Katie’s Fifteen Month Update

I say it every time I sit down to reflect, but I can’t believe that Katie has grown so quickly. The fifteen months we’ve enjoyed with Katie have been such a joy! She is a curious, happy, spunky fifteen-month old and we are in awe at how quickly she’s growing in front of our eyes.  It’s hard to believe that this time last year, she was just starting to evolve out of the fourth trimester phase. Now, at fifteen months, the only time she is still is when she’s sleeping.  Last week, when I asked for post requests, multiple people requested more detailed monthly updates. So, here is my attempt at delivering on that and, I, like you, hope to share these on a more consistent basis.

Katie is wearing 18-month clothes and even has two jackets that are 2T, since they didn’t come in a smaller size. Most days, she wears basics from Carters and then we have a few other items from L.L. Bean, Patagonia and Vineyard Vines. Over the past year we’ve had a hard time finding clothing that can beat the quality we get from Carters for the very inexpensive price point. I will say, that we only purchase things at their outlet or during their online sales, which seem to happen once a month. If you have a child, I recommend subscribing to the Carter’s mailing list.  The two changes that we made this month in regards to her attire were shoes and hair accessories. Since she’s constantly on the go, we bought another pair of See Kai Run shoes. A few people recommended ordering favorite shoes in a few sizes when you find one that works well for your child. Therefore, we currently have this style in a few different colors and sizes in her closet. I was able to find them on sale during the Nordstrom Anniversary sale!  While Bo nor I are quite ready to take Katie for her first haircut, we knew that we had to find a way to keep her hair out of her face. It has grown so quickly and overnight it went from being cute to being a moppy mess, almost covering her eyes. After Julia raved about these tiny rubber bands, we ordered a pack and have been thrilled with how well they stay in Katie’s fine hair. The good news is that she seems to have less interest in pulling them out than the bows we were trying to use previously.

As Katie is now eating a lot more, we changed a few things in our diaper bag and changing table. After every change, we use A+D ointment as this has helped her stay comfortable and rash free. If she ever gets diaper rash, we swear by Triple Paste. It is more expensive but works very quickly on even though most painful diaper rash. We are still loving Pampers diapers and she is wearing size 4 in both Swaddlers and Swaddlers Overnight. The overnight diapers have worked very well for us as she is able to make it through the night without having a wet or dirty diaper wake her.

Transitioning Katie to solid foods has been really easy for us as she loves every food.  I still dedicate an hour or so each Sunday to prepping her food for the week so that Monday morning I’m able to send two lunch boxes of food for her to have at the nanny share. Here is an example of her meals this week:

• Breakfast (enjoyed at home in her high chair) : fruit, scrambled eggs, avocado, homemade pumpkin spice Kodiak Cakes or 1/2 an english muffin with some peanut butter
• Snacks: Bananas, Stonyfield Baby yogurt, apples, strawberries, Cabot cheddar cheese
• Lunch & Dinner:
  • Spaghetti Squash/Rao’s Sauce/homemade chicken meatballs/broccoli
  • Leftover grilled chicken, corn cut off the cob, roasted green beans
  • Turkey sausage, steamed carrots, hummus
  • Banza pasta, homemade pesto, homemade chicken meatballs

Katie has access to a straw cup filled with water throughout the day and during lunch and dinner she has both water and whole milk.

During the day, Katie loves spending time at our neighborhood park. Just a month ago, our play was limited to the swings but now she is able to walk, climb and run to each of the areas in the smaller kid area, including the slide and ramp.  She is confident in her ability to play on her own, but we always have a close eye on her to ensure that she is safe around other kids. It took us a few park visits to teach her how to go down the slide on her own, but now she approaches the slide, cautiously looks around, and then sits down on her bottom before pushing herself down. It’s adorable to watch and her caution, when dealing with heights, is so similar to her parents, neither of whom love heights.  Over time we’ve become friendly with a few other local families who are often in the park at the same time, which makes it an enjoyable social time for both the kids and parents.  When she’s at home, she loves playing with her toy kitchen, “reading” books, blocks and her Little People toys. Our friend Amanda gave Katie this adorable stroller last two weeks ago and since then, she’s enjoyed pushing her puppy dogs all over the house. The stroller tends to be something she enjoys pushing around in the morning, upstairs, while we are getting dressed and ready for the day. Her other favorite past time is opening drawers and cupboards, doing her best to take everything out and then put it away again. Hopefully we can soon transfer this skill to her toy area.

Her schedule hasn’t evolved yet since she is still taking two solid naps per day.  Even though we have traveled a number of times in the past few months, we do our best to maintain this schedule, while knowing it won’t always be perfect. If we are traveling, she tends to fall asleep in her car seat if we’re in the car during her nap time, but on a plane she has yet to fall asleep in our lap at this older age.

• 7:15 AM Wake and milk in straw cup
• 7:30-8:00 Playtime
• 8:00-8:15 Breakfast
• 8:30 Nanny Share drop off
• 9:15 -11:15 Morning Nap
• 11:15 Morning Snack
• 11:30 – 12:15 Playtime
• 12:15 Lunch
• 1:15 – 3:00 pm Nap
• 3:-0-2:15 Playtime
• 2:15 – 4 Afternoon Nap
• 4:00 Afternoon snack (fruit, cheese, vegetable or carb)
• 4:15-5:15 Playtime
• 5:15 Dinner
• 5:45 Pick up from nanny share
• 5:55 – 6:30 Playtime at park or home depending on weather
• 6:30-6:45 Calm playtime with books
• 6:45 Bath time
• 7:00 Milk in straw cup + reading/rocking
• 7:15 Bed

While she still isn’t taking any stuffed animals into her crib, she sleeps with a pacifier and a few loveys. In fact, she has 3 Wubbanub pacifiers (giraffe, bear and elephant) in her crib at night as she randomly cuddled these when she was sick, more than eight months ago, and it became a habit. She seems to cuddle two of them and then use one when she is going to sleep. Most nights, according to her Nest camera, the pacifier drops out of her mouth once she falls asleep. Bo and I have talked about when we want or need to drop the pacifier but at this point, since our pediatrician said it isn’t an issue, we see no need to take it away yet.

Last but not least, we are making progress on the verbal front. We constantly talk to Katie, sharing details about our activities with her and asking her questions which she could easily answer. She surprises us with new words each day, but right now she is confidently saying 15-20 words including puppy, yes, no, mommy, up, dad, bath, hi, bye bye,  and words that sound like banana, bed, teddy, and toy.

I’m sure I forgot to mention a few things so if you have any questions, as always please feel free to email or leave a comment. In addition, if you want more frequent updates, I’m sharing lots on InstaStories and Instagram.