15 months

On Monday, our girl turned 15 months old. Where does the time go? Clare's been at daycare for a month and a half, and she's been advancing quite rapidly. She's become quite a little chatterbox now, babbling happily about this and that. One morning as Rob was taking her in her stroller to the streetcar stop on the way to daycare, she spent the whole walk with her head craned around toward him, talking nonstop. I'm sure everyone reading this knows which side of the family she gets this from. Her skill with saying words hasn't developed much though. I can hear her practicing a lot though - trying to repeat back what I just said to her. And she says the words she knows as often as she can, even jumping in to shout 'up' during 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star... UP above the world so high'. She surprises me often, still, with her understanding of my language and her ability to communicate entirely without words. I mean, even though we tried giving her signs to use, she just made up her own! She's extremely expressive and quite easy to understand even without 'English'. I'm finding it challenging now, as we try to encourage her use of words to pretend that I don't understand what she wants/needs. She practically grabs you buy your shirt collar and sticks your nose right in the situation: "See that? That right there? Hand it over!"

As far as physical development goes, Clare's also been busy. She likes her new schedule - and the schedule involves lots of interaction with other kids and lots of physical activity. I think she's more capable physically than verbally (for kids her age). She plays catch, slides on the slide, swings on the swing, teeters on the totter, pops bubbles, figures out the sorting box, works on puzzles, climbs, dances, sings, draws. She waves goodbye to us when we drop her off at daycare and has cried if we pick her up before she's done playing. She blows kisses to the kids and caregivers when she leaves at night. She eats and eats and eats (using a fork and spoon). She hugs her cats when they let her and cherishes her 'Mr. Bun' like he's the best friend she'll ever have. She tests her limits over and over and over again but always does what Mum and Dad ask even if it makes her a little sad.

We love getting to know this independent little monkey. The big challenge now is to start (slowly) getting out of her way to see what else she can accomplish!

Talk to you soon,

B

P.S. The outfit in the picture is handmade by Mum from an Oliver + s pattern.