Brea Jean ~ 15 Months!

The days have been going by quickly and before I know it another month has gone by! It is crazy how fast time is going and how fast Brea is changing. Here is what Brea has been up to at 15 Months!

Nicknames: Brea Tortilla, Goo-me, Goo-mers

Biggest Achievement: Taking her first steps!

Biggest Challenge: Getting into her car seat. Also, having Hand, Foot, & Mouth disease, which led to some crabby days.

The car seat thing is getting so very old! Almost every time we get into the car it is a huge fight. We even moved her into a 'big girl' car seat thinking it would work better for her than the infant seat she was still using. Nope! It is so hard to get her into the seat because she is big enough now that I can't really move her especially when she is arching her back and refusing to sit down. So yeah...extremely over it and it can stop at any time now :).

Firsts: first steps!

Likes: jabbering, getting into kitchen cabinets, screaming at the top of her lungs, climbing on anything, stealing things from Nora :)

Dislikes: getting into the car, sitting in her seat for lunch, napping longer than 1.5 hours, being told no

Eating: Brea is definitely getting pickier with her food choices and seems to not be needing (wanting?) to eat as much at meal time. It is very easy to tell when Brea is either done eating or doesn't like a certain food because she ends up throwing up on the floor. She is very busy and doesn't like sitting and eating longer than 5-10 minutes or so. Whereas before we could keep her occupied just feeding her now when she is done she is DONE! So going out to dinner has been challenging.

She drinks milk and water from sippy cups throughout the day but definitely isn't as big of a milk drinker as Carter was at this age. Isla wasn't either and I wonder if it is because I nursed them longer...Speaking of nursing, Brea still nurses in the morning and before bed, which continues to work out for us.

Sleeping: Naps are still fairly short ranging from an hour to an hour and a half. Everyday I think, today is the day where she is going to 'get it' and take a long nap. And everyday she doesn't. :) This generally isn't too bad except for a string of days when she was crabby after waking up, which was annoying because 'hello baby! Sleeping longer would make you happier.' Also, evenings can get hairy because she has been up for so long.

Nights have been pretty good. We have a pretty good routine, which includes reading books, singing 'good night Brea' and putting her in her crib. She does cry most often than not before calming down for the night. But the crying rarely lasts longer than 5 minutes. Brea gets up around 7 in the morning. She has 'slept in' later than this on several occasions and also has gotten up much earlier. I know I am in for a crabby day when she gets up around  6:30. It is just not good for anyone :).

The Superficial: Well, Brea is totally adorable :). She reminds me of Carter at this age. Small but with wonderful chub especially in her belly and legs.  Her hair is coming in nicely and is very blonde! She still has very blue eyes and a big smile. She is wearing 12 month clothes (some 18 month clothes) and size 3 diapers.

Personality: Brea is such a stinker! She is a very happy baby but can be temperamental.  She goes from crabby to happy and back to crabby again within a ten minute time frame. She is going to keep us on our toes. She is very stubborn and does not back down against anyone. When Jake pushes her, she pushes him right back. She fights with Isla over toys and sippy cups and more times than not she is victorious ~ she just doesn't give up. I never thought I would see someone give Isla a run for her money! She can play independently for a long amount of time but is clingy to me in the afternoon and evening.

Teeth: Maybe her sleeping problems were due to the fact that several teeth decided to pop through this month. I think the count is now 8! This is up from just 4 last month! The two teeth next to her top teeth came through and at least one molar on the bottom and one on the top are through.

Language: Brea is a chatty girl! Carter calls her 'Chatty Kathy' because she rarely stops 'talking.' A lot of her conversation is just jabbering but she does say a handful of words. She says ball, mama, dada, Isla (I-ya), papa, Carter (tar -ter), duck, dog, and 'ack' (for yuck) fairly consistently. But she also says words clear as day but then doesn't repeat them often. For example:

• 'I did it'  ~Brea was putting her face in the pool water one of the last nights we went to the pool after school. I swear she came up and said 'I did it.' 
• 'Baby...get it!" We were at Matt's parents house after they got back from visiting Matt's sister. We hadn't seen them in a week and they couldn't believe how well Brea was talking. I asked her where her baby was and Brea saw her in the toy basket. Pointed and said, 'baby!' Then looked up and said, "get it!" 
• 'Read a book' ~ We were hanging out at my mom's house and Brea was flipping through a board book and we swear she said something that sounded like 'read a book'

We are tying to get her to speak instead of screaming so much but she continues to be loud. :)

Motor: On September 11th, Brea took her first several consecutive steps when we were visiting my grandma at the Fountains for grandparent's day. She had been standing up from a seated position by herself for several weeks but never had the courage to take a step. Well, maybe one step but not anymore than that. She could cruise along furniture and walk behind a push toy but never had the desire to walk by herself. She continues to walk more each day and I know it won't be long before she is walking all over the place. 

She loves to point at things all the time...people, and things in books. She waves at everyone especially when she is leaving. She blows kisses and knows where her mouth and feet are (in addition to head and tummy from last month). She occasionally will pat her diaper when she is wet. She will shake her head (no) or nod her head (yes) to answer a question. 

She climbs everything! She loves to climb on the couches or climb the stairs. Before she started taking steps she even climbed out of her crib!! I couldn't believe it when Matt asked me if I thought she was still in bed while looking at her monitor. I didn't see her through the monitor and when I went into her room she was on the floor by her dresser!! Luckily she hasn't had a repeat performance because she is NOT ready for a toddler bed. And let's be honest, I am NOT ready for her to be in one either :).

Other Notables: She has loveys!! She finally has shown a preference to her stuffed animals. I loved when my kids are old enough to do this! Carter, of course, chose Mr. Pig around this age however, Isla was much older chosing Wolfie at 2 1/2. But she was a paci girl much longer than the other two. Brea started requesting Ducky come out of the crib with her by pointing and saying 'duck.' She also points at her Red Panda. I get all three of them out of the crib in the morning and she hugs them in my arms. I love it!!

Her favorite books are Goodnight Gorilla, Going on a Bear Hunt, ABC Look at Me, and Moo Baa La La La. She has enjoyed reading books before bed each night and I am happy that we include this time in our bed time routine.