15 Months...yesterday

Right now on my laptop (which mostly resides on a kitchen counter because that's kind of where the center of my life is), I have open: twitter, facebook, email, an infant acetaminophen dosage chart, a crock pot recipe for chicken thighs, Quicken, a Caring Bridge page for the son of a friend of mine who is having surgery today, the description of a book that has just come out in which a friend of mine has written an essay, and the 10-day forecast for the area where my in-laws and sister live.

Today I am a friend, a mother, a nurse, a chef, a prayer warrior, an expert packer, a financial manager, a house cleaner, and the laundry lady. Interesting what a quick peek at my open windows reflects about my life.

Grace had her 15-month appointment today at the doctor. (Which is why I'm a nurse today. Three shots lead to a low fever and an irritable little person.) She's taller than I had imagined she would be, though that's still just an average height. She's skinny, but not unhealthy. No surprise there. She's smart and talks a lot, some of which we can understand. I guess the average number of words a 15-month-old says is 5-7. Grace says about 25 or so. I'm so proud that she knows body parts like nose, mouth and eyes, but can also differentiate between feet and toes, fingers and hands, and even knows eyebrows! She desperately wants to eat with a fork and spoon, and is adept at putting food from utensils into her mouth even though she can't spear or scoop food onto them on her own yet. She climbs. She can scale the kitchen table in 30 seconds...or less. Emotionally and socially she seems perfectly healthy at this point. No indicators of autism or anything.

I wish I had written down the first day I noticed that she had books memorized. It was maybe a couple months before she turned one. I was randomly reciting a line from one of her books while doing something in the living room. Three minutes later, she came up to me with that particular book from her room and wanted me to read it to her. Now she says certain words on page when we get to that part of a book: "Pop, pop, pop!" or "No!" or "Yes!" or "Plop".

It's a little bit sad that her sinful nature is starting to shine through. She now gets frustrated or angry when I stop her from doing something. Trying to bite me is her favorite form of retaliation. Or sometimes she clenches both fists in protest. I feel the need to do some research on discipline and time-outs for this age!

No matter what, I love her to pieces. We are so proud of the fun, friendly, smart, loving, curious, active little girl that she is.

OK, now on to the next task: expert packer!