Such a big girl

Yeah, ok, I couldn't think of anything better to title this post.  It's been a while since I wrote a real update on here.  Lots to be excited about as our girl continues to grow up, develop her personality, and charm us continually!  I don't want to forget how fun this period is and all the things she's being doing.  She turns 16 months tomorrow!

15- month visit stats: Weight 26 lb. 11 oz, Height 32"  (I think I'm remembering correctly!)

Food: The little girl who ate everything has disappeared, sadly.  One day, tofu is yay yummy and the next day, it's spit-out gross.  Funnily enough though, she will still happily chow down a Gerber Graduates meal.  Maybe she's developing a better palate though - last night and today she LOVED the sweet and spicy Italian sausage pasta Daddy cooked and even wanted it instead of her baby yogurt.

Motor skills: Finally walking as of her 14-month-day.  Mostly very steady, but sometimes just falls on the ground for unclear reasons.  She still loves to push everything around:  her little chair, the bike trailer, mommy's desk chair (with mommy in it!).  So far no major accidents.  So far.  Loves climbing the stairs (on hands and knees) and will do so by herself if you aren't watching (and she's QUICK!).

Play: She finally understands the shape sorter!  her skills, though, are...still developing in terms of matching the shape with the right opening.  She also now will build with her little silicone blocks.  Also fun is putting things in and taking them out.  Drawers are fun though she does not understand how to close them without getting her fingers caught.  She just today wreaked havoc on several kitchen drawers - I still haven't figured out where else I can put our chopsticks!  She loves looking into the microwave since it's like a mirror.  She has graduated from her toddler tub to the full grown-up tub and LOVES her bath.  We dread the moment of having to remove her from it as she not only screams bloody murder but also flails wildly about making it difficult to diaper her.  She enjoys driving her basketball to the basket to dunk (her new basketball net!) and will also dunk her sippy cup and various stuffed animals.  She also loves burrowing into various soft objects: her whale, her froggy, her purple blanket.  She actually literally dives at them from standing which is really endearing to watch.  She will then proceed to roll around on the soft object in great delight, which is hilarious.

Sleep: Still sleeping like an angel at night though she sometimes takes 30 minutes or more to fall asleep.  She doesn't cry, though.  She just hangs out, and sometimes plays with her crib buddies.  Yes, she has found her transitional object: Scout the talking dog.  Morning and night she squeezes his paw so she can hear him sing the morning song, the evening song, and the L-Y-R-A song "about you"!  Unfortunately she also sometimes rolls over him while sleeping leading to "5 minutes of bedtime music"!  We may really regret this attachment given his size, difficulty being washed, and possible interruption of her sleep...She also sleeps with her purple blankie that she loves.  Naps are still 1-2 per day though she is transitioning to one a day.

Language:  Still not too many (intelligible) words though lots of babbling as always.  However, it's just so fun to see her increasing comprehension - every day it seems we are telling each other about the newest thing she's shown us she understands.  She may not say "mama" but she does know how to differentiate between mommy and daddy's belly buttons!  She won't point at her own nose yet but will point to her own belly button if you ask her.  She can bring us: her ball, the froggy, her "laptop", her other ball....She does say "dada" - sometimes indiscriminately, but clearly sometimes in relation to daddy, as when she looked straight at a framed photo as we went by it and said "dada"; it was a picture of daddy with Grandma P.  Amusingly, she knows that when we say we want to Skype someone, she needs to head over to the office where the computers are!

She (and mommy) also survived her first week away from mommy when daddy took her down to Florida to see the grandparents P.  We Skyped every night, but busy Lyra had way too much to do to pay attention to mommy - like play in the pool, run around with Grandpa while shrieking.  It was so amazingly wonderful to have her back at the end of the week!