15 months

Well, our little baby is 15 months old (almost 16 truth be told). Matea is such a fun and spunky little thing, with her own personality and opinions. I've not blogged nearly as much as I did when Eli was her age, so here are some (long, very long) thoughts for my own sake, if no one elses!

• Matea's walking everywhere, almost running, and climbing like a monkey. She would prefer to not be carried at all if she doesn't have to be.

Yep, I AM as cute as a button!

• She loves throwing balls (and toys) and has good form and distance. :) And when she is displeased she throws the first thing she gets her hands on.  She's just catching on to the fact that throwing her pacifier doesn't affect Mommy as much as it affects her though.
• She adores her blanky and rejects other substitutes. I wish I'd bought many more of her big polka-dotted red blanket when they were on clearance at Carter's.

Maybe I'll wear my blanky like this at my wedding . . .

• She LOVES LOVES LOVES shoes and clothes, and constantly carries our shoes around the house. She has also managed to figure out drawers, in particular her dresser drawers. Which, of course, hold this little girls' dream . . . CLOTHES! She unloads her drawers at least three times a day so I don't bother to fold her clothes any more. I've moved the things I don't want unloaded to the top drawers and I just throw all her clothes back in the drawers in a jumble. This is horrifying to me on so many levels, yet I don't have good storage in the closet for them, don't want to fold them over and over, and don't want to take away a diversion which often keeps her occupied for 45 minutes to an hour at a time (yes, THAT LONG!). So, her clothes are a mess for now.
• She also has a great love for accessories - specifically anything that can go around her neck as a necklace. This of course is a big no no and keeps me on alert constantly. If she can find Eli's purple timer on a string (we try keep it up high but it finds its way to her level occasionally) then she is soooooo happy. When she does that I think she looks like that guy Flava Flav rapper guy from when I was in high school, who wore that huge clock around his neck. Either way, we're always on the lookout for things Matea will find interesting to put around her neck.

• As far as her stats, she is a little peanut still. She is 20 pounds (20th percentile) and 30 inches (40th percentile). Unfortunately, that means that she has been dropping percentiles and we need to go in for a weight check before her 18 month appointment. We're supposed to get her extra calories almost any way we can (though I don't agree that I should just slap extra butter and sugar in everything she eats; I don't want to instill unhealthy preferences at such a young age!). So I'm looking for creative ways to get her extra calories. She does love to feed herself, and makes quite a fun mess doing it. :)

I heard yogurt is good for the skin so I'm giving it a try.

• Matea has 12 teeth now, including four molars (the last corner of one is coming in so she's drooling again). She doesn't have that many empty spots on her chompers!
• Matea is certainly expressive but not particularly verbal (at least compared to what Eli was at this age). She says mama, dada, shuss (for shoes), moo, rrrr (for what a lion says), ball (but only for the big green ball Eli got for his birthday), sometimes nana for banana, and shhh. When Eli and Matea were both screeching at each other at dinner one night, Jon introduced "shhh" to her, and she picked right up on it.  She gets what she wants though, and her little grunts and mutters have great expression to them.
• Matea knows her body parts (eye, nose, head, hair, feet, belly button, hands) but only sometimes chooses to respond when you ask her (a little woman already!).  She thinks it's hilarious to see Mommy, Daddy, and Eli's belly buttons.
• The cutest thing is when she sees a cow she gets excited and goes "mmmmmmmoo." And when she's a dog walking outside she's almost beside her self with joy.
• Matea is getting more interested in books now and will actually listen to short stories, if you let her turn the pages. It's fun to read to her now, and she'll listen to maybe four or five stories in a row at bedtime  -as long as she picks them out. If you choose them then you're out of luck. Of course, her choosing them involves throwing them ALL on the floor first and then choosing, but oh well! Neat she is not!
• Matea will give kisses, but only to Mommy reliably, and then twice to Eli last week. She comes at you with her mouth all the way open though, so you're not sure if she's going to devour you or kiss you.

Get a kiss . . .

Give a kiss!

• One of her interesting quirks lately - she will walk backwards and back herself up to the couch/chair/etc. and then lean backwards and rest on, just pleased as punch. I don't why she does it or gets such a kick out of it, but she does!

These backbends keep me limber. 

• Matea loves playing with her house (well, Eli got it for his first birthday but he said Matea could have it now). A favorite game is hiding her stuffed lion in the mailbox, finding him, and growling. Hours of entertainment there! Also, playing peek-a-boo above the top of it. She also likes standing on the little platform on the back, and climbing on our stepstools (in the pantry and in her and Eli's bathroom in particular).

Peek-a-boo! You didn't see that coming!

Who rang my doorbell?

• Matea has a fascination with the trash can, and is constantly finding things in the trash cans all around the house and then bringing things to me. If she can eat something in the trash she will. Yuck. So, our trash is frequently on top of the kitchen counter. Looks funny, but keeps it out of her hands!
• Matea will follow directions, as Jon posted previously. She will get her shoes, find her sippy cups, bring balls, trains, books when asked, etc. Her favorite though is bringing Eli his underwear when he's getting dressed. :)
• When we put the easel up downstairs we discovered that Matea loves to draw with chalk on it. She will draw, erase it, draw, erase, etc. She also likes to scribble with crayons already. Eli never liked those things at that age so I never thought of getting them out for her before.
• Her activeness and curiousness is necessitating the use of "no" more often. And invariably when she hears it she starts bawling and is beside herself. It doesn't matter if it was side calmly or with a raised voice, she hates the word no! A sensitive soul or a girl who doesn't want to be told what to do? Time will tell . . . (though I'm thinking the not being told what to do part).

And here are a few more shots of our adorable princess. We love her so much!