In the past three months my baby has turned into a toddler (in looks, aptitude, and attitude) and I'm loving every minute of it (well, most minutes anyways).
Stats: At her 15 month checkup, Matilda weighed 18 pounds 8 ounces (13th percentile), was 28.7 inches long (4th percentile), and had a head circumference of 17.5 inches (18th percentile). We got freaked out a few weeks ago when she got weighed at her hip checkup because the scale there showed she lost weight. We started loading her with cheese, milk, and butter and I guess we did an okay job because she was basically right on track at her 15 month checkup.
In the past three months she's gotten four more teeth, so she's up to eight total now.
Sleep: She's still taking two naps. Her morning nap tends to be the shorter of the two - anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half, and her afternoon nap is usually one to two hours. She goes down around 6:30 pm, but she's still waking at least once a night, usually around 4:30 or 5 am. Then wakes for the day shortly after 6 am. I'd really like the night wakings to stop. She's gotten better at being able to put herself back down if she wakes earlier in the night, but sometimes we still have to go in there twice a night, which is hard.
Eat: Matilda still nurses twice a day, once when she goes down for the night, and then usually at the early morning waking. Like I said before, we got nervous about her weight, so she's starting drinking about half a bottle of Pediasure a day since she doesn't drink much cows milk (only 2-3 ounces a day). She also loves fruit and yogurt smoothies. She prefers to drink with a straw or out of an open cup.
She eats solids the rest of the day. She still loves fruits and doesn't care for meats. She usually will eat eggs, sometimes eats vegetables, and really enjoys mac and cheese. She mostly still eats with her hands, but she likes to try to practice with a fork and spoon too.
Play/ Milestones: Matilda has really worked on her gross motor skills over the past three months and started walking about 2 weeks ago. She can also get down from the couch and bed by herself, and she loves to roughhouse with her dad.
She hasn't said many words the past few months, and has mostly stuck to mama and dada. She definitely knows how to shake her head "no" though. She also knows where her belly button and head are and will point to your nose if asked to. She still loves to wave at people (both hi and bye) and she blows kisses too. She has also started to dance and clap to music, which is really cute. We've found that she likes ALL kinds of music.
She loves to "help" out around the house. She can clean her table after she eats, likes to throw away her disposable diaper in the morning (the rest of the day she's in cloth diapers), likes to put the cap back on the milk, and helps load the dishwasher and washing machine.
She's obsessed with putting caps and lids on and off, so we've gotten her a lot of items to practice this with (little containers, old lipstick, etc.) She likes to play with her
Hape Pound and Tap Bench, her stacking rings, and her shape sorter (although this one she still gets a bit frustrated with). She also practices putting beans in and out of small containers and toothpicks into spice containers, which are both Montessori exercises. In the past week or so, she's also learned to throw things, so we keep a few balls out for her to practice this skill.
She also enjoys playing with her dolls and stuff animals. She will rock them to music (which is adorable) and give them kisses. She was obsessed with her dolls for a few weeks and wanted to carry them everywhere she went.
Every morning she likes emptying my makeup bag, going through the craft cabinet, and tearing up toilet paper. I'm not a fan of the huge mess she makes, but if it keeps her from climbing into the shower with me (which she's done before), then I'm okay with it.
We've also worked on practical life skills. She will pick out an outfit if you give her two choices and (kind of) help get dressed. She helps brush her teeth and her hair. We've also started toilet learning and she'll use the potty about 80% of the time you set her on it.
As you can tell, Matilda's spent a lot of time in the water this summer. It took her some time to warm up to swimming pools and splash pads, but now she loves them. She's also spent a lot of time at the zoo and Children's Museum. She also went to visit the grandparents down south in June, went to her first Astros game with Jason's aunt, uncle, and cousins, went to the hill country to celebrate her great-grandma's birthday, and spent a weekend at the lake with Ferryn and Steve. I think she's had a pretty good summer! :)
Hip Dysplasia/ Leg Update: We got bad news at Matilda's last hip checkup. The doctor didn't see the progress he'd like on her socket forming, so she's back in her brace when she sleeps. Luckily, she doesn't mind the brace and just sees it as part of her routine. She can crawl around in it pretty decently, so it doesn't really bother her. The brace is only effective for another year or so. If the socket hasn't deepened sufficiently, then she'll have to have another surgery (likely a
Dega or Pemberton osteotomy).
The doctor said that since there is a 20% chance of reoccurrence after any surgery until the child is done growing (roughly age 14), he'd likely want to hold off the surgery as long as possible (so long as the hip is still stable and she isn't complaining of pain). So realistically, if she has to have surgery, it could be anywhere from when she's 3 to 14 years old.
So, not the news we wanted to hear, but we're just hopeful the brace will help over the next year. She'll go back in 6 months for another round of x-rays to check the progress.
