15 months... seriously?

Our little 15 month old-er ...

... is really good at walking backwards and sideways... she still falls a lot but I think it has more to do with her getting one of her back molars in and messing with her balance. 

... LOVES animals, especially dogs.

... thinks "ring around the rosey" is a great game!

... can play patty cake patty cake by herself or with a partner

... has learned how to turn around since we started playing hokey pokey

... is really good at crawling up the stairs but tends to crawl up the first half and then want to walk up the second... or get a few steps up, stand up, hold out her hand asking us to hold her hand so she can walk up the rest of the way.  too cute!

... knows she's not supposed to go out the kitchen door or the front door without someone holding her hand, we're still working on her stopping at the top of the stairs which means mommy has about 12 heart attacks a day

... has decided that running between the office and her room is great exercise and fun and loves to crawl around on the blow up mattress still in the office.

... is getting really good at following some, not all, directions.  She still thinks "no" is funny and continues to do things even after we tell her no and try to move her away.  But she can be good when you ask her to get you something (a puppet, her cup, a bowl, etc).

... we're trying to get her to throw things away but she still likes to pull things out of the trash so it's a battle.

... has started being disciplined with "lap-outs" predecessors to time outs.  We think she's a little young to be spanked or swat or thumped so I'm attempting this first.  We'll see.  It doesn't always work but I've only been doing it for a week or two... I'm hopefully that she'll learn.

... knows where her head, hair, ear, mouth, nose, belly, belly button (sorta) and toes are... and knows that bows go in her hair and that her (and our) shoes go on her (our) feet.

... knows how to stomp her feet and sometimes how to bow thanks to Barnyard Dance

... will make the animal sounds for sheep, lion, monkey, and snake.  We're working on moo

...loves to pour water out of bowls and cups... in the bath she'll sit there filling up her cups and dumping them out almost the whole time.  Outside she kept wanting me to fill up a bowl of water for her to dump it out.  I tried to get her to pour it into another bowl, rather than the ground - that didn't go so well but I tried.

... loves to dip her food in sauces - the latest being bbq sauce and she dipped chicken, beans, peas, carrots, and doritos in the bbq sauce.  yummy!

... knows that when she hears the song B-i-n-g-o she's supposed to clap

... now has 8.5 teeth - the back molar has definitely broken through but it's not all the way up yet.

...weighs 25.4 lbs and can wear either 12 month or 18 month clothes.

... is currently fascinated by her "good night" books - we have "Good Night Texas"  "Good Night California" and "Good Night America"  (wanted her to have a complete collection of the important ones.  :-)  )

... is getting better about keeping bows in her hair, though still loves to take them out.

... wants in the fridge every time we open the door - it's turning into quite the battle zone since it's not baby proofed.

... is obsessed with shoes.  Everywhere she sees shoes she has to pick them up - even at the park with other kids shoes.  Good news is that she can say shoe pretty well - I'm counting that as her 4th word behind Hi, Bye, and Uh Oh. 

... loves to stack, sort, and fit things together.  Forever rearranging bottles, blocks, and bowls.

... is a handful, a beautiful, exhausting, fun, infuriating, exciting little ball of energy who is growing up right before my eyes and I couldn't be more excited about it!