Blessed Beyond Measure: Toddler Tales: 15 Months Old

On Christmas Eve our littlest guy turned 15 months. With the chaos of Christmas, I didn't get around to taking his 15 month photos until one week later (AFTER his sledding accident).

So what is the little dude like at 15 months? Well, he is a handful! He is almost always on the move and finding trouble to get into. He loves to climb things and seems to have no fear. He treats the stairs like they should include a bungee cord. He chases after Emma and giggles as she tries to get away. He loves to make messes, like pushing all of the magnets on the floor, dumping all his toys out of their bins and throwing his food on the floor. Once in a while he also enjoys cleaning things up, but usually that just ends in him dumping everything we picked up back out again.

While he does tend to enjoy being a trouble maker, Avery is also incredibly affectionate. I LOVES to give kisses and makes sure that I never run out of them. He also loves to snuggle on my lap and hold onto my fingers. If he isn't running around like a crazy person, you can almost bet that he is insisting on being held, snuggled, or read to.

His favorite games these days include peek-a-boo and hide-and-go-seek with his big brother. He also loves to play ball or with his cars and trucks.

He is very curious and always wants to know what is going on around him. He also always has to be included. He does not like when Asher gets to do something that he does not and gets very upset if Daddy does something with Asher and not him. He also doesn't like to share his mommy. It is quite common for him to try to push Asher off my lap if he sees me snuggling with his big brother. Although he is a very happy little guy most of the time, I think a better word to describe him (which my brother uses often to describe his child) is passionate. He is very invested in everything that he does and in everyone/thing that he loves, and he wears his emotions on his sleeves. If he is happy, he is all smiles, but if he is angry, sad, frustrated or jealous he will make sure you know about it. At the moment his emotions seem to control him and his actions and we are working on that. If he is angry he will hit, if he is jealous he will hit or push, if he is frustrated his little feet start stomping. Hopefully as he learns to talk more, we will be able to help him to express his emotions in other (healthier) ways.

So yeah...he still doesn't talk much, but he is getting a little better. At this point, he now says Mama, Dada, Ahhhye (hi) and Chhh (cheese), in addition to knowing the sounds of a dog, elephant, horse, truck and dinosaur. Despite his lack of words though, he is very good at getting his point across. We rarely do not know what he wants, as he will pull us to show us what he wants, points, brings stuff to us, shakes his head yes and no and also has a way of moving his hand in a waving fashion which means a fervent "I want that!!!! Gimme, gimme gimme!!! Please, please, please" Additionally, he is quite good at flirting and frequently uses it to "sweet talk" others into getting what he wants.

Avery also loves to dance. He has quite the moves and instantly starts to dance any time he hears music. For Christmas he got a alphabet magnet toy that goes on the fridge and sings when you put a letter into it. Instead of playing with the letter though, he just pulls it off the fridge and walks around the house with it, pushing the button to play music to dance to as if it were his own personal boom box.

On January 6th, Avery had is 15 month checkup. All went well and he measured in at 24 pounds 3 oz (68%), 31 1/4" tall (57%) and a head circumference of 19 1/4" (93%!-our kids have big heads!) He still has 12 teeth, but is working on his canines.

This kid definitely has my cheeks!

Avery now sleeps through the night most nights and is starting to learn a new big boy bedtime routine. He wakes up happy (& usually poopy) and frequently sits and talks in his bed for up to an hour while he waits for us to get ready and come get him. On the weekends when I am able to stay in bed longer, I will often hear him calling for me "Mama, mama, mama", and my heart wakes up very happy!

So, that is our littlest man. He is silly, sweet, funny, impatient, loving, fearless, messy, trouble and absolutely perfect. We love him to pieces and wouldn't change him for anything!!!