15 months

Ayla turned 15-months old a couple of days ago...we went to her appointment this afternoon. As expected, she became upset as soon as we stepped foot into the waiting room. We've unfortunately been there too many times in the past few weeks so she remembers what's up when we get there each time. Once we were in the exam room, she did cry until she got sick. Twice. But we were prepared with little puke trays so no one got nailed this time. :)

She measured in at 22 lbs 8 oz (43rd percentile) and 31 3/4 inches tall (85th percentile). Her height went way up this time...up from the 53rd percentile at 12 months. Just the past couple weeks, I feel like she has grown so much. All of a sudden her little hands can reach a lot more things. And we can't forget her head circumference...we're holding steady at the 98th percentile. :)Dr. Davey said she looks great in all aspects...I was really happy to hear that even her ears looked good. I've been so paranoid since her ear infection a few weeks ago...I don't want it to come back. She had to have two shots at the end of her appointment. By that point, I think she was running out of steam from crying for nearly an hour because usually when the needles go in, you can see it in her face and she screams even louder but she didn't do that today. Poor thing.

She is still teething. Sigh. Molars are the devil. I want to fight them. For the past three months, she has been waking up in the middle of the night and screaming because these darn teeth are causing so much pain. We've had a couple nights here and there when she sleeps all the way through, but for the most part, we can count on her waking up. It has definitely tested our patience. Waking up is one thing, but once we're up, we're up for a good hour or so trying to console her and then get her to fall asleep again. There are nights (like last night, for example) where I hold her and rock her for a solid hour, finally put her down, to walk back to our room and hear her wake up and start crying again as soon as my head hits the pillow. It's so hard not to get frustrated...I just have to keep telling myself that this won't last forever. I'm just afraid that this is turning her into a bad sleeper--she won't fall asleep on her own anymore. Like I've mentioned before, we are not against letting her cry it out (to a certain extent) but because the whole throwing up thing is tossed into the equation, we feel stuck. Hopefully once these molars are in, she'll start sleeping well again. We shall see. Anyways, enough about that...

Ayla's 15-month tidbits:

-She still thinks it's funny when I tell her no.

-She'll walk up to Kody and tell him "NO, NO!" while shaking her little finger at him. Hmm. Not sure where she learned that.

-She has been eating more with each meal, but she is still extremely picky. She LOVES fruit--blueberries, grapes, oranges, and cantaloupe are her favorites. She also loves milk. She'd drink it all day long if I let her. I love when she hears her sippy cup warming up in the microwave and she comes running from across the room saying, "buh-duh-buh-duh-buh-duh-BAH!" In case you don't remember, that's her unique way of saying bottle. It never gets old. :)

-She likes to pull everything off her toy shelf and dump things out until our living room looks like a junk yard.

-She talks. A LOT. She's continuously adding to her vocabulary. My favorite new "word" is Bama...that's how she says Grandma. I swear she talks all day long; whether it's real words or Ayla-ese, her mouth is constantly going. And she is loud. She must get that from Dean...

-She likes to give hugs and kisses...I keep hoping that she gets more snuggly.

-She is your typical busy, busy, busy toddler. I'd like to put a pedometer on her...she must walk several miles a day. There is hardly a still moment.

-She may make a mess with her toys, but she likes to be clean. If she gets food on her fingers while she's eating, she wants me to wipe it off; if someone tracks in snow, she says "uh-oh" until it either melts or gets wiped up.

-She is the most well-behaved while we're out shopping...99 percent of the time, we're at SuperTarget (surprise, surprise) or Hy-Vee. I think she likes that there's so much to see.

-She is starting to run...she's a quick little thing!

-She is super duper awesome and I love her. :o) This picture cracks me up because it captures what she is like most of the time these days: being ornery and doing something she shouldn't be doing.