15 month checkup

Paige had her 15 month checkup today! The doctor said she is doing great and on target with all her milestones. She weighed in at 20.5 pounds and 30 inches. That's the 20th and 45th percentiles respectively. She's actually about a pound lighter than she was 3 months ago, so we'll keep an eye on that. The doctor thinks she might be filling up too much on milk. But she's usually a pretty good eater, so I think she is burning off the calories because she's so active. We'll be making a bigger effort to make sure she's getting plenty protein.

The other good news is that her hemoglobin count was at 12.3 and the doctor was happy with that. He said we can discontinue giving her the iron supplement. What a relief.

What Paige has been up to

Paige has had a busy couple of weeks!

First, she learned how to play her piano:


Next, she learned how to "Do The Rubber Duck" with Ernie (which apparently involves pretending to swim, as well as a bit of dancing):



Then, she figured out her puzzle, matching the bug pieces up to where they go (and sometimes even getting them into their slots):

And finally, Paige went to a baseball game! Go D-Backs!
(though she told me that she thinks Austin Kearns is dreamy, even though he's a National now)

She's so smart

I was a very proud mama when I picked up Paige from daycare yesterday and her teacher told me how smart she is. One of her shoes had gotten separated from her and was across the room. Miss Bridget told Paige to "get your shoe" and Paige immediately looked around and then went and got her shoe. I tested it this morning to make sure it wasn't a fluke thing, but she really did know what her shoe was and what it meant to go and get it! She's a smart cookie.

This picture here is what Paige would look like if she were a character in the Simpsons.
The tail-pulling activity is true to life. Fortunately, Ella is a very sweet kitty and doesn't seem to mind her tail getting pulled or skin getting grabbed too much... :)

Standing!

Ok, so maybe you didn't buy walking thing...it still is a bit of a lunge. But tonight was awesome. Paige stood!
It came out of no where--and probably was an accident, as she was watching Elmo at the time. But she'd never stood for more than a second before, and then all the sudden tonight she started going for 6...7...8...9 seconds at a time! Video:

First Steps

Paige took her first steps last night! They're only 1 or 2 at a time as she lunges between us, but we've decided that they count!

Here's the video. There's one good one near the beginning, and then another good one near the end, with some cuteness in between:

Daycare Transition to Toddler Room

This week, Paige has been visiting the toddler room for a few hours just about every day. Yesterday, she spent the majority of the day there and fussed when it was time for them to leave and go back to the infant room! She also seemed a bit more exhausted at the end of the day. I was at first hesitant for them starting the transition to the toddler room already since she isn't walking on her own yet and the rule is that they should be one-year AND walking. But I think it will be better for her to be around the older kids more and will most likely pick up walking quicker than if she is around the babies all day. They will also be doing more activities which will be more stimulating for her. Our little baby is growing up so fast.

Pointing

Paige has been pointing at things for a while now, but she's really starting to get into it. She points at food on the table if it's different than what she's eating and she wants some of it. She points at the door at daycare when I pick her up and I'm standing there chatting with the teachers while holding her. She'll even start waving at the door if she really wants me to get going. Yesterday, as we were walking to the car, she just pointed in the general direction in front of us as if she was showing me where to walk. When we read to her, sometimes she'll point to the pages as if she's following along.

We're trying to introduce a few simple signs for her to better communicate with us when she needs something. One is "Eat". The gesture is to bring hand to mouth with fingertips touching thumb and tap the lips to illustrate placing food in the mouth. She picked this one up pretty fast. She will point to her lips, but only after we've done it. She hasn't actually "told" us she wants to eat yet by doing this sign. Hopefully that will come soon.