15 Months - What's Up

Clara is 15 months old now. What is she up to?

Daily Activities:
Kisses: Well my favorite thing is she has started to give kisses with puckered lips instead of the open-mouth ones we used to get. She will pucker and say "Ooooo" and lean into you for a kiss. She loves to go back and forth giving first Mom then Dad kisses.
TV: She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and thank God for Tivo; we can put it on anytime. She also enjoys Handy Manny, Sesame Street, and Little Einsteins, but they are distant seconds to Mickey. Maybe that is what happens when you take your toddler to Disney World every other weekend all Spring long ;)
Books: She is starting to show definite preferences in her books. Her absolute favorite is Curious George's Opposites. If I say the first few lines from that one (I know it by heart now) she will go to her room from anywhere in the house and bring me the book from her bookshelf. Additionally we have to read this one about 3 times before bed each night. I usually get about 3 pages into another book before she pulls it from my hands and replaces it with Curious George.

Food: She has become a much pickier eater. She loves Mac and Cheese and would eat if for every meal everyday if I'd let her. But she seems to go through food spells like that were one thing is just "it". For a while she loved Eggo waffles, then there was a grape period, but for now it is Mac and Cheese. I feel like I waste a lot of food offering her things other than what she wants, but I'm hoping to expand her pallet before she starts pre-school this fall and I have to pack lunches for her.

Sleep: She has been sleeping the night through for several months now and is still in her crib. She luckily has made no effort to climb out of it. The same cannot be said for her travel crib. That one she can escape at will... not good. In addition to sleeping through the night we have started to put her down everyday at 1:30 for an afternoon nap. She cries for a few minutes but then naps for anywhere from 1-2 hours. For a Mom that didn't have a napping baby, this new developement ROCKS. Again, we've started instituting nap time in an effort to ease her transition into pre-school this fall where they have daily naptime after lunch.

Verbal Development: This area is still slow, or at least it seems that way to me since we have a lot of frustration from lack of communication. She has about a 10 word vocab, but prefers to point, grunt and/or scream instead of using her words. The only words that she uses consistently are Dad, Ut-Oh, and juice. Other sometimes words are: Kitty, Dog, Titty (yes I still nurse her once a day), Shoes, Mom. Oh, and I almost forgot, if you point to a picture of a cow, or ask her what a cow says she will 'Moo'. I love it! She can definitely understand a lot more than she can say. She will follow simple directions (if you can get her attention) and can point to her nose, head, go to her changing table, get various toys she is sent looking for, hug and kiss her baby doll when instructed, etc.

Physical Development: She is all but running through the house now and is very sure on her feet. She climbs anything she can get a grip on (especially her high chair). She loves to walk in stores now instead of sitting in her stroller or a shopping cart. It works okay when she holds my hand, but she is easily distractred by objects on low shelves so I spend most of our shopping trips chasing her around reshelving items she has picked up. She can stack about 3-4 blocks, has started to scribble with (then eat) crayons, and she likes to sit and look at board books. Bathtime is all about lining up the duckies. She carefully sets them on the edge of the tub, but pulls them all back into the bath and repeats that until she and the duckies are clean.