Fifteen Months

It's a day late (and clearly a dollar short) but I figure Natalie deserves a quick quarterly update. Off the top of my head:

1. She eats a ton. Almost literally, a ton every day. But still no avocado.

2. She is learning how to play with her brother. Their favorite game is chasing each other and she always ends up crying, but will do it again and again.

3. She is in love with her daddy. He is decidedly at the tippy top of her list of favorite people. I'm usually number two, but sometimes someone else outranks me and I slip a notch. I'm working through my feelings on that.

4. She says dada (daddy), aye-ya (wyatt), eee-eee! (Millie), eh-yo (hello), up, a dee (tree, we think), aye dah (outside, we think) and just yesterday added tish (fish). She also knows a few animal sounds (dog, rooster, sheep), and signs water, all done (with large arm-waving gestures), please and thank you (but they look remarkably similar to water). You might notice "Mommy" isn't on the list. sigh.

5. She loves her shoes and will go get a pair of them from the shoe cabinet if she thinks there's any chance of leaving the house. That said, she removes the left one as soon as she's strapped into the car or stroller, pretty much making it worthless to put them on her if she's just going for a ride.

6. It breaks her heart when Daddy and Wyatt go outside without her, even if it's only for a minute.

7. When we head out to play, she grabs a golf club and ball from their bucket of outside toys and spends her time figuring out how the two work together. When she tires of that, she trades them in for the yellow soccer ball, which she then proceeds to kick around the front yard.

8. If the neighbors are out (and when aren't they?), she throws up a wave and shouts at them until they acknowledge her.

9. Her little "hiii" in a sing-song voice makes me smile every. single. time.

10. She is a huge fan of all books and will bring them to me, then maneuver into my lap for a reading. When it's over, she's off and gone for another one. At bedtime, she very clearly communicates which book she'd like to read by grabbing anything she doesn't want and throwing it on the floor. Nice.

11. She has begun having on-the-floor tantrums (they're brief, but I fear they foreshadow life in another year) when she can't have what she wants.

12. She's still a huge sucker for remotes and phones. Take one away from her and you have number 11 on your hands.

13. She's figuring out the samples at Costco.

14. She's crazy in the kiddie pool, will walk straight off the side whether she thinks you're there or not and is just positive she doesn't need help. Luckily I'm aware she does and am able to save her from herself most of the time.

15. She seems to be fiercely independent until presented with a new face and then she's rather clingy for a bit.

16. She is a free range baby and navigates the stairs quite nicely.

17. She loves Wyatt's room for playing and the stepstool in the bathroom for climbing.

18. Her interest in the pantry shelves seems to be cooling a little bit. Now when she sees the door open she's more likely to close it than she is to go in and play. However, I still find random pantry items strewn about the house if I'm busy elsewhere.

19. She loves the cozy coupe.

20. She loves the refrigerator letters, but only when seeing how far she can throw them.

21. She loves opening the drawer of baggies and helping herself to a few as she passes. It's not at all annoying, really.

22. She loves getting out dishtowels and bibs, wiping the floor with them and then moving on to something else. Also not annoying at all, really.

23. She loves making Wyatt laugh and will do just about anything to make it happen.

24. Despite routine applications of SPF 50, she's already sporting a lovely summer tan, complete with tan lines from her swimsuit and in her chunky thigh creases. Love it!