15 Months Old

Today we took Zoe for her 15 month check up. Besides being incredibly cute (we're not bragging, it's really what the doctor said), she is ahead of the curve both physically and developmentally. She now weighs 26 lbs and measures 31 inches. I'm not sure how accurate that is...they weighed her standing on a scale while she was fidgeting, and she was fully clothed with a wet diaper. When they measured her height, they laid her down on a sheet of paper and marked the top of her head and the bottom of her foot, then they measured between the two lines. At any rate, she is certainly growing. This week she just met one of the big 15 month milestones: walking backwards. She does it while she's dancing, and also when she wants you to "catch" her. She can almost run, and lately has been practicing jumping up with both feet. She still has a hard time stepping on and off the sidewalk, but she's gotten much better at stepping over objects that are in her way. In addition to her large motor skills, Zoe has also been working on her fine motor development. She's getting much better with her spoon and fork, and she seems to prefer her right hand for eating and coloring. She loves to play with stacking toys and shape sorters, and she has just started to stack blocks, but mostly she likes to knock them down. Zoe is a babbler more than a talker, although she has about 20 words that she says on a regular basis. She knows lots of animal sounds and can identify just about every major body part. She has been developing lots of opinions, and now will say "no" and shake her head if you sing a song that she doesn't like. She also says "no" to coming inside after playing outside, and if you open the door (to look for a package or check the weather) but don't actually go outside, she cries quite dramatically.

We're very proud of our baby princess, and we especially enjoy her loving nature, full of cuddles and kisses, and the best smile we've ever seen!