the petersons: Aubree: 15-months

Our Aubree lady is 15-months old today! The dress she is wearing in these pictures was my absolute favorite of all of Ayla's clothes. I remember being so bummed out when I had to pack it away because she outgrew it. I was so happy when I dug it out of the box last week and found that it fit Aubree perfectly.

Here are just a few 15-month tidbits:

She is starting to add more words to her vocabulary...even her gibberish sounds more like actual words. It's pretty entertaining to listen to. :) She says: Mama, Daddy, Kody, ball, water, bye, pretty, night-night, go, no, yay, whoa, more; in Chinese, she says: Yeh-Yeh (grandpa), Nai-Nai (grandma), Jeh-Jeh (big sister), baw-baw (hold me), and dah (spank--this goes along with when we tell her no...she says "dah!" and spanks her own butt.) She woofs, quacks, and chirps when asked what a dog, duck, and bird says. She also says "shhh" when we say, "go night-night." She has two different ways of saying "mama". When she's super upset, she says it over and over again in a really frustrated, irritated tone. But then she also says it in the cutest, most loving way when she hugs me...makes me melt every time.

I think...well, actually, I know she gets frustrated when she can't say what she wants or needs. She definitely understands a LOT more than she can say. She's still signing "more" and "all done." She grunts and points a lot. I can't wait for the language explosion over the next several months...I want to know what that pretty little head is thinking.

We're continuing to work on body parts--she can point out her hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, belly, hands, and feet.

I mentioned in an earlier post that she loves Caillou...she also, like most kids her age, loves Elmo. Curious George is a top contender as well.

She has learned to LOVE books! It's so great! She loves sitting on our laps and listening to a story. We also read to her before she goes to bed. When we go into her room, she points and grunts at her books on the nightstand. I think the next word she needs to learn is "book." :)

She also loves bath time. I almost always bathe them together now. I think they enjoy playing in there together (or fighting over toys). Overall, it's much easier...gets a little tricky when Dean's not here for a hand-off though. She likes brushing her teeth as well...hopefully it stays this way. She watches Ayla brush and tries to mimic whatever she's doing. She even tries to brush her tongue...she basically just sticks her tongue out and waves the toothbrush in front of her face. Funny. :)

She loves to play outside--sidewalk chalk, bubbles, eating things she shouldn't be eating, etc. Speaking of, she STILL puts everything in her mouth. It's terrible. Last weekend, she dumped a container of sand in her mouth. Yuck. I felt so bad for her! But anyway. Yes, she loves being outside. It's often a struggle to get her to come back in. Which leads to...

Tantrums. She throws them. When we keep her from doing something she wants to do, she goes limp, throws her head back, crumples to the ground, and CRIES. Drama. I can't wait until she hits her "terrible twos." What's that going to be like?!

She dances (spins in circles, sways, and bops to music), claps, tries to jump but her feet don't ever leave the ground, and she has started to run but she leads with her head which leads to a lot of face plants. Poor baby needs a face-guard. One of her favorite things to do while she runs is stealing something of Ayla's and taking off with it in a fit of giggles. The more Ayla screams and runs after her, the more fun she has. She knows exactly what she's doing. It cracks me up.

She also gets a rise out of pinching. I have no idea what it is. Out of nowhere, her tiny little fingers will find a tiny chunk of skin and she pinches away. I'm not sure how to stop this. When she does it, I grab her hands and tell her no, but the more we say no, the bigger her smile gets...and she actually laughs. Lil stinker.

And on the other hand, she is a little lover. She loves sitting on my lap...she likes to be touching me. While she's playing, she checks-in with me every now and then with the sweetest little hugs and snuggles. She hugs my legs a lot if I'm standing...if I'm sitting on the ground she comes up behind me and lays on my back while she says "mama." It's the best. She can definitely be a handful and downright difficult sometimes, but...she's also pretty awesome. :)

Love. Her. So. Much.