15 Months

How on earth did I end up with a 15-month-old?! A friend of mine told me that, with young children, the days are long but the years are short... so true! There are some days that it seems like bedtime will never, ever come. And yet, I feel like the last month especially has flown by.

Phoebe was 15 months old on Saturday, but with all the illness going on I've just been able to update. (By the way, everyone is better now! Michael is still getting over some sore throat yuck, but he's back in the saddle, too.) Phoebe changes so much on a day to day basis, it's hard to even quantify what it is she's up to... but I'll try!

Phoebe is...

• saying: Jake, dog, treat, drink, done, banana, mama, dada -- she does not use these words consistently, but she has at least used these words clearly on a couple of occasions. I also think she's trying to say Lamby, but I can't get a consistent "word" from her, yet.
• praying, by either bowing her head or folding her hands...and usually raising her hands or clapping to say "amen"
• reading often, and better. Her favorite books right now are animal books; Clifford's Animal Sounds, Lucy Cousins Noah's Ark, Baby Animals, and A Tale of Tails. We will usually read that particular rotation two or three times a day! She has become much more patient with reading in a lap, and is "reading" on her own as a favorite pasttime.
  
• pointing at pictures of things and identifying them with words. Her favorite thing to identify? Dogs, of course. (I am amazed that she can identify even a Daddy-made drawing of a dog!) She also especially likes to look at pictures of Daddy when he is at work and give him kisses.
  
• pointing/grabbing more of her body parts. She loves to show us her nose, our nose, etc...but she can also show us her head, mouth, and feet. Phoebe is a huge fan of her feet and shoes, and loves to try and put on her own shoes (or Mommy's shoes).
  
• playing with blocks (duplo-type), purses, and balls. She takes great delight in tossing balls around, and trying to catch them. Her favorite "unauthorized" toy (other than the phone) is Daddy's wallet -- which she empties a couple of times a week.
  
• talking on the phone, sort of. Anytime she hears a phone ring, she pretends to talk on the phone into her hand. She usually will try to get the real phone, too!
• loving the water -- hoses, sprinklers, pools, you name it!
• walking bigger and better. Just tonight, Phoebe took a walk down the street, holding Daddy's hand, like a big girl.
  
• the owner of nine teeth. She got in two of her molars last month, and it was a relatively painless process. We are still waiting on that bottom front tooth!

Phoebe is, of course, a great delight to Michael and me. It's just about impossible to put into words all of the little things that she does, even in just one day. We love watching her grow up!

We go for her 15-month checkup tomorrow, so I'll update with the important stats then! Also, with all the sickness going on we haven't taken many pictures. I hope to remedy that soon!