15 months

Our girl is growing up fast and we are having the most ridiculously fun time watching her. There are so many wonderful things that have happened in the Poort household these last couple of months and more than a few "challenges" along the way too. It's a good thing she's so cute.

First up, our 15 month stats...

Weight: 27 lbs. 13 oz (90%)
Height: 32 in (90%)
Noggin: 47 cm (75%)

Sloane started walking this month! Well, sort of.  She'll take a few steps on her own here and there but she's tentative to go anywhere unless she has a hand to hold (a non daredevil like her mama) and she still walks like a drunken sailor.  She's a toe walker and a bit pigeon toed but Dr. J said she'll grow out of both eventually.  Unfortunately, she inherited her daddy's super tight achilles.

She's a great stair climber and has also mastered coming back down on her belly. Unfortunately, she sometimes gets so excited once she reaches the bottom step or two that she then attempts to dive off.  So far, I've continued to be able to resist the urge to put a helmet on her.

Lots of talking. Our current words include mama, dada, da (dog), du (duck), mimi, bobba, yes, banana (nana), cheers (I think the fact that we taught our daughter to clink glasses and say 'cheers' at such a young age is a good thing but I've gotten some judging looks), meow, and, after a lot of work by her uncle last weekend, JJ. She talks a ton of gibberish and we are dying to know what she is saying. We're doing some signing - please, thank you, more, all done, and "on your bottom"

The girl loves to boogy and will start to shake the instant you sing or put music on. When she's standing she does a mean booty shake. She's also starting to hula.  She loves rap.

Lots of tricks up her sleeve...ask her how old she is and Sloane will immediately hold up one finger. She'll show you where her belly button, nose, and ears are. She'll throw her arms up to celebrate a touchdown. And her favorite is to put her face down right be your feet, sniff, then wave her hands in front of her face to tell you they are stinky (nice job, dad). The girl is a big copycat and will mimic just about anything you do. She also continues to give the biggest, wettest, open mouthed kisses around. We love them.

She usually eats just about anything until, occasionally, she decides she doesn't like anything and dumps all of the food on the floor. You are welcome, Cooper.

She loves the tub, but doesn't like to sit down. She's constantly trying to get up and walk/crawl around in there. I feel like a broken record with "on your bottom" and "stay down, Sloane". She also loves to drink her own bathwater. Gross.

The girl has sass and is more than a little bit mischievous. Her favorite thing to do when we are playing is to climb up on her chair, stand up like she knows she's not supposed to, turn around, smile, and give me the sign for "on your bottom". The first few times it was funny. Now it drives me nuts.

She throws the occasional mini-tantrum when she isn't getting her way. The signing has helped our communication but I can't wait until the time when she can tell me exactly what she wants.  She'll also sneak in the occasional b-slap at your face when she's unhappy and she has tried to bite a couple of times.  12 teeth.  Not cool.

Sloane had her first plane ride last week when we went to Nebraska. On the two flights there she was an absolute angel. We got comments from everyone around us about what an amazing baby she was. On the way back, not so much. She decided that randomly screaming at the top of her lungs was a great idea and she absolutely refused to sit still. It was painful as she was "that kid" on the plane. While she may have alienated most of the folks around us during the flight, she immediately won them back upon landing by smiling, waving, showing everyone how old she was and throwing her arms up in the air for 'touchdown' (this went a long way on a flight full of Husky football fans). Again, it's a good thing she's cute.

We also may have hit the "we can no longer take our child out to dinner unless it's Red Robin" point over this trip. At a Mexican restaurant she was flinging food every which way, trying to pull anything she could grab off of the table, and randomly screaming at the top of her lungs. We had a good run going out to eat as a family, but I think it may have come to an end.

We love watching her grow and develop her personality.  It's a little bit scary just how fast this ride is going and the whirlwind of having a toddler is sometimes exhausting.  But we're doing our best to slow down, take it all in, and fit in a nap whenever possible.  We love you Sloane.  A whole helluva lot.