Fifteen Months Old!

July 29, 2011

Dear Riggins,

You are 15 months old!  At your last doctors appointment, you weigh 24 pounds and are still a tall guy.  You wear 12-18 month clothing and bumped up to size 5 diapers this month.  You still nap in the morning and in the afternoon, and sleep from 7pm to 7am at night.  You still only have 8 teeth.  Eating is still a favorite pastime, and you like most everything you try (other than potatoes, which baffles me!).  This month you even tried your first lollipop, and it was love at first lick!

It has been HOT here this month, with most days reaching 100+ degrees.  That means that we've spent a lot of time indoors, but also a lot of time at our local splash pad!  You really enjoy the water, but you love watching the big kids even more!  Indoors, you've enjoyed story time at our local bookstore, the children's area at our library, and moseying around the grocery store or Target (although you're less tolerant of the grocery cart these days).  Reading is one of your favorite things, and you are constantly bringing books for me to read to you.  When we finish one, you usually ask me to read it again!  Favorites include your DOG book, "Just Like Daddy," and anything by Eric Carle.

You're a speedy little walker now.  Other physical developments include your new ability to climb up the slide and slide back down, playing peekaboo with your hands over your eyes, sticking out your tongue on command, and fake sneezing.  You've also developed some dance moves, your trademark being what we like to call "Drop it Like It's Hot," where you squat repeatedly.  If Daddy says "flex!", you squeeze your fists, shake your arms and neck, and clench your teeth.

Sign language is still a huge help to both of us, and your "vocabulary" now includes more, all done, eat, milk, and please.  Although you jabber all day long, you still don't use many actual words.  You love to say "woof woof" and "vroom vroom."  Your trademark syllable is "eh," which you say over and over when trying to communicate what you want.  You sound like a little Canadian!

You are such an affectionate little boy.  Throughout the day, you walk up to me for a hug, lay your head on my chest, and sometimes pat my back or squeeze my arm.  You give kisses when I ask for them, and sometimes you surprise me by giving me one on your own!  You love to snuggle when we read or when you first wake up, and you especially love it when I put the side down on your crib and crawl in there with you.  We have lots of good snuggle and reading time curled up in there and in your cardboard box house.  You also love Weber and often give her pats, tug her ears, or lay your head on her back.  She is tirelessly tolerant of you, and is always ready to run into your room when I open your door in the morning or after a nap.

Favorite things this month include your stuffed hippo and giraffe, playing outside, cell phones, your new red rocking chair, rolling around on Weber's bed, carrying around the honey bottle (something about that bear!), and being tickled.  You love airplanes (our home is in the line of the Memphis Airport, so lots of planes fly overhead all day long), and any time you hear one you point to the sky and look up.  A fun new activity that we've started this month is having you help in the kitchen.  You love to stand at the counter on your step stool to watch me cook, and you especially enjoy helping to stir and push the buttons on the food processor and microwave.  We've been very thankful that our new dishwasher has a lock function, or you'd be starting a load several times a day!

Discipline is still creeping into the picture.  Particular strongholds for you are getting into the pantry, pushing the buttons on the DVD player, and feeding Weber from your high chair.  We do lots of "No" and distraction, but we have also found that a one-minute time-out works well for you too.  You really resist holding our hands when walking, so we're practicing that.  When you get mad at our attempts to thwart your independence, you arch your back, throw yourself down on the ground, and stick out your bottom lip before wailing.  We don't mind; we know you're just trying to figure out where you fit in this big world, so we just sit back and try not to laugh at your dramatics! :)

You are definitely a toddler, quickly on your way to becoming a little boy.  I am savoring these days with you, my little sidekick, and so is your Daddy.  His summer schedule has offered him a lot of extra time at home, and we are both just soaking up this sweet, simple time in our lives with you.

We love you so, so much, buddy!
Momma