Kayla is changing so rapidly... every month there are so many new things she is learning! Keeping up with these monthly updates has been challenging, but when I look back on them I'm glad that I have kept the records! I don't know how long I'll continue to keep it up, though! But for now, there are lots of little things to report from this last month, as always!
I had read that you don't use blankets on babies because they could suffocate if it gets caught on their face. Well, Kayla always flailed in her sleep, so even when we stopped swaddling her I was not comfortable with putting a blanket on her. I felt that even if I put it on her it wouldn’t last long anyway, so why risk it! Then once she was rolling over and clearly able to get a blanket off her if necessary, it was already half way through the winter, and I figured since she was fine temperature-wise before, she'd be fine! Then summer came... no need for a blanket. But I recently told my BB person that Kayla always throws everything out of her crib when she wakes up, and she questioned, like her pillow and blanket? Well, I was sheepishly admitted that I was afraid to give her one, and was assured that it was fine to give her one! So, I started putting one on top of her now that it's getting cold! For the first week at least I was nervous as anything that she wasn't breathing, so I'd constantly check on her during naps and at night. But now I'm not worried anymore! She is SO cute with it on her... she looks like a little burrito! :) I'm surprised that it is often still on her after several hours when we check on her as we go to bed. I wonder if having it on her makes her move less? Who knows, but I'm glad that she seems to be staying warm enough.
On the topic of sleep, of course she has had major changes this last month! She has started needing to go to bed earlier, typically between 8-8:30. Once I set her down in her crib she almost never stirs and usually doesn't even make a peep (previously she would need to cry briefly to settle herself). She sleeps in until about 7:30-8, although I don't go in and get her until 8. It's nice that she is going to bed earlier.... it has resulted in us going to bed earlier as well! At about 14 months 1 day, she decided she wasn't interested in taking her morning nap anymore! I had previously said that her naps were getting later and later and she was struggling going down for them. Now we eat lunch around 12, and then she goes down for a nap shortly thereafter. She has been going down SO easily (which is amazing, since going down for naps has been one of the toughest things I've had to deal with her) and is sleeping between 1-2 hours. Even when she wakes up early from her nap, she *gets* to enjoy some quiet time in her room.... I leave her up there for about 2 hours, allowing myself to have a break from her. This has obviously changed our routine tremendously. Typically I would run our errands in the afternoon, right after lunch. Now I need to run them in the morning, otherwise it's not until late afternoon! But I really like this arrangement. Of course, she'll probably change it up on me shortly! But I'm enjoying it while it lasts!
One thing she has been doing for at least the past month (but I'd forgotten to mention previously) is climbing up the stairs and going down the slide at the mall play area. It's just up 4 steps, but she really enjoys doing it over and over again! We've been there a few times when it's quite busy and there are older kids that are climbing up the slide or sitting in the flat part between the stairs and the slide. I'm always a bit nervous that she's going to either fall back down the stairs or be pushed down the stairs... but I'm learning that she can hold her own. If the kids sitting on the flat part don't move, she simply crawls over them and slides down! And really, most of the kids look out for the "baby", which is cute. She seems to really enjoy play areas, but she's always trying to run out of them! It's not like I'm able to sit and relax while we are playing there.... I have to guard the exit the whole time!
Another thing that has changed is when I leave here at either the YMCA child care or the church nursery. She used to cling to me and cry when I left her, but she'd be fine after I left (so I'm told). About a month and a half ago she stopped crying but still would cling when I dropped her off. Now, she is typically excited to go "play with her friends", as I put it to her! She knows the workers and sometimes doesn't even look back at me! It's really great that she feels so comfortable in those situations.
She is all about clapping these days. She claps when she hears other's clapping (like on tv or something) or when we tell her "good job" she claps for herself!
She is able to point out her hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, belly button and toes on her own. And she can typically point these body parts out on me and sometimes on a person in a book as well.
This past month her verbal skills have really started coming together. She now calls me "mama" and David "dada" and can recognize both of us in pictures and points to us and calls us by name. She can also point out any baby in a book or any baby that we see around town. Marcie and I went to a craft fair this month and when Kayla saw Addie she kept pointing and saying baby! She has also said a variety of other words (snow, cat, dog, ball, cheese, fish, juice, hot, pumpkin) and will usually repeat words when we ask her to (up, down, please.. to name a few). Lately we have started insisting that she says the word "up" before we pick her up and says "down" before we set her down or before we help her get out of her high chair. Sometimes the words she says sound nothing at all like what we are trying to get her to say, but that's ok! We're working on it! I saw this commercial and thought it was HILARIOUS because I feel like that is my life! It's not a great version of it, but you'll get the concept- it's super cute!
She can tell us the noise that a dog, monkey and recently a cat can make! She can also say something that sounds like "tickle, tickle, tickle" (which we say all the time to her when we are tickling her) as she is tickling us! We had our friends Nate and Jill over and Kayla was tickling their little girl, Emma - it was pretty cute!
She has slowed down in how much food she consumes. She eats far less for lunch and for dinner than she did a few weeks ago. I'm still getting used to it, as I'm expecting her to eat more than she is. I know that she's not going to grow as much as she did in her first year, but I guess I wasn't expecting as drastic of a change as what has happened. When she gets bored with eating, she starts throwing food on the floor. Or, if she has a sippy cup, she starts piling the food on top of it! She is also down to 2 nursings a day (typically), one first thing in the morning and one right before bed. Some days we have one in the late afternoon.... but only if she is extra needy and she asks for it.
Her favorite toys right now:
1. Pop beads, which she likes to put on her fingertips
2. Her play kitchen that sings songs and makes noises
3. Little People Farm - she loves to re-arrange the animals and put them in different spots (either in the farm, or around the house)
4. Her music teddy bear
5. Her piano
6. Mickey Mouse (when in her crib)
7. BOOKS! Any and all books - she absolutely loves them! She is really learning a lot too. She can point out all sorts of objects from book to book (for example, I showed her the moon in one book, and then in another book asked her where the moon was, and she pointed right to it!).
At her 15 month Dr apt she weighed in at 22 lbs and 8 oz (47%), was 32.5 in (95%) long and her head circumference was a whopping 19 in (95%).
