There’s no denying it: Alma has fully entered toddlerhood.
12, 13, even 14 months still seemed like numbers that belonged to a baby. But 15 months? My little girl is growing up! I mean, just look at this photo – how did she get so big?!
Here’s what we’ve been up to this month:
Sleep:
This month, we’ve had both the worst and best sleep since we started our parenting journey. The first half of the month was terrible – difficult to nurse to sleep, more night wakings – which were also difficult to nurse her back to sleep, and painfully early morning wake-ups. We decided we’d had enough, and no one was getting enough sleep. So we sleep-trained Alma, and it was the best decision!
Now, Alma sleeps through the night, with only a rare check-in from us (maybe once a week?). Since we started sleep training a few weeks ago, I’ve only had to nurse her in the middle of the night a few times, when she really seemed to need it. She has only gotten up before 6am a few times. It’s usually around 6:30, which is so much better than 5:00/5:30! She wakes up happy, smiley, & snuggling with her baby doll.
Her sleep schedule changes slightly from day to day. Typically, it’s something like 7:30pm-6:30am, and a nap around 11:30/12 for 2-3 hours.
Eating:
I would say overall, her eating habits have slightly improved this month. You can read this month’s Munchkin Meals link up for more details on what she’s been eating.
whole (peeled) apples are a new favorite
She has gotten really efficient with using utensils. She can pretty much handle bowls of yogurt and applesauce (or anything with a similar consistency) on her own. Sometimes we help hold the bowl, or scrape down the sides of the bowl to help her get the last bites. She’s still working on her fork technique, but she can often get bites herself. We tend to help her a lot more with the fork, but she loves using it.
Since we are pretty much night weaned, she nurses 6 times a day: first thing in the morning, mid-morning, before nap, after nap, mid-afternoon, and before bed. A lot of these sessions, she only gets milk from one side (she’ll nurse on both, but she doesn’t sit still long enough to get a let-down from the second side). Sometimes we’ll have an extra session if she’s feeling particularly grumpy that day (major teething going on) or has bad fall/bump.
sleepy morning nurse
I’d love to cut out the mid-morning and mid-afternoon feeds, but she always asks for them (and often even asks for more an hour or so later), so I’ll let her drop those when she no longer asks for them. I’m not in any rush to wean, and I’m glad she’s still getting breastmilk. I can tell my supply is gradually dropping. It will be interesting to see how long we make it!
Development:
(I don’t mean to sound like I’m bragging about Alma’s skills in these ‘development’ sections – I just want to remember these milestones!)
So many developmental leaps this month!
Her language skills are just skyrocketing. She identifies all the major facial features (‘eye’, ‘noh’ – nose, ‘mau’ – mouth, ‘tsth’ – teeth). She also can point to her ear, head, and hair when asked, but she has a hard time saying those words. Other new words this month: ball (baow), bus (buh), rock (raw), flower (fwowah), ow, banana (a-na-na), ah-choo (when we sneeze), more (moa), water (wah-ru), open (oh-pu) apple (ap-uh) and snack (nnah).
She can say her name (Ah-ma), but I can’t remember if that was this month or last. She also has a few sounds that she consistently uses, but I’m not sure what they mean yet.
Of course, she will try to repeat just about anything you say to her, but those are the words that she clearly has associated with an object or activity.
She is a great climber, and just recently figured out how to scale the couch and chair in the living room. She climbs the playground equipment like no big deal, but I still follow her closely, since she isn’t completely aware of sudden openings or drop-offs. She practices jumping several times a day and can sometimes get both feet off the ground. She learned how to kick a ball this month, as well.
oh my
And for perspective, some of the challenges we’ve been having:
We are seeing a little bit of toddler-trantrums developing. If she doesn’t get something she wants, she often drops to the floor, crying and rolling around. Very dramatic. Right now, they are relatively short-lived, thankfully.
She also has some undesirable behaviors when playing with other children. When toy-sharing goes wrong, as it often does amongst babies and toddlers, she tends to lash out by pulling hair, grabbing clothes, or pinching. Obviously, this makes me feel like a terrible parent when it happens in public, but it’s just the stage we’re in and most parents are understanding. I stay close to Alma when we’re hanging out with other little ones so I can intercept when needed.
On the other hand, Alma gives hugs and kisses freely and loves to gently pat babies on the head (and of course, identify their facial features!). It just doesn’t take much for a gentle head pat to turn into a curious (or mischievous) hair-tug!
alma has lots of hugs & kisses for us, too!
Alma received this hand-me-down kitchen set from a family I nannied for, and she loves it! She isn’t yet into the ‘pretend play’ stage, but she loves to open the doors, take the racks out, put things in and take them back out again, and carry all the pots, dishes, and play food around the house. She does pretend to drink out of the cups, but I’m actually not sure if she’s pretending, or just hoping maybe something will be in there 
The kitchen is still in great condition despite being over 6 years old, and we were very thankful for the generous gift!
Alma got two more teeth in this month – her 8th front tooth, and her first molar! (As of today, one day after turning 15 months, she has a 10th tooth – another molar!). I can feel two more molars, and two canines that are so close to the surface. I would be surprised if they didn’t break through this month. At the time I wrote her last months update, she had 7 teeth. It’s crazy to think that she could have double the amount in just two month’s time!
(Edited to add: Alma had her 15 month check-up 1.5 weeks after she turned 15 months. She weighed 21 lbs 10 oz (55%) and was 32.75″ tall (97%). Still our long and lean, healthy little girl!)
Schedule:
A typical day at 15 months looks like this:
- 6:30am – wake-up, nurse
- 7:30am – breakfast, then play
- 9:00am – nurse, then head out to indoor play park/library/play date/take a neighborhood walk
- 11:00am – lunch, then nap routine (brush teeth/diaper & sleep sack/nurse/read book-optional, depends on how sleepy she is/snuggles)
- 12:00-2:30pm – nap
- 2:30pm – nurse, then play & afternoon snack
- 3:30/4pm – walk to park
- 5:00-6:00pm – nurse, then play with dad
- 6:00pm/ish – dinner, then bath every other night
- 7:00pm – bedtime routine (diaper/pjs/nurse/brush teeth/get in sleep sack/read 2 books/good-night song & snuggles)
- 7:30pm – asleep or falling asleep
Posts:
- moving update
- day in the life: 14 months
- sleep training: ferber method
- april review; may goals
- munchkin meals: 15 months
I’m looking forward to all of the new things Alma will learn this month. We have so many things planned for the summer: music classes, swimming, play groups, (potty training?), and as much outdoor play as we can fit in. I’m so happy the weather has warmed up – Alma could spend all day outside!
