Landry Lately

Alright, so I got a little Carter update in, now it is on to miss Landry Kate!  She is about to be sixteen months old, which is blowing my mind since I feel like she just turned one.  So much has changed since I did her one year post.  

The biggest change has to be her mobility.  She took awhile to figure out the walking thing, but one Friday at the babysitter's house at nearly fourteen months, she just decided it was time and started taking wobbly little steps. Those wobbly little steps turned into smooth, controlled steps within a week or two, and she was running steadily in no time!  She has no trouble keeping up with her brother these days and is even going up our full flight of stairs and down smaller sets of steps (like on the front porch).  She is fiercely independent and typically prefers to walk on her own.

Other big changes have come in her mouth. She has a mouth full of teeth these days. All she lacks are the eye teeth on top and her 2 year molars, and the eye teeth are on the verge of breaking through now.  We had a few rough weeks where she had six plus teeth pushing through all at once, but honestly compared to when Carter had teeth coming in, it has been pretty easy for us all.  At this rate, she should have all of her teeth in no time.

She is still very much in the put everything in the mouth phase, and is so much more sneaky about it than Carter ever was. She can figure out how to open just about anything so you have to keep your eyes on her at all times...she has even successfully opened pill bottles that I can barely even get open.  One night, she got into her closet where I had a changing mat with a travel bottle of Purel hooked to it and had it open and sucked some down before I realized what she had done.  She started crying and spitting immediately, but it still warranted my first phone call to poison control (all was fine!).  She also tries to eat crayons, chalk, rocks and who knows what else.  She also for some reason loves to eat the soap we use at bathtime.  

She is sleeping really well, for the most part.  She sleeps from around 7:30PM-7AM.  She takes a good 3 hour nap when we are home, but usually it is only about an hour when she is at the babysitter's through the week.  She gets a book or two read to her and some milk while being rocked for a bit (usually by Brent) and then she is laid down awake and settles right down to sleep.  She went through a major phase of hating the crib and sleep for a week or two, but she got through it thank goodness.  She would go into stage five clinger mode when you even mentioned going to bed and fight it with all she had.  That made me so grateful for the way she usually is.  Sleep is good, sweet girl!

Our favorite nickname for her these days is Lu-zilla, and it is well deserved.  She is constantly making messes and tearing things up.  She would prefer to be pulling things out of drawers/containers/bags or whatever they are put away in instead of actually playing with her toys.  Like I said before about the medicine bottle, she can open anything--zippers, makeup containers, diaper cream flip tops, puffs, you name it.  So you really have to be on top of her at all times.  She also loves to take papers and rip them into shreds.  

First tractor ride with Grumps! :)

She is picking up on so many words, although she doesn't say many consistently.  When she does say a word, it is usually very clear.  What is really amazing is how much she is understanding these days.  I'm going to have to start holding her more accountable for the things I tell her because she really does understand more than I give her credit for.  One morning she woke up really early, so I brought her to our bed to sleep in a bit more.  Well, she wasn't into that idea and instead was trying to play and wiggle all around.  So I told her, "lay down or I am going to take you back to your crib!"  And she was snoring in minutes! 

As far as eating, she is not picky and has no trouble putting away some food.  I can't think of anything she doesn't like!  But her favorites are definitely fruits and sweets.  The kids had some candy from Easter and we found out real quick the girl can slam down some jelly beans.  She LOVES them, and would not forget about them after every meal.  Thank goodness those things are finally gone!  And she took the transition to whole milk very well. The only special thing we have done is add a baby probiotic to her diet to help her belly out a bit.  

And, probably the most amazing, Landry Kate has gone pee and poop on the potty!  I can't even believe we are talking about this at 15 months old, in fact, it wasn't even on my radar yet! But it isn't all that surprising when you consider how independent our little Lu is.  Anything she can do without help, she is all about.  It all started at her babysitter's house one day when she was pointing to her diaper.  When she asked if she needed to use the potty, Landry nodded that little head and took off to the bathroom, working on taking off her diaper.  She sat up there, but didn't do anything...but it was a start.  A few times since, I have taken her to the potty and she has gone a bit on there!  Earlier today, she even pooped on there...I can't even believe it!!!  Of course, I realize we are nowhere near her being truly potty trained, but I can definitely see that this is going to be a much easier road than the one we went down with Carter man.  

She has become quite shy around new people.  She clings to Brent and I in new places and will not make eye contact with people until she warms up to them.  Her favorite move is digging her face into my shoulder.  
Some things she loves: books, dogs, babies, shoes, being outside, Ranger/Rzr rides and her blankey.  She loves her passy still, but we are only giving it to her at nap and bedtimes.  I would love to get that thing away from her once these last few teeth pop through.

Overall, our little miss is such a happy, good girl like 95% of the time.  But the other 5%, she can be downright hateful...hitting, demanding, knows what she wants and how she wants it done.  I am rather scared for the two/three year old years and ESPECIALLY the teenage ones.  I can see a lot of my personality in her in that, and it makes me feel sorry for my parents! ;)  However, I think she will follow in mine and Brent's footsteps and be a go-getter, so I guess if we have to suffer through a bit when she is a child, it will be well worth it when she is an adult.

We are all wrapped around miss Landry Kate's finger and I don't see that changing anytime soon.  You light up our world, sweet beautiful girl!