How is it even possible that she is already 14 months old? No longer a baby, but a little
person... a person with a mind of her own, an opinion about most things, an abundance of curiosity, a stubborn & feisty streak, but oh such a sweet, sweet side.
I miss the adorable monthly
onesies that gave me reason to diligently document the monthly minutia of this little miracle girl. Since it's been a couple of months.... here's a little bit of what she's up to and a few photos to prove it.
She is such a happy content thing. Her countenance is just happy and charming. She loves to chat and jabber and tell me secrets. She talks and chats and laughs at herself almost non-stop. Seeing her personality develop is one of the most awesome things I've ever known. She loves to be on the go and is such a fun little sidekick. I love having a little built in best friend!
This girl LOVES music! First thing in the morning as we head into the kitchen, she points to the stereo and grunts for me to turn it on. She ALWAYS wants to have music playing regardless of what we are doing, needless to say we have lots of favorite playlists, cds and fun music that she can't get enough of. If she knows that something can play music and isn't, she wants it to.... no matter what it is. Grandma has lots of musical holiday decorations and Leah is obsessed with them. She has a huge musical nutcracker that Leah loves so much. anytime that it stops playing, she grunts and points until you wind it up again. It is about as excited as I ever see her get.
All that being said, it is no surprise that she loves her weekly kindermusik class. Our teacher is amazing and we love the weekly playdate with our buddy Sawyer and his mama!
She is still not walking, though after long believing that she may
never walk, I now believe that she is getting much, much closer. She finally has a desire to be vertical and loves standing up and getting into things that were just recently out of reach. She is climbing stairs, walking along furniture and getting braver and more confident all the time. I think my guess of 15 months is going to be pretty close!
She is so curious and such a busy body. I literally can't leave her alone for a minute or she finds something new to get into. I don't think she's naughty by nature, but her curiosity and independence is getting her into more and more trouble all the time. She is opening cabinets and drawers and can empty them faster than I can say
uncle, she loves to pull things down from shelves and has recently discovered how fun a roll of toilet paper can be while mama's in the shower.
But look at this face.... it's impossible to get mad at that sweet little face:
In addition to getting into a bit more trouble these days, she is also so much more fun and playful and she's learning new tricks all the time. She loves peek-a-boo and is getting so good at it and sneakier about her reveals, she blows kisses, gives amazing real kisses (though only sparingly), mimics tons of sounds and noises, can point to her nose, eyes, ears, mouth and teeth, loves to dance, loves to do somersaults (with help) and loves to rough-house. She is a total thrill seeker and loves to be thrown in the air, held upside down, thrown onto the bed, etc. I love that we can play and communicate now. Although she still doesn't say a ton of real words, she can tell me what she wants and how she feels and I actually understand. I love it!
She is silly and giggly and wild around people she knows and in situations she is comfortable in... but very cautious and serious around strangers or in new situations. She takes a bit of time to warm up to people in new situations.
She is especially snugly when she is tired. She loves to snuggle with her Elle-Elephant the very most, but I like to think that I'm a close second. She loves to lay on my chest while I tickle her back. She gets especially ticklish and giggly when she's tired and when I tickle the small of her back she arches and does the sweetest tired laugh and then waits for me to do it again. Our pre-naptime rituals are some of my favorite times of the day.
She now has 9 teeth and the 10th will be through literally any day. The most recent molars have been a little rough, but for the most part she has been a trooper.
She is still a great sleeper for the most part and sleeps 12-13 hours a night. We are currently transitioning from 2 naps to 1, so our days are not always super predictable. She doesn't want 2 naps anymore, but often times one just isn't enough... so we've been rotating.
She is getting pickier and pickier with what she eats... I think mostly just because she can. Some days she is a fantastic eater and other days, she flexes her independent muscles a little more and it's a battle. Some current favorites are grapes, hummus, applesauce, pasta of any kind, pears and quesadillas. She LOVES water and I have a hard time getting her to drink anything else.
Her hair is getting wilder and wilder by the day. She has the craziest cowlicks making her hair literally grow in every direction. The longer it gets, the more it sticks up. It's a bit of a process to get her presentable every day! :)
I have never loved the holidays more than this year. Leah is fascinated with the tree and all of the glittery decorations and twinkling lights. We made a holiday bucket list to ensure that we made the most of the season and although CJ may or may not have rolled his eyes, so far it has been a smashing success.
I was so worried about her yanking on the tree and grabbing for ornaments, so I got a cheap red wire basket from the dollar store and filled it with plastic, non-breakable ornaments and jingle bells (also from the dollar store) and set it next to the tree for her to play with. I tell you what... I'm brilliant. She loves it and it's the first thing that she goes for and it keeps her entertained for long periods of time. She either dumps them out or takes them out one by one, studies them, shakes them, rolls them, bounces them and then puts them all back to start over again. She loves having something that she can get into without being scolded and I love that it has so far kept her distracted enough from disturbing anything else!!
Honestly, we just plain couldn't be any more smitten by her. I am quite certain that she hung the moon!
"Children's faces looking up, Holding wonder like a cup"
Everysinglething about my world is better and more magical with her in it.
