15 months, 16 months and coming up on 17 months...

Disclaimer: I wrote this post on time for 15 months. Since then I have been trying to get the pictures from my phone onto my computer which was never a problem before but for some reason is now an impossible task. *sigh* I wish I knew more about computers. 

Lucy at 15 months is a climber! She loves to climb stairs, on to chairs and on to the dining room table. It is her favorite pastime. So much so, that she can get around any barricade that we placed at the bottom of the stairs. The older kids loved to climb as well but were not as determined as Lucy is proving to be. So we recently had to buy a gate for the bottom of the stairs. Lucy was very unhappy about that.

Lucy also likes to climb onto the couch and then up onto the arm rest and flip the light switch in the living room multiple times. Once, Evan left the room for 30 seconds and she had climbed onto the chair and then onto the TV tray. She was standing on it. (yikes!)

She also likes to climb onto the booster in the bathroom where she will grab any toothbrush within reach and start brushing her teeth with it. I must say I love her dedication to oral health but her infection control needs some work.

She also loves to climb up into her highchair. All by herself.

Lucy is very impatient when she is hungry. Screaming in her high chair is one of her favorite things to do as well.

Otherwise Lucy is a great toddler. She loves to play peek a boo and dump truck with her brother. She likes to play with Caroline and dancing is her favorite. She likes to walk over to the CD player on the floor and pushes play so the VBS songs will start playing. She then dances her heart out!

She rides well in the car. Understands where her ears, nose, feet and hands are. She loves to talk! She can say many words but also just loves to babble with you.  She can probably say 15-20 words. She will also ask for you to sing 'Row, Row' and 'Up, bove' for Row your boat and Twinkle little star. Lucy can also say "Night, Night'.

She loves to video chat with her aunts and shows them that she can stick her tongue out and talk with them. She also likes to wave bye-bye and always tries to push the red hang up button on the phone.

With warmer temps we have been able to be outside more and Lucy LOVES to be outside. She likes to swing and really likes it when Liam pushes her. She likes to go up and down the stairs (shocker) and down the front sidewalk and down the steps onto the sidewalk. We really need to show her how to go down the stairs backwards because she definitely thinks she can walk down them just like we all do.

Lucy responds well when you ask her to do something. She loves to get her shoes, stand still for her coat to be put on, bring a book or toy to you and loves to back up into your lap. She has a couple of jokes thanks to Grammie Walles: If you ask her if she would like to read a book, she will smile a big smile and then shake her head no. She also likes to take the ducky that squirts in the bathtub and squirt Liam and they both laugh hard about that one.

Lucy wears size 3 diapers and her 12 month clothes although her 12 month sleepers and rompers are too short or getting snug. She has long legs like her daddy. Her wellness visit went well where she ran around the room babbling the whole time, climbing on and off the scale and not one bit nervous about Dr. Traeger. He commented that she is definitely the most lively out of our 3 kids.

She weighs: 18.8 lbs (12th percentile)
        length:   2 ft 7 in.  (70th percentile)

She takes one nap that lasts 1 1/2-3 hours depending on the day and goes to bed by 7:30 pm and usually doesn't wake until 7 am.

We gave up nursing shortly after she turned one year. Before my trip to Chicago with my sisters in December, I decided to pump to see if it was even worth it to pack it along and discovered after 15 minutes that I had produced less than an ounce....definitely not worth it. I realized I was only being used as a pacifier and my love for nursing with the third child had definitely diminished. I was ready to say good-bye. Lucy didn't seem to mind either.

So, now at almost 17 months, life looks pretty similar to what is listed above. Except that now Lucy can say even more words and is starting to put two words together. She says 'please' in the most adorable way possible and 'shoe'. She will also say 'sissy' in regards to Caroline but hasn't said Liam or Caroline's name yet. She knows even more of her body parts and still loves to read with her favorite books being flap books.

She is a total busy body; being still is definitely not her forte. When I have to go to the school for PTO duties she wiggles in my arms until I let her down and then runs all over the office. Most days I have to put her in my back carrier so I can actually have a conversation with the secretaries or principal.

Lucy happily plays with her toddler toys still if someone gets them down for her but is most happy climbing. Life is definitely more hectic and busy with three but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Caroline funnies

Some funnies with Caroline:

"Mom, do you think I could save this necklace for Mama Tala?"
"Who is that?"
(eye roll) *sigh* "The grandma from Moana."

Oh boy.....can't wait for her to be 13. (eye roll) *sigh*


The other day:

"Do you think you will be ready for preschool this fall?"
"Oh yeah! I'm a big girl now."
"I know you are. Can't you just stay little forever?"
"No Mommy! I have to keep growing up!"
"But I like you little, you make me laugh with the funny things you say."
"I will still make you laugh Mommy even when I'm a grown-up."

Just recently:

Grammie: "Caroline, please stop doing that."
C: "Blah, Blah, Blah"

Same Day:

G: "Caroline it's time to have rest time."
C: hands on hips, "If I were yawning, then that would mean I was tired"

Interview with a 7 year old

Liam at age 7:

What is your favorite color?  Blue
What is your favorite toy?   Shark ship
What is your favorite fruit? Bananas
What is your favorite TV show?  Phineas and Ferb
What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Chicken nuggets
What is your favorite outfit? T-shirt and sweatpants
What is your favorite game?  Trouble
What is your favorite animal? sharks
What is your favorite snack?    Fruit snacks
What is your favorite song?  Iron man song
What is your favorite book?  Harry Potter books
What is your favorite subject at school? Art
What is your favorite sport? basketball
What is your favorite holiday?  Halloween
What do you take to bed every night? Bear
What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner?  Ham cauliflower casserole
What do you want to be when you grow up?  a police officer
What do you think you'll be able to do now that you're 7 that you couldn't do before?
                walk the dog more, like hold her leash

Another Liam story

Sometimes after church since we are right next to Meijer we will stop and pick a few things up before heading home. Usually this means that one adult is left in the car with all of the children since it's such a big production to get everyone in and out of the car and especially in these frigid temperatures.

This past Sunday it was my turn to wait with the kids.

Liam promptly unbuckled himself from the back seat and came up and sat next to me in the front. He began to ask me these following questions,
L: "What does the R stand for?"
M: "Reverse"
L: "What about the N?"
M: "Neutral"
L: "What about the S-D"
M: "Well, the D stands for Drive, I'm not actually sure what the S stands for."
L: "I bet it means Super Fast"

I really love this car loving super fast little boy. He is so funny.

Liam funnies

For the most part there isn't much that Liam says anymore that has me scratching my head or laughing to myself. However, here are two recent examples;

We were driving in the car and Liam yelled from the back, "Mom! I can read all of these signs!"
I replied, "Great! that's awesome that you can do that now."
"No! I don't want to read right now!"
"That's kind of what happens when you learn how to read buddy. Words start to jump out at you and everything makes sense."

The most recent conversation:
"Mom, why is Moana's lips so big."
(Moana is a Disney princess from Hawaii)
I definitly don't want to miss an opportunity to discuss diversity with my children or how God made us all different so I had to pause before I answered this question.
"Well, that's how God made her."
"Um, no Mom. God didn't make Moana, the Disney people did."
(Laughing to myself)
"Well, yes, you're right but the story that they came up with had Moana coming from Hawaii and that's how Hawaiian people look. And that's why she looks different from me and you."

Beana

For a couple years now we have heard about Caroline's imaginary friend, Beana. Beana has blond hair and blue eyes and is maybe 6 inches tall. This morning Caroline told me that she likes to play with Lucy but that Lucy tries to eat her. Hmmm.

Sometimes Beana comes on errands with us. Caroline will have her hand outstretched like she is carrying her around.

For the last couple of nights as Caroline is fighting sleep she has come downstairs to tell us that for Christmas she would like an itty bitty pack n play for Beana to sleep in.

Last night on our way home from church she was talking about Beana and Liam kept telling her that she's not real. Caroline was getting very upset that her brother would talk that way about her friend. So she said, "I know she's not real! But she's my only friend!"

We reminded her that she has friends at the babysitters, at church and that we all like playing with her too at home. I hope that someday Beana will fade away once Caroline gets a little older. To be honest Beana kind of creeps me out.

My little one year old

Just like that our baby is no longer; she is officially a toddler! Lucy turned one year old November 21st and we had some fun parties to celebrate! (yes, it's been two weeks since but there is no way we forgot anything about this kids birthday)

The Sunday before Lucy's birthday we had the Walles family come over to celebrate! We were going to keep it simple and just have people over for a light soup dinner, cake and presents but then I went on Pinterest. Since Lucy consistently says "dog, woof, woof" we had a dog themed party. We made balloons that looked like dogs, cookies that were dog inspired, an adopt a puppy station for the older cousins and at the very end a 'simon says' game that was also dog inspired. So much fun!

Lucy's actual birthday was full of the usual Tuesday events. School, babysitters and work for everyone. We sang Happy Birthday to Lucy in the morning before we all left and tried to have extra play time before bedtime.

We were able to celebrate Lucy's birthday with my family on Friday since we had Thanksgiving on Saturday. Pizza from Monicals, a homemade angel food cake and presents was a great third first birthday party for this special girl.

At one year old Lucy weighs 16 pounds 9 ounces (7th percentile). And is approximately 2 feet 5 1/2 inches tall (58th percentile).

She is a very happy girl! Always laughing and giggling at everyone. She is constantly on the move and looks for any obstacle she can find. Climbing the stairs, climbing over the dog, unrolling the toilet paper roll and carrying around little stuffed animals are some of her favorite things to do. At her wellness visit the pediatrician was trying to ask me about her and the entire time she was walking around the room with her arms up yelling at the top of her lungs. That and climbing on and off the scale and climbing under the exam table. Dr. Traeger was laughing the whole time.

Lucy now says Dad, Momma, Dog and woof consistently. She has said in the past; cracker, up, more, Liam, please.

Lucy mainly now sleeps through the night. She goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 pm and wakes in the morning around 7 am. Sometimes she cries around 6 am but usually puts herself back to sleep. The other night she woke around midnight and cried for an hour with no signs of letting up. Evan tried to snuggle with her and give her water but she just couldn't get back to sleep. I finally went in, nursed her and she went right back to bed. I'm really not sure what we are going to do when we give up nursing but I guess we can worry about that when the time comes. Maybe then she will be a little more consistent with her sleep.

Lucy takes 1-2 naps during the day. When we are home with her we are trying to consolidate naptime to just once during the day. I try to get her down between 12:30 and 1 pm and she will usually sleep for 2-3 hours. At the babysitters she is still needing the two naps. I'm not sure if she is catching up on sleep from when she's with us or if she is used to the nap schedule with the babysitter but I'm sure soon she will move to one nap there too.

Lucy is a great eater and a very hungry toddler. She likes oatmeal, toast, yogurt, cheese, chicken nuggets, goldfish, all kinds of fruit and most vegetables. She most likely needs the calories since she is constantly on the move and burns them so quickly.

Lucy does not like when Caroline pushes her down or takes a toy away from her. She also does not like when we take her away from the toilet paper roll or the dog's water bowl. She is very vocal when she is hungry and you are not fast enough with the food.

Lucy is a roll with the punches kind of kid. She is happy to go along wherever the night takes us. Whether we are going to the library for Liam or taking the older kids to AWANA she doesn't seem to mind and always has a big smile for everyone.

We could not feel more any more blessed than we are to have this amazing family and to have Lucy be the last piece in our puzzle. She's the best!