15 Months Old

Where. Does. The. Time. Go? This summer has been blazing by at warp speed. Shelby's newfound independence has kept us busy but it's been so much fun! She's at a really fun age right now! Here is what's new:

• WALKING! It's like she decided to let go and be a confident walker literally overnight. I think Monday, June 13 was the day and now, a week later, it's like she's been walking all along. She hardly stumbles at all anymore and will catch herself if she falls off balance for a minute. She is cautious about uneven surfaces (like that tiny little step where our hardwood floors meet the tile) and will sit down or crawl over that.
• Thankfully, stair climbing has not been a big issue ... yet. She usually likes to crawl up on the first step, turn around and then sit on it like a little seat. It's so cute! We have gates at the top of both of our stairs, but not at the bottom. Hopefully she will understand when we ask her not to crawl up the stairs because four sets of gates seems a little excessive!
• She started saying "ba" recently for "book" and will "ask" us to read books to her every morning. She loves books and it's funny how she seems to pick the same ones over and over again. She definitely has her favorites already!
• She knows all the words for the different parts of the face - nose, eye, mouth, ear and head - and will point to them now just when we say the word - we don't even point to our own face! It's so cool to see her learn and associate words!
• I think she might be slowly starting to wean. For the past couple of nights, she hasn't nursed very long or fallen asleep while nursing, so I put her in her crib and she just curled up and lay there quietly to go to sleep ... no crying! Crossing my fingers this lasts, because I thought she'd put up a fight!
• She has her 15 month check up this Friday and I am curious to know her measurements. She seems much heavier and taller to me now. Her baby fat is slowly disappearing and she is looking much more like a little girl now!
• Her appetite/food pickiness seems to vary from week to week and I have learned not to stress too much about it. I figure she will eat what she needs to eat and just because she might not like one particular thing this week, does not mean she won't like it the next.

In other big news, I am going out of town for a work trip in July and it will be my first time ever leaving Shelby! I am nervous!! It's three nights away and Scott is joining me for two of those nights. I have never left her before so I am having some anxiety about it, but I know she will be fine and Scott's mom will do a great job and enjoy keeping her.