1.25 years

Preston is 15 months old now, which means he's been around for 1.25 years. This entails another well child check-up with shots and a check on his height/weight. I stopped doing his monthly updates and will do them to coincide with well child check-ups from here on out.

Preston,

We love this age with you! Really, you are so much fun (99% of the time... we all have our moments!)

You weigh 26 pounds even and are 30.5 inches tall. You are in the 25-50th percentile in both. Your head measured 46.5, which is pretty big, but nothing to be worried about. I think a lot of it is your thick hair.

You wear a size 5 shoe and 18-24 month clothes. Size 4 diaper. You've got 7 teeth fully in, with 3 molars working their way in as we speak.

You are an awesome eater. Your favorites are:

• peanut butter and banana sandwiches 
• those squeezable pouches with fruit and veggies for treats :) or when we're running errands
• grapes 
• string cheese 
• your #1 favorite = bananas. You run over to where we keep them on the counter, point to them, and yell "Nana! nana! nana!" 

You have also tried some random things like sushi, brussel sprouts, pickles and sun dried tomatoes. You love it all!

You are an expert begger. I don't know if you have watched Brother, but if you see one of us snacking or drinking a Coke or anything, you beg for it. It's forced us to keep our snacking and drinking in check. :) Also, you really like to eat off of our plates. You beg for whatever we are eating, even if it is the exact same thing on your plate. Tantrums will ensue over this. :)

You have a lot of favorite things right now, so here is a list of some of your favorite stuff:

• Being outside
• Swinging
• Long walks around the neighborhood in your Radio Flyer wagon
• Reading - Favorites are Llama Llama Red Pajama, Moo, Pat the Bunny, Little Loon and Papa, and (much to your daddy's approval) Hello Hairy Dog
• Yo Gabba Gabba on Nick JR
• Dinosaurs
• Dirt, mud, puddles and sticks (all boy)
• Dancing
• Bath time - we have a few bath time games we play with you and you just love it

The differences in 12 months and 15 months are pretty amazing. Fun developmental stuff:

• You can label lots of body parts by pointing - head, hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, feet, hands and tummy. Right now, you're working on knees, elbows, fingers and toes.
• Tantrums. Unfortunately, they are really common these days. And whining. It's like nails on a chalkboard. Sometimes it feels like you are throwing a tantrum every 5 minutes over anything and everything. It wears on us, son. I really hope this doesn't last a long time.

• Recently, I've started handing you a fork to see how you do.You love it, and surprised us when you quickly picked up the fork and started using it well. 
• Talking. Oh, the talking. You talk constantly. Of course, most of it makes zero sense, but the words will be flowing soon. You can clearly say "bye bye" (and wave backwards - cutest thing ever), "night night", "noooo!!!", "mama", "dada", dog", "hi", "bubbles" (sounds like "babals"), "all gone", "nose", "mouth", "eyes", "keys", "nana" for banana, "down" and "ball". You mimic a lot of our sounds. The list grows every day.
• Whenever you see your mom and dad grab their keys or purse, you immediately start blowing kisses and saying "bye bye" even if we didn't say anything about leaving. You are a little sponge.
• You can follow single instructions like "Pick up the ball" or "throw this away". You will actually pick up trash and through it in the trash can when we ask you to. 
• You have learned to drive a car or a train piece on the ground. You used to walk around with them in your hands, but now you know to steer it on the ground and push it along.
• You can throw a ball overhand.
• If we sing Ring Around the Rosy, you will spin in circles and then fall down at the exact moment we say "all fall down!"
• The second you hear music, you start dancing and clapping.
• You give hugs and kisses when we ask for them, and sometimes spontaneously. When you run up to us out of nowhere and hug or kiss us, there is nothing sweeter on earth.
• You LOVE to climb. You want to climb any and everything. Scares us half to death. You are a true daredevil. 
• You are European. By that I mean, your sleeping is blowing us away. The child who didn't sleep or nap EVER his first 8 months of life has suddenly decided sleep is the best thing ever. Most mornings, we have to wake you up for school. You go to bed between 7:30 and 8 at night and when we let you sleep in, you will sleep until 9. Your mommy and daddy are LOVING it! Then, you take 3 hour naps in the middle of the day. Seriously, words cannot express how we love our little European boy. ;)

Preston, you are such a joy. You are no longer a baby and are a full blown toddler. You are testing your independence, and you just soak up everything around you. You love to learn and do new things, and are never afraid of anything. Happy 15 months. We love you so much!