ada charlotte {15 months}

Little Miss Ada,

You're so grown up and cute! You're playful and fun, you make cute noises and cute faces, and you're just brimming with personality. You are a charmer, and you put on the best shows for people -- that's why other people often think you're just always happy! (Which you're not haha . . . you can definitely be super whiny and demanding!) You are so much fun, and it never ceases to amaze me just how much I love you. Sometimes I watch you (on the video monitor) while you sleep and I'm just overcome with love for you. You're my baby girl and for that, I'm so glad!

Stats

• 21 pounds even (48%)
• 30.25 inches (40%)
• Size 3 diapers (leaking at night though, so I'm going to buy size 4 for nights the next time I go to the store)
• Mostly 9-12 month clothes

Words
In addition to "hi," "mama," and "dada," which you were saying at 12 months, you now say:

• woah
• night night
• yay
• nana (banana)
• baby

Milestones

• You cut your first tooth on 10/20 (right before 13 months), and it was a top tooth! By the time you turned 14 months, you had cut four teeth -- two on top and two on bottom. No new ones in the last month.
• I tried to teach you to go DOWN stairs a bunch of times, but it never caught. Dad taught you just before 14 months and you totally got it. Funny thing though, I tried to teach you to turn around to go down by swirling my pointer finger in a circle while I said, "turn around!" . . . I just ended up teaching you how to swirl your finger when I said "turn around!" 😂
• You started standing on your own shortly after your birthday, took your first two steps on 11/1 (at just over 13 months), and you are just now becoming a mostly full-time walker.
• You now know how to say "all done" in sign language, and you use it correctly.
• You also know how to say "please," but not in sign language. I used to try to teach you to say please by showing a big smile and using a happy tone of voice, because it would often be at a time when you were being whiny or demanding. Now you're very good at big smiles for please! Haha it's the best!
• I think you were doing some of this at 12 months, but you're now extremely good at giving high fives, blowing kisses, clapping, and waving. You also do the "popcorn popping" motion, which is adorable. You also love doing -- idk what else to call it besides the indian call, where you pat your mouth over and over as you say "ahhhhh."
• You know what noses are, and you point to different people's noses when we tell you to :)

Obsessions

• For a while after your birthday, you were obsessed with the keyboard.
• You love to lick water off your hands, no matter where the water came from. The bathtub, the dishwasher, the toilet 🙈
• You recently discovered a small teddy bear in your basket that you have really attached to. You lovingly call it "baby." It's adorable, though you give him more hugs and snuggles than you do anyone else, so I'm a bit jealous! ;)
• Toothbrushes! You really love them. And the first time I held you while I brushed my teeth, you were so intrigued and kept trying to lean around to get a better view into my mouth 😂

Random tidbits

• You can turn lights on and off, but it takes some coaxing.
• You were getting into all the cupboards and drawers, so we decided to babyproof. You can still get things out of the measuring cup/spoon drawers though 🙈
• You got over your hatred of diaper changes around 13 months (🙌 ). We started doing the "pants dance" around that time. Basically I just nod my head and sing "pants. pants pants pants. pants pants pants!" over and over to the tune of . . . something . . . while I put your pants on. You started nodding along with me (sometimes before I even start) and it's so cute and funny! Though you've kind of stopped nodding along now 😢
• We taught you to blow on hot food and you picked it up so well that for a while, you blew on all food -- even room-temperature cookies haha
• You recently started throwing away your own diapers as your chore 😍 You do it willingly and you're so proud of yourself for it! :)

• You also like to help with the laundry, though it's tricky getting you to keep doing the right chore (taking clothes out vs. putting clothes in). You sometimes get bored with one so you start doing the opposite!
• In the mornings when I get you up, I've been leaving the lights off, so it's still pitch black. But as soon as you hear me come into the room, you start saying, "hi hi hi hi hi!" and it's the best :) Then once I pick you up and start walking in to some light, you start waving to accompany your "hi"s :)
• I found a way to get you to cuddle! I started laying down on the couch with you during your morning milk feeding. For a while I could convince you to cuddle for a minute afterward, too, but now you're just off and ready to go once you're done drinking!
• You make an insane duck face hahaha. You definitely got mama's lips!

• You're a little dancing queen! You nod your head, you twist, and my personal favorite is your booty shake when you're standing up against some furniture 😍

• When we were first feeding you solid food, you liked everything we fed you. It was like you were so curious and interested that it didn't matter. But now you're much more particular, and I don't even think it's a taste thing . . . more like a mood thing. If you're not in the right mood for that food, you just throw it. Idk how to teach you not to! And foods that you used to eat ALL THE TIME, you now refuse to eat most of the time. I miss the non-picky days! haha
• Well, you've had a stomach bug twice in the last three months, and both times, you threw up all over dad when I was nowhere in sight. You've got a good daddy who got you all cleaned up and taken care of the first time (I wasn't even home). The second time (Thanksgiving night), I thought I was being super nice letting dad take you to bed since it was the middle of your night and you're super cuddly when we do that. Unfortunately, you hurled all over him and your bedroom. We had to pick up tons of chunks, change your jammies, and give you some water before we could put you to bed. Dad just threw away his shirt and jumped in the shower because he was so nasty haha. We even had to clean your carpet the next day because the smell would notttttt leave. Both times you were sick though, it was very short-lived. But if you could keep up the track record of only throwing up on dad, I wouldn't mind ;)
• For the last month or so, you've been giving hugs with some coaxing and coaching (us grabbing your hands and wrapping them around our necks). In just the last few days, you're getting better about giving them just when we ask or even when we don't! It's sooooo sweet! You've given me the tightest hugs and I just love them. You'll also give lots of kisses :)

Love always, 

Mama