15 Months Old

Sorry about my lack of a Thankful Thursday post, but I just couldn't justify spending any more time on this blog last week than I already had.  Hopefully the Day in Pictures made up for it and gave you the fix you needed.  And, in even more of an attempt to placate you, I decided to write this post today in honor of Audrey's 15th month birthday.


Here, in no particular order, are 15 things our Sweet Girl is in to these days:

• Her vocabulary is astounding us.  Though her pronunciation may be difficult for the untrained ear to understand, she definitely knows and uses a ton of words.  In addition to baby, mommy, daddy, bye-bye, more, no-no, dog, and some facial features that she knew at 12-13 months, she has added hey/hi, sky, moon, plane, up, dink or gee (drink), bubbles, clock (this is hard to understand, but it's the same word every time she sees one), bow, leaf, flower, and go.  

• Her comprehension is even more amazing.  I would say she understands 60-70% of the nouns I use around the house (verbs aren't as high, but she pieces it together pretty quickly.)  Either that, or she's really good at faking the "yeah, I understand what you're saying" face like her Daddy does.  

• Her animal noise "vocabulary" has increased too.  She will now answer semi-coherently when you ask her what any of the following say: horse, dog, cat, rooster (dooo as in cock-a-doodle), cow, chicken (brock), snake (sss), fish (opens and closes her mouth), elephant (throws her arm up and says bbrr), sheep, lion, duck, and monkey (eee for ooo eee).  My favorite is camel, for which she makes a slight spitting noise.  She forgets bear a lot and pig holds her up because she can't say anything close to oink.

• She can recognize and point out and/or go get puzzle pieces of the capital letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, M and Y.  The last two came about out of order because she sees them on some t-shirts I have.  She can pronounce A, B, D, E, & Y pretty well and F is "ffff."

• She still eats jarred baby food green vegetables a few times a week.  She'll eat spinach if it's in stuff or green beans with rice, but I must confess that sometimes it's easier to get them in her by popping open a jar.  As long as I'm not packing them in her lunchbox for school in a few years, I'm cool with it.

• She loves books.  She will constantly get one and come sit in my lap or squat down and flip through them herself.  I couldn't be happier about this!

• She has really begun to hate diaper changes.  I think it's because she can't stand to stop playing and lie down for that 60 seconds.  She's just so busy!

• Every time the air conditioning or washing machine cuts on, she says "Daddy?" because she thinks it's the garage door opening.  This is especially pitiful when he's traveling.  She misses him so much!

• At bath time, we "dance" her rubber ducky and little toys along the bathtub edge as we sing songs.  She loves it and tries so hard to sing along.  She also loves making her baby dolls and stuffed animals dance (imagine her holding the toy out and turning it like a steering wheel).

• The other day, I showed her a picture of a little boy in a wheelchair who broke his leg (the son of a friend of a friend). I told her we needed to pray for him & she looked at me & said "men" which translates "Amen."

• She has really developed a love of shoes.  I usually leave a pair or two in the car so I know where they are, but if they do make it into the house, she loves going to get them and trying to put them on.

• At a recent outing to Chick-fil-A, she not only wasn't scared of the giant cow mascot, but she was almost too distracted to eat because she couldn't stop waiting for him to come back.

• She loves dogs (She says "Do", as in, rhymes with "No") and is fearless around them, which worries me a little bit.  The other night we were outside talking to several neighbors and one of them had their little dog with them.  They said goodbye and continued on their walk, while I stood there talking to another neighbor.  I turned around and Audrey was already a house down toddling after the dog without hesitation.  As I went to get her and head home, she waved and said "Bye-Bye Do" over my shoulder the entire way back to our driveway.

• We have taught her how to tickle and she loves getting us.  And by tickle, I mean grab and jab at your flesh while you pretend to laugh instead of cry.  Still, it's so stinkin' cute.

And the #15 grand finale tidbit:  PICTURES ARE UP!!!  Check out the FOUR latest albums in the gallery and enjoy!