And my other girl, Amelie, is fifteen months! She's become a walking fiend after starting walking only a couple of weeks ago. After spending so long practicing, she stopped crawling almost immediately after starting walking. She walks with her right foot turned out, which I keep meaning to mention to her doctor, but otherwise, she's doing great.
She moved from the 10% at one year to the 13th and 14th percentiles for height and weight, 29.2 inches and 18 pounds 8 ounces, at fifteen months. And her 6-12 month onesies are finally getting snug, especially over her little round belly. I finally bought her some real shoes, and the very smallest toddler shoes are still way too big.
She's become quite opinionated, and has strong feelings about where she wants to go and what she wants to do. Mainly, she wants to go into my room and empty out my toiletries drawer onto the floor. And she absolutely wants to go into the hall of our building and down in the elevator whenever anyone is leaving. She cries when friends leave as well as when I do because she hates being left behind. So whenever we all go somewhere together, I always let her walk next to the stroller until we get outside and she swings her chubby little arms with such a sweet and self important happy air.
... Two weeks later and I still haven't posted this. Life is very, very full. I'm off work for the summer, hallelujah, and living in a house in Woostock, NY with our closest friends from the nanny share. It's crazy and chaotic with four children under five (two four year olds, two toddlers) but everyone is (mostly) having a blast, apart from the occasional melt down. Calliope and her bestie are going to the wonderful day camp up here that Calliope went to last summer. Calliope is slowly getting accustomed to it again, but is loving the pool there without reservation. Eleanor loves every minute of camp and was disappointed to hear that today is Saturday and there is no camp.
It's a rainy day here so I've decided to take the plunge and do a very early attempt at potty training. I think I'm probably being ridiculous to even try it but she's been having a lot of successes on the potty when I put her on it at certain predictable times, like right after sleeping and after waking up. I know this does not mean she's potty trained but I really do hate diapers so... I'm giving it a try. So far we've had one success today, after breakfast. No accidents that I saw, but we went outside and she was sitting in a puddle for a while (with a dress and no pants) so I couldn't know for sure. Then she came in for a nice bath in the kitchen sink with her buddy Leo. She could've peed in there, too. I did put her on the potty beforehand and she didn't go so... maybe she's been holding it all morning? No luck before nap, either.
... And now she sat on the potty a good long time, nothing, and peed on the floor fifteen minutes later. I'm pretty sure this is practice in my letting go.
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| But isn't this a pretty awesome potty training photo, regardless? |
She's also a maniac for crawling up the stairs in our beautiful rental house. No luck coming down the stairs yet -- she won't go down backwards, insists on walking down like a regular person despite her extreme shortness... so she lunge/falls off each steps in terrifying way despite a restraining hand on the arm.
In addition to walking and exploring and tasting every rock and stick Woodstock has on offer, Amelie is also talking up a storm. Today she pointed through the clear vegetable drawer and said "carrots!" How did she learn that word? No idea. Given that she's a second child, I have no idea how many words she has, especially since she has a new one or two every day, but it seems like it must be north of 50. My favorite is definitely "Dappy" -- meaning Calliope. Other favorites of mine are "guck" (milk), "kock" (quack), "gook" (book).
And I love that when I ask anyone a question -- whether direct at her or not -- I get a cheerful "mmm hmm" or "oh-tay" in response. She'll often stop fussing in the car if I tell her we are almost home and ask her to hang on -- she says "oh tay!" and abruptly quiets down.
Of course, she also is known to pitch a fit if I separate her from a beloved rock or stick, or insist on carrying her when she won't cooperate with my agenda of walking purposefully in one direction. Diaper changes can be peaceful or akin to wrestling an alligator, depending on the moment.
Unlike Calliope, who was rather introspective and quiet (but cheerful) from birth, I've seen a big change in Amelie's since she started walking. She has become much more determined and I see a big personality blooming. She's always been happy and social but now she's also fearless and opinionated. She plunges right into the water at the stream and when she topples in, face first, she comes up sputtering but without crying.
I have been reading the Aha Parenting book on siblings, Siblings Without Rivalry, and seeing positive dividends -- since we've been in Woodstock, it's become a point of pride for Calliope to put Amelie's shoes on her and walk her slowly, carefully, to the car, heaving her body precariously down the couple of steps. The best thing about the book is the frequent reminders to have empathy for kids. So hard to remember, but I really see a payoff in my relationship with Calliope (and hers with Amelie) when I remember.
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| Two sets of best friends in Woodstock (Amelie, Eleanor, Calliope and Leo.) |
Very cute! These updates always make me think of my little one, waiting on the other side of the world. I hope that she has made it to 18lbs too :)
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