Our 15 Month Baby/Toddler

Miss Piper is 15 months old. When did that happen?  My baby girl is no longer a baby but turning into a toddler which makes me sad. I miss those days of cuddling her in my arms and when I left her in one place I knew I could come back and she'd still be there. Those days are long gone! Little Piper is a full grown mover, kicker, dancer, reader, picky eater, tantrum-crying toddler.

I can't believe how much Piper has changed from early this spring to September. Lately people have been telling me how me she has changed and how her hair has grown a ton. I can't see it until I look back at old pictures.

While waiting for her 15 month doctor appointment, Piper could not hold still. We were somewhere new and she HAD to explore every inch of that place! Miss P is very curious about everything and has to touch everything. Stephen says we should have named her George.

Every time we go to the doctor, Piper's head is measured over and over to make sure the nurses measured it correctly. Since her one year old appointment, Piper's head has grown a centimeter. Her doctor says we can hold off on the MRI for now since Piper is on track developmentally. The minute Piper falls behind though, she'll be scheduled for a MRI.

Weight: 22 pounds 1 ounce
Height: 30 3/4 inches
Head: 49.5 centimeters

Our little miss is growing like a ragweed. Last week, her belly started hanging out of her 12 month old shirts which is not okay with me. Stephen, however, doesn't see a problem with this. Over the last couple months her hair has taken off. It's still thin but is becoming curly. The only way to control it is with hair mousse.

Eating:
We are still feeding Piper pureed baby food at mealtime. I've decided this girl is going to be eating pureed food till the day she dies! We've struggled with getting her to eat solid foods on her own. She'll eat food off our plates but won't eat it when its put on her tray. This isn't the case with her gold fish, crackers, and snacks though. We have a very stubborn girl on our hands!

Sleep:
Piper is still an early riser and wakes up about 6 a.m. every morning. We think its a pretty special treat if she sleeps even 15 minutes later.  She enjoys her bottle of milk and some good cartoons (aka Signing Time, Baby Einstein, or Curious George) in the morning.

Miss P now takes one 2-3 hour nap during the day and can even fall asleep all on her own! I never thought I'd see this happen. However, night time is a different story. She's not ready to give up her bottle and cuddling time with her dad. That's okay though. We're all about taking baby steps.

Teeth:
During the last 3 months, Piper's two bottom molars came in. While brushing her teeth one day, we were surprised to find two brand spankin' new teeth in her mouth.

Thankfully we have moved past the stage of biting other people. For weeks, whenever I held her she would bite me on the shoulder. Apparently Piper doesn't like the way Stephen tastes because he never got bit. Lucky boy! Unfortunately, the no biting policy doesn't apply to Piper. She bites herself on the hands several times a day and leaves huge bruises and bite marks. Stephen and Piper have had many discussions about biting herself. Sometimes I don't think she understand a word we're saying and other times she knows exactly what we're talking about.

Words:
Its amazing how Piper's vocabulary has suddenly taken off. On Sunday when she woke up she had learned 3 new words: whoa, hey, and song. Some of her other new words include: Esus (Jesus), no, sorry, cereal, ball, see, hot, sauce (applesauce), doll, shoes, and thank you.  

Sign Language:
Piper hasn't shown a whole lot of interest in signing but still enjoys watching Signing Time occasionally. Stephen and I have personally gotten very tired of Rachel. We sure wish Piper would take a interest in something else. A few signs that she has picked up are: hurt and shoes.

Loves:
Piper still loves to read, either by herself or while someone reads to her. Unfortunately, our little monster loves to destroy her books. She sticks her little chubby fingers in that little gap between the binding and the books and rips it out. Darn girl! At this rate we're going to need a year supply of super glue.  I am constantly gluing her books back together.

For the longest time, Piper has been able to stand up straight under Stephen's desk. The day finally arrived when she was too tall. She still tries to stand under the desk and usually hits her head. Her new fascination.... the printer. If I accidentally leave it plugged in, she scans all kinds of things. Maybe she'll have a future job as a copy lady! Once scanning things becomes a bore, the only thing left to do is crawl on top of the printer. Our poor printer takes lots of abuse from Piper.

  
I now have an assistant to help me clean our apartment. Piper can pick up her toys and put them in her basket and even likes to throw her dirty diapers in the garbage. On the way there, she likes be sneaky and open the diapers. I think she likes those little sticky tabs on the diapers.

My assistant also enjoys closing the dishwasher, constantly, while I'm trying to put dishes in and hides the silverware in places only she knows. While I'm making dinner, she stands and my legs and repeats "see" over and over until I pick her up. Maybe she'll have a future job as a chef! 

There is no keeping Piper out of a room now. She's now tall enough to open and close doors all by herself. The only way to keep her out is by locking the door. Even then, she'll stand at the door talking to you and putting her hands underneath.

One of  Piper's all time favorite things to do....climb everything in sight. It doesn't matter if it has footholds or not, she'll climb it. She first learned how to climb into the rocking chair by stepping into the side pocket and from there climbing over the top of the arm rest. It was quite the process to watch her pull herself into the chair.

Up until a few weeks ago, she liked climbing on top of the toilet. She thought she was pretty special up there until she fell off and hit her head. Thankfully she hasn't tried to climb up there since then.  Maybe she'll have a future job as a rock climber!

One of Piper's favorite foods: cereal! Not the baby kind but the sugary goodness that if found in a giant bags in the pantry. She loves to open the door, plop herself down, and eat some cereal. It doesn't matter what kind it is, she'll eat it. Those little plastic zippers at the top of the bag are no problem for her.

Personality:
Piper loves to laugh. She always finds something to laugh about, and usually in the most inconvenient times. Don''t you know that during church and Sunday school are the best times to do so? Most of the time I have no idea what she's laughing about. My brother once told me Piper has a laugh like mine. No more! This girl has a indescribable laugh but it sure brings a smile to my face every time I hear it.

Its never an option to be upset at Piper for too long. She gives the best cuddles and opened mouth kisses. She even makes a "Mmmmmm" noise while doing so.

Whatever Piper's future brings, we will always love this curly, brown haired, blue eyed, curious, laughing girl. No matter how old she grows, or how she changes, she will always be my baby.