New teeth! New words! New skills!
Natalie turned 15 months old on March 7! This month she’s added a few teeth to her mouth, added lots of words (and animal sounds) to her vocabulary, and has learned quite a few new skills.
First, the teeth. Natalie has 16 teeth! The top molars and eyeteeth are not fully descended, but the bottom molars and eyeteeth are completely grown in. I fear that she’s working on her “two-year molars” already. If the charming little gifts she’s been leaving us in her diapers this week are any indication, she’ll have the last 4 molars in well before she’s two. Even though I would have liked a break from the teething, I am excited about the prospect of it being over with. Natalie’s aunts Katy and Kary gave her this funny shirt for Solstice this year, and this week ended up being an appropriate time for her to wear it:
Second, Natalie’s expanding vocabulary. Natalie has added these words to her repertoire: window, stairs, yogurt, stroller, apple, horse, bath, bagel, pizza, bubbles, cheese, and please (and probably more that I’m forgetting). And she’s begun saying two word phrases, like “bye-bye dada,” “bye-bye pizza,” “big step,” “read the,” “help me,” and “peas please.” A couple of months ago, she communicated her first sentence with a combination of words and signs. She looked at Chris, who was asleep, and said Dada, then made the sign for sleep. She has also signed “good milk.”
Natalie has learned so many more animal noises that I would venture to say that she knows virtually every one, including sounds that snakes, birds, roosters, chicks, chickens, mice, wolves, frogs, seals, beavers, squirrels, otters, and bees make. She also can demonstrate how giraffes have long necks, porcupines poke, zebras have stripes, camels spit, bunnies wiggle their noses, kangaroos hop, penguins waddle, rhinoceros have big noses, koalas hug, and alligators chomp. I think she may grow up to be a vet.
Third, new motor skills. Natalie discovered reverse! She used to approach chairs by facing them, making it rather difficult to sit down. Now she starts from about a foot away, and backs up. Sometimes she sits down too early and ends up on the floor, much to our amusement. Natalie can manage walking up and down the two steps between our kitchen and her playroom by herself. Sometimes she holds onto the wall and sometimes she does it totally unsupported. Natalie also learned how to spin herself around and seems to enjoy being dizzy. And she’s trying really, really hard to jump, but hasn’t succeeded yet.
Here is Natalie riding Clifford the Big Red Dog at the park, wearing an adorable hat knit for her by Auntie Bethany:
Some other random news items for this month:
1. Natalie has gotten much more tolerant of getting changed, getting dressed, and taking baths. Thank goodness that was just a passing phase.
2. According to her teachers, Natalie had a “wonderful day” at school on friday, her third day. We’re hoping for a repeat performance this Monday. Perhaps the transition into feeling comfortable at day care won’t take as long as I anticipated.
3. Much to our delight, Natalie has been going to bed earlier since starting day care.
As always, Natalie loves being outside and exploring nature:
