life at 15 months

Mason,

At 15 months, you are in constant motion.

What would we do without nearby parks to stroll to each day? Spending time outdoors trumps any toy you have.

You can now pick up items in the middle of the floor without grasping anything for support. You also recently learned how to stand up independently, without using people or furniture to pull yourself up. Watch out, world--Mason's fully mobile!

You were too busy to stand still for a picture when we picked out our Christmas tree over Thanksgiving weekend.

We captured you for about five seconds before you yelled to get down.

At home, after multiple attempts to take your picture in front of the tree, this was the best we could do. We adore this picture though because it perfectly captures other characteristics of life at 15 months: disobedience and temper tantrums.

Speaking of tantrums, you had a fit when Daddy passed you over to Santa Claus.

Rather than continue to cry and carry on like a baby, you instead turned your back and ignored the man in the red suit. You'll smarten up in a year or two if you continue to snub Santa.

In the last couple of weeks, you've begun making a concerted effort to talk. You're now up to about 12 words that you use in the appropriate context. Two of our favorites, besides Mama and Dada of course, are read (ree-ree) and night night (nut-nut). You also learned to sign the word please and you've begun putting two words together in sign language.

At your 15-month checkup, you weighed 23 pounds, 12 ounces and were 32 inches long. You're still in the same percentile ranges as the last couple of appointments, 25th-50th for weight and 75th for height. We're thankful for your good health and consistent growth!

Unfortunately, carsickness has begun, so your rear-facing days in the carseat are numbered. We hope, for your sake as well as our sakes, that turning your seat around will help.

Even on no-nap days, you go and go and go. Your energy knows no bounds. We suspect you get these traits from Mama, and the two of you compete with each other every day to see who can wear out the other one first. You win a lot, but Mommy's a pretty good match for you. Daddy recently acknowledged how exhausting it was for the two most important people in his life to need such little down time.:)

Through these stages of running, talking, kissing, discovering, learning, disobeying, throwing fits, getting into everything, and destroying most things in sight, you continue to be the light of our lives. We love you, sweet Mason!

XOXO,

Mommy and Daddy