KK is 15 months old!

At 15 months old, KK is confident, independent, and a little quirky. She doesn’t shy away from new situations or people, and loves to explore everything. At the club, she shows interest in each play station (there are different “stations” that have themed toys – a kitchen area, a train and car table, a ‘Dora’ area, a coloring table, etc.) and she tries to connect with kids of all different ages - with varying degrees of success. One of her new words this month is “baby.” It is so strange to see my own baby recognize and show interest in smaller babies. I still feel like she is a newborn sometimes, so how can she recognize children smaller than herself???!!!! *Sigh*

There are a few other new words in her vocabulary – cheese, nah-nah-nah! (no no no!), arrr arrr arrr (the seal sound), baaaa, wahwoo (water). She’s definitely exploring making new sounds; today we practiced “clicking” our tongues. Even without words, she is great at communicating what she wants. For example, she touches her high chair when she’s hungry, pulls at the fridge door when she wants milk, starts to say “buh-bye” when we put her jacket on, and stomps her feet and yells when she is mad. She is pretty good at resisting things when we tell her ‘no,’ but sometimes she tries to push her luck. I’m sure this is just the beginning. ; )

Even though she is independent, she still enjoys a good cuddle now and then. She likes to have her back softly rubbed/scratched/tickled and will lie still for several minutes if I do that. She LOVES music and dancing, and has the funniest little dance move! She bends her knees, squats a little, then rocks from side to side and up and down at the same time, kind of in a circle. She reminds me of Cha-ka from Land of the Lost!

Some of her other quirks include walking for a few steps with her eyes closed, then opening and shifting her eyes from side to side with a half-grin on her face to see where she is. She likes to do strange things with her eyes – she looks at things out of the corners of her eyes, or sometimes she’ll tip her head down but keep her eyes up and then walk – like a charging bull. Often, her best mischievous grin goes along with these strange eye movements. At night if I hand Andy her bottle, she’ll turn around and back up to him even if she’s half-way across the room. She also does this when she wants a story read to her…she’ll bring us a book, take a couple of steps back, then turn around and walk backwards into our lap. And of course she still does the goofy thing where she tilts her head back, squints her eyes, and gives a silly toothy grin.

She is a little bundle of personality, and so much fun to be with. Happy 15 month birthday, KK!