15 months

Anya turned 15 months yesterday. This morning we went to the doctor for her well-child visit.

weight: 22 pounds, 13 oz - 50th percentile
height: 30-3/4 inches tall - 50-75th percentile

Locomotion

Anya is still running......not that I suddenly expect her to stop. Unfortunately for Chris and I, she is quickly gaining proficiency in climbing. Yesterday, I caught her on top of her dresser. She had used the rocking chair to get to her nightstand and then the nightstand to get to the top of the dresser. Not 15 minutes after I moved the nightstand out of the room, she was on her way to the top of the dresser again -- she pulled the drawers out and used them like a ladder. Now this means I have to move all her medicine, etc. off the shelves we hung on the wall since she can reach it when on the dresser. She is keeping me on my toes.

Speech

I guess her vocabulary to be around 200 words now. Her favorites the last week have been "soccer ball" and "bicycle". She likes to practice saying them. Her annunciation has improved...not strongly, but I notice. I talked to her pediatrician briefly about it this morning. He said there is a strong correlation between language skills and general intelligence and that Anya is most likely a "gifted" child (as he witnessed her naming all sorts of things in the exam room). He just wants to address it again before Anya enters Kindergarten, for testing and to talk about special programs. But until then, no need to do anything differently. The idea of raising a "gifted" child honestly freaks me out. She's already a pain and more work in many ways than other kids her age (although in some ways she's easier and for that I'm thankful). I guess it is what it is and we'll figure it out. Or she'll be a terror and run the house.

Other Development

Anya is constantly testing both me and her boundaries, which is typical for this age group. If there is something she knows she is not allowed to do, she often attempts it (sometimes in slow motion), watching me the whole time and waiting for a reaction. Per Lynn's suggestion, we set up the pack & play for a time out spot. So far she loves going in there and jump-jump-jumping...and jumping. Quite alright with me.

Speaking of jumping, man, this kid is active. Not hyperactive, just...busy. In preschool co-op the subject last week was activity level. Some of the moms commented that Anya was extremely active. This sort of surprised me. I mean, I know she's considered active and is more than some kids. But I never thought that she was the most active, or unusually so. I can't think of any children in her age group more active than her, but I still don't think she's unusual in any way. Just has things to do. I hear my older brother was like that as a toddler, which is probably why my parents waited 5 years to have me.

She is starting to recognize some shapes, knows a few letters of the alphabet, and the names of a few numbers. I think only the idea of shapes is clicking at the moment, though. The other stuff is just memorization.

Food

After talking to the doctor, he thinks that the tomato and citrus looks more like a sensitivity rather than a true allergy (I would have thought the itchy bumps were a histamine reaction, but whatever). He doesn't think it would show up on an allergy test, so we're not going to put Anya through that for now. After her newest tomato/citrus-induced diaper rash has completely cleared, he wants us to very slowly reintroduce those foods in small quantities and in different forms (for example, tomato sauce, versus roasted, versus raw) and see how she reacts. And we should keep a food log.

Other than that, Anya's food habits are typical of toddlers (except for her love of broccoli). She spits out many vegetables, unless I "hide" them in soups, and some things she loves one day and won't eat the next. We really need to let her eat with utensils more often than we do (even per the doctor). I just hate the idea of cleaning soup-splattered walls. I guess it's time to get over that. Sigh.