Josie Grace - 15 months

Yesterday was Josie's 15 month birthday. The last three months have gone so fast and she has changed and grown up more than I can even keep up with. 

We had her doctor's appointment on Tuesday where she did the usual measurements and had her flu shot along with her 18 month shot. I was surprised that they wanted to give her that shot now, but they said it was ok to do it early and then we don't have to go back in until her 2 year appointment. Since I'll have a newborn around her 18 month birthday, I figured this would work great for our family.

At the appointment, Josie measured:
Weight - 21 lbs 10 1/2 oz ( less than 50%)
Height - 30 3/4 inches (50%)
Head Circumference - 18 1/2 inches (75%)

Last month, she was at 50% for weight and 75% for height. When I pointed out that she didn't grow very much in three months, the nurse said that is common for toddlers. I'm guessing that her insane amount of energy means she's burning a lot more calories so I'm not that surprised that she hasn't gained any weight. I was surprised that her height had leveled off though! She only grew 3/4 of an inch, and here I was thinking she must have grown at least 2 inches. She just seems so much bigger to me now.

The doc did say that she could be drinking more milk, but no matter how much I offer her she just drinks what she wants and hasn't really had anymore than before.  He also said that she's hitting all the milestones that she needs to be and was surprised to hear how many words she can say.

Currently, she's saying: hi, bye bye, night night (ni ni), mama, daddy, boppa (grandpa), owl, puppy (all.the.time.), more, up, down, Buckley  (sounds like Buh ee), baby (all.the.time.also), moon, chair, house, horsey (sounds like housey), boots, shoes, and a bunch more that I'm not remembering. She has just started stringing more than one word together at at time (like bye-bye baby, bye-bye mama). I don't count night night as two since she has always said them together.

She also has gotten pretty good at pointing out parts of her body. She can show you her ears, nose, belly, feet, toes, hands, and hair. I hadn't really been showing her these too often, so she surprised me with how many she knows!

Foods she likes: Just about everything. Thank you God that she has passed that picky eater stage. I was not loving that at all, but now she'll pretty much eat whatever we put in front of her. She also drinks whole milk and water (no juice unless it's a special occasion and obviously no carbonated drinks)

She loves to"help" me with chores like folding clothes, emptying the dishwasher, picking up dog poop outside (don't worry, she just watches closely... no hand to poop touching here!), cooking in the kitchen, putting away books. Of course, all of this help usually means I do the job twice, but hey - eventually she'll get what she's supposed to do and I'll love the help!

For clothes, she's wearing 12-18 month in everything and her shoe size is between a 4 and a 5. We have enough shoes for winter, but it was no easy thing to find! I'll be happy when she's a solid 5 or 6 so we can find shoes that fit without spending a ton of money or having to shop in obscure places. It's so ... funny? annoying? how some 18 month clothes are huge on her while others barely cover her belly or go to her shoes. You'd think the clothing designers could be consistent for toddler clothes but I guess not.

She still loves to dance, has learned to run (great for this pregnant mama), thinks its the best when I dance with her, loves her books more than ever, and now even will read to me or anybody else around her. That's way more fun for me than hearing my boring voice! All the babble talk is so cute and I love that every once in a while you'll hear a real word thrown in. She has no doubt that I understand everything she is saying.

We still haven't cut her hair since her last (and first) haircut way back last spring. It's grown a lot but it still falls in her face all of the time so we wear it up or pulled back almost everyday. I usually get one shot to get it done and if I don't like it and want to redo it she lets me know how she feels about that by squirming and screaming. Thankfully, I'm pretty good at getting it right the first time around! I almost always do her hair while she's eating breakfast. The tv is usually on and she has the food in front of her so there are enough distractions to keep her from twisting and turning away from me. Her hair is almost to her shoulders in the back and the front is right past her chin. Eventually I'll have to even that out but for now I don't think it looks too bad. I just don't want it short all over again which is what would happen if we cut the back.. I just love her pretty golden hair with the slight curl at the bottom!

Josephine doesn't really get that there is a baby coming, but she does love everything baby. When she sees a real baby she has to touch and is very gentle, mostly because she has been spending so much time with her cousin who is 3 months old. She does get jealous if I'm holding him but that is mostly just when she is tired or hungry. If she's not either of those then she is content to play nearby or play with someone else. We'll definitely have to figure that out in the next couple of months with her sister!

When music is on, she doesn't break out in dance automatically anymore, but I can tell she's listening closely (for the first 10 seconds). She does, however, love when I sing to her while getting her diaper changed or going to sleep. It surprised me a lot because she never has shown interest in this, but I love having her attention and having those precious moments with her.

My crazy busy girl does give me hugs and lets me kiss her all the time which I am so thankful for! When she started moving around, she wanted independence so it's awesome when she is so affectionate to us. She loves her daddy more than anything and their bedtime routine is a huge part of her day. Whenever he comes home, she gets a huge grin on her face and waits for him by the gate.

We tried her toddler bed and decided it's too early. We also tried potty training and also figured out that it's not something I want to do right now. I realized that I don't want to have to drop everything to get her on the potty when I have a newborn attached to me, so we'll try again once the baby is old enough to hang out alone for a couple of minutes. Jo does tell me when she is ready to go "poo poo" so she's almost understanding! Unfortunately she kind of gets stage fright. I'm content with just doing a little here and there until she's older.

Let's see... she's still taking two naps a day (usually 1 1/2 to 2  hours each), going to bed around 8 or 8:30, and eating three meals and one snack in the afternoon.

She's just such a happy toddler and shows us new things everyday. We can't wait to see her be a big sister in no time at all.




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