment center and the wall as well as running back around behind the kitchen table between the chair and window.  Emery knows that adults can't fit in these spaces, so she will run into them when she knows you want to pick her up and start laughing hysterically.  I'm sure as my belly continues to grow I'll find this little game less amusing than I do.  Right now it just makes me laugh.

The diva still loves to channel her inner American gladiator.  She's rarely spotted without something in her hand.  It's usually something that seems really, really heavy to me.  Ryan and I find this baffling because she appears to have inherited my upper body but definitely not my strength.  Half the things she picks up I struggle with (slight joking font).  

The most notable thing about Emery in this 3 month span is that she eats.  A LOT.  She will eat anything.  In fact one day Ryan asked if we needed to get her taste buds checked because there was literally nothing we have fed her that she wouldn't eat.  We let her try fish- loved it.  Let her try tuna- loved it.  Let her try grits- loved them.  You get the idea.  We aren't the only ones who've noted this enthusiasm either.  You can read more about her teachers' recognition of the fact in the school section below.  Besides them though, every time we have taken her to a restaurant without fail the waitress comments on what a good eater she is.  She will pull things off your plate.  She will squeal with excitement.  I know that one day this will turn a corner because both her father and I basically survived on chicken fingers until the age of 18.  So for the time being we just laugh at it and enjoy how easy it makes taking her places because we don't have to pack any food for her.

Recently she and Lola have started to take some cautious interest in one another.  Ryan and I find this incredibly interesting because for so long they just completely ignored one another.  Now Emery will sometimes go sit by Lola and touch her nose or pet her.  Lola likes to give Emery kisses when Emery lets her get close enough without squealing.  I think this budding love affair was aided by the fact that Emery likes to start throwing food to Lola off her high chair when she's full.  

Another big story for this post is her comprehension.  She doesn't really say too much- she knows "more" (which sounds a loooot like "ma ma"), "Lola" (Wo-wa or Wowowowa) and "dada".  She also knows the signs for more and all done which are what she relies on the most.  She also seems to know the sign for "hat."  Why?  Your guess is as good as mine because she sure won't keep them on her head.  True to her nature- we know she knows these words but she will only say them when SHE feels like it.  There are a handful of other times that we swear she's said a word (car, ball, duck) but if you try to get her to repeat them she just kind of smirks at you which makes you wonder if you are crazy or not.  

I wouldn't be a normal mama if this didn't worry me, of course, but I feel comforted by the fact that she seems to understand SO MUCH.  If you ask her to go get baby and feed baby, she will go find Bucket, the bottle and sit in her chair feeding her.  If you ask her to go find Daddy, she goes to find him.  If you ask her to give something to Lola, she takes it over and drops it in front of her.  If you ask her if she has a dirty diaper she will walk over to her changing table.  The other day I was holding her as we were walking around getting ready to run errands.  I couldn't find her water for the life of me.  I asked her if I put her down if she could go find her water.  She nodded, went and found it where she left it and brought it right back to me.  She also regularly nods for yes or shakes her head for no to questions.  She also will regularly come grab your hand and lead you to whatever she wants.  Basically I think that as much as I worry, it's just a reminder from both her and God that she's her own person and does things on her time.  (Spoiler alert: as I write this at 16 months I can say with certainty that is the case because right after 15 months she started saying lots of words.)

In terms of her personality, she continues to be very shy and skeptical of strangers and new situations.  When we are out running errands she just stares at people which constantly makes me feel bad because strangers always want to make babies smile.  I find myself saying "oh don't take it personally- she's very skeptical" at least 2 times every time we go to Target.  She's also starting to prove that she likes helping.  When we are unloading the dishwasher or doing laundry, she's right on your heels trying to hand you spoons or taking clothes out of the laundry basket.  I sure hope she has the same enthusiasm for dirty diapers and bringing mama bottles/burp cloths come November!

Overall it has truly just been a fantastically fun stage of life.  Not a day goes by that Ryan and I don't marvel at what all this sweet angel is learning and picking up about the world around her.  As cliche as it sounds, neither of us can imagine life without her.  We love you to pieces, lovey buy!

The School Stuff

Emery remained in her Infant B class this whole time period.  She and a friend of her's who is 10 days older were the oldest kids in her class.  We anxiously awaited the day she got the letter that it was time to move up as she had hit all the milestones.  Luckily it came just after her 15 month birthday so that will be part of her 18 month post.

On the note of being a good little eater- I kid you not when I say at least 1-2 times a week one of her teachers will comment to Ryan or I how much she likes eating.  They had to start making sure Emery's back was turned when they opened the cabinet with Cheerios, etc in it or she went cray.  The cook for the school was waving bye to Emery one day and told me that she was her best client.  Another day she told Ryan that the day before she had sent out a second helping of everything for Emery and whatever it was they were eating that day she said it was unusual- not just for Emery's age but for most of the kids in the school.

Goodness- I'm trying to think of what all happened at school in the last 3 months.  One day when I was picking her up from school her teacher informed me that they had to slightly re-configure the crib arrangement because Emery kept moving one of the cribs (they're all on wheels).  Another day her teacher told me that she kept "hiding" behind the rocking chair and laughing.  My compilation of incident reports confirm that she does indeed spend a lot of time around the rocking chair.

Last but not least, we got a "Happy Gram," one day.  Happy Grams aren't sent home that often, at least in our experience, but they are generally used for big milestones.  On one of Emery's last weeks we got one that said she was so helpful to them (nice) but then went on to say that she liked to throw toys and knock over towers that her friends or teachers had built.  Soooo... is that a good thing?  Or... ?  Haha.  Regardless, we know that our little boogs loooooved her Infant B teachers and that they returned her sentiments.  

The Stats

• Heights:  31.5 inches (82nd percentile)
• Weight: 20 lbs 11 oz (43rd percentile)
• Head:  19 inches (97th percentile)
• Diaper size: 4 
• Clothes: 18 months
• Shoes:  Still in size 4's
• Milk:  She drinks as much as she wants from a sippy cup with each meal/snack.
• Solids:  As noted above- she has mastered solids.  The only things we don't feed her are honey, raw nuts and shrimp
• Firsts:  Not much to report on this front.  No new teeth in the last 3 months- she is still at 7.  She has said a few words as noted above but I'm not sure what day to attribute any of those to.
• Games:  She still loves to be chased.  She and Daddy have started playing this game where one of them will stick their tongue out and the other will try to touch it with their index finger before they put it back in their mouth.  It's insanely weird but makes her so happy.
• Favorite Toys:  She has grown to really love baby Bucket.  She also still loves our keys, phones and the remote.  She definitely loves balls.  There's been a resurgence in her love for the singing giraffe.  There are very few toys this tiny tornado doesn't play with!
• Songs:  (Same as last post)  Really whatever is on the radio when I pick her up from school.
• Sleep: (Same as last post)  Amazing sleeper this month- when we have her at least.  She normally went to sleep between 7:30 & 8:30 PM (dependent upon how fussy she is after school) and sleeps until we wake her around 6:30 AM.  She will sleep until some time between 7:30 & 8:30 AM on the weekends.  When we have her she will nap 1 or 2x a day about 1-2 hours a piece.  Towards the end of this time frame she started cutting out her second nap.  At school she still only took about 1 nap a day for 20 minutes.
• Other Notables:  This kid loves carrying things around- particularly baskets or buckets.  She likes to collect things in her bucket/basket and carry them around the house.  Maybe Easter egg hunting really resonated with her?