15 Months

Length: 30 3/4 inches (61st %ile)
Weight: 21 lbs (22nd %ile)
Head Circ: 48 cm (91st %ile)

Claire is walking, as you know, and is getting braver every day. She's still in the cute arms out for balance stage. She still prefers to crawl if she's in a hurry.

She loves to eat and will accept a snack almost anytime it's offered. And she hasn't gotten to the super picky stage yet. For which I am very grateful.

She's slowly warming up to cow's milk (since I started adding a little instant breakfast) but isn't ready to quit nursing yet (we're down to morning and night). Or maybe I'm not ready? Who knows. We both will be by 18 months :)

Claire is still a champ at going down for naps and bed at night (although not when we're traveling). Sleeping 11 hours at night. Too bad she goes to bed at 7 pm and wakes up at 6 am. I can't break her of that either. She's stubborn! 6 is EARLY for a night owl like me. Luckily Ben gets up with her most mornings and let's me catch a little more sleep.

It looks as though she might drop a nap soon. But as long as she's waking up at 6 am, I'm encouraging two!

Claire knows the sounds for 10 animals. She knows: cow, horse, dog, cat, goat, sheep, snake, tiger, bear, and bee. Paige loves this skill of Claire's and has been instrumental in rounding out her repertoire.

Her overall vocabulary hasn't really increased much lately (she says mama, dada, paige (paysh), papa, hi, bye (which often sounds like "die"), ball, baby, puppy, no, yes (yeshhhh), uh-huh, thank you (da do) . . .) but she'll try to repeat almost any simple word that I ask her to.

Claire and Paige now play together. REALLY play together. Until Paige gets pushy and Claire starts crying that is. But nothing sounds sweeter than hearing them squeal in laughter together.

Claire has discovered Blue's Clues. She will frequently point to the blank tv screen and ask, "Boo Cue?". Don't worry, it really doesn't hold her attention for long.

I mentioned that she is stubborn, and I meant it. She knows what she wants. And it looks as though she may soon rival Paige for highest decibel ever reached by the human voice. Those loud Reed genes are dominant.

She's still a cuddle-er. Though a little less so. She's pushing away sooner than she used to.

She has her own babbling language that she seems to expect me to understand :) I've been answering back as if I know what she's saying. Mostly she likes this. Sometimes she gets frustrated because I obviously don't know what she's talking about.

She LOVES to sing songs with actions. Do NOT say the word popcorn in her presence unless you are prepared to sing "popcorn popping" and act it out at least 3 times in a row. She knows, and does, all the actions herself too. Her favorite part is "it wasn't really so" to which she vigorously wags her pointer finger back and forth while saying "no, no, no, no, no." She also likes "wheels on the bus", and the "itsy bitsy spider", of course. We've recently added "the wise man built his house upon the rock" to the routine. Are there any other great action songs I'm missing? I would really appreciate a little more variety!

She also likes books. But the regular variety don't hold her attention for long. She prefers the "lift - the - flap" ones. Again, any recommendations? We have Dear Zoo, Where's Spot, and several Karen Katz ones. They are all great, but we could definately use some more.

She gets very excited to brush her teeth.

And she loves to pray. She started folding her arms and bowing her head all on her own one night when we were putting Paige to bed. She now insists on a prayer whenever we sit down to eat - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She's much more reverent than Paige.

She is very attached to her mama.

And I am very attached to her.