Polka Dot Princess

We attended Kate's 15 month appointment today and learned that she is now 21 lbs. 14 oz. (70th percentile for weight) and 30" tall (30th percentile for height).  Our doctor was very impressed with Kate's vitals and abilities and we went over what to expect in the next 3 months!  She is healthy and happy and growing like a weed!  We also reviewed Kate's current vocabulary which includes:

Dog (Pronounced "Dah")
Dada (Sometimes Daddy - spoken like, "da-DEE!")
Mama
Ball ("Baah")
All done ("Ahh dah")
Bubble ("Bah-bl")
More ("Mah")
Hot dog ("Hah dah")
Outside ("aht-sigh")
Hi (She is very good at this one!)
Steps ("Steh")
Top
Dots (And this one is so cute!)

Kate can wave hello and bye-bye, she claps and blows kisses,"winks", does an alligator chomp and a fish mouth and makes a snake sound, can crawl up and down steps (and now ladders - see below), and will follow simple commands such as, can you put the top on, please? or, please put your toys in the bin.  She absolutely loves to help whenever and wherever she can.  For example, she likes to help take things out of the fridge and/or put them back after we've used them or help stir ingredients in a bowl on the counter, etc.  She loves to assist!  She also is able to follow simple commands like, please give this fork to Daddy, or, please put this in the trash bin.

Even though Kate is still learning her words, she understands nearly everything that we say.  If we ask her if she hears the airplane, she will look up and say "aht-sigh" (see above for definition).  If we ask her if she would like more, she is able to shake her head yes or no.  Sometimes she will tell us "mah! mah!", also signifying that she would like more.  She has started using her spoon and fork a lot more regularly and can even take a few supervised sips from a cup without a top!

She loves to play and be silly and the facial expressions that this little lady has keep us all cracking up!  She is extremely intelligent and is able put all of her peg pieces on the right colors - yeah, the ones that we went bass fishing for - and will also point to an object if you, say, ask her where the light is.  She is our little ar-teest and if there is a pen/pencil/marker/[insert writing utensil here] in sight, she will clamour to get it in her grasp and then search frantically for a piece of paper to doodle on too.  (We are thankful she has not yet discovered the canvas of walls throughout our house.)

She loves her pooch, but is very wary of his chompers and how quickly he grabs his ball or treats (or any food item that is in his reach for that matter).  She loves to give Jack treats and will usually give him 5 or so more than he would've gotten from Brian or me, so you know he loves her too!  The two of them like to play ball, hide and seek, and chase together too - usually with parental assistance to be sure it doesn't get too rough.  They are becoming quite the pair!

She is a pretty amazing pint-sized 15-month old!  She learns more and more every single day and we continue to be so extremely grateful that she is our little girl!

Just arrived at the doctor's office.

And she absolutely had to use my pen after I signed her in!

This one cracks me up!

Is she a righty?!  That concentration would lead me to believe so,
but I think it may still be too early to tell.

Trains!

It's impossible to get pens away from her right now.

It's also impossible to get chapstick away from her right now.

First ascent on a ladder!

And so proud of it too!