Progress Charts on The QLP

This post is brought to you by the letter J, for JEEZUZ she is learning so quickly I can't wrap my feeble mind around it. Just so I remember for posterity, I need to record the achievements to date. It keeps me honest.

First, let's talk about the talking. She repeats sounds she hears constantly, and has figured out enough language to begin her mastermind manipulation. We've got Mama, Dada, All Done, More, Duck, Dog, and BALL! BALL! BALL! all down pretty intelligibly. We are working on saying body parts, but saying doesn't seem to be as fun as pointing them out on our bodies. We've got the nose, mouth and belly button down, and on occasion, we get ears right. If pressed to be truthful, the best things we've taught her to date are HIGH FIVE! and today's lesson which she enthusiastically caught on to very quickly, FIST PUMP! This is that part of development where it becomes fun to teach her all kinds of ridiculousness in order to amuse ourselves. Feel free to judge me, you'll do it with your kid too, I promise.

She goes through stages with whom she wants to be with at any given moment; some days are Mama days, others she's 100% Daddy's Girl. Andrew taught her how to spray the water from the faucet in the bath in all direction, so now bath time requires a full wet suit and spray guard. She is becoming sneaky, and will squint her eyes at us when she is testing our limits. That is to say, almost all the time. The doors are new toys, and she will walk around the house opening and shutting all of them over and over again until I drag her away. She wants to eat like us and insists on using a fork at meal times. At school, she and another play mate are referred to as "Thelma & Louise" because they like to stir trouble up together.

She is stubborn (shocker) and headstrong, but sweeter and more lovable than I could have ever imagined. She waves hello and good-bye to everyone she runs across, and most strangers are putty in her hands. Her outgoing personality is endearing, but in the case of strangers it makes me nervous, and I haven't quite figured out how to deal with that yet. How do I ask her to not trust strangers at this age? She has never been a big sleeper, taking fewer and shorter naps than the "average" kid her age. Given a routine however, she will usually sleep until after 6am, and that is almost luxurious to me.

When it comes to her physical stature, she is off the charts. At 15 months, she was the average size of a 2 year old in height, and in the 90 percentile for weight. In 3 months she stretched 2 inches. I remember growing pains from puberty, and I'm guessing she's got some of her similar stuff going on right now. She walks around with both her hands resting behind her on her lower back, and it reminds me of my grandfather when he is taking a stroll, so stately and confident. Only in Lilly's case, her stroll is not so much slow and controlled, as rambunctious and sporadic. Her hair lightened up over the summer, going from a medium brown to a dark strawberry blondish hue. It is completely out of control right now, falling between rock star and mad scientist, and I am at a loss of what to do with it . Do I cut it and risk a mullet? Or do I let the awkward stage go until it's more agreeable to being tamed by rubber bands and clips? Even if I wait, it's not like she'll let it be tamed, as she has taken to pulling out any attempt at styling. Because I seem to be Switzerland on the topic, Andrew's veto on the hair cut wins out for now.

The past few months have been such a huge change for our family, it's been amazing to watch her adapt and grow. I wish I could speed up and slow down time simultaneously. I feel lucky to witness life like this, and I can't wait to see where it goes for her from here.