The girls had their 15 month well-baby visit this past Thursday. Things are looking good. Here are the details...
Mallory
Weight: 23 lbs. 7 oz. 50th %ile
Height: 31" 50th %ile
Head: 19" 90th %ile (
woah!!!)
Anna Claire
Weight: 23 lbs. 50th %ile
Height: 31.5 " 50th %ile
Head: 18.75" 75th %ile
Anna Claire is pulling ahead as far as height goes, but at this appointment she weighed less than Mallory.
Bottles: It's time to drop the bottles. I knew this going in; I've just been avoiding it. I love giving the girls their bottle every morning and every night, but it looks like those days are numbered. We've already dropped the morning bottle, and the girls don't seem one bit upset about it. I haven't had the courage yet to drop the bedtime bottle, and something tells me I'll miss it more than they will.
Naps: We have officially dropped the morning nap and both girls are faring well, but the their afternoon nap is not lengthening consistently (they are napping anywhere between forty-five minutes and two hours). Dr. Tillman seemed a little confused by that, as if she thought their afternoon nap lengths should be more consistently longer. But in the end, she always says the same thing (which I am fine with): the girls get between 12 and 13 solid hours of sleep a night; I do not need to be worrying about naps!
Verbal Skills: The girls are beyond where they need to be verbally. She asked me if I thought Anna Claire knew ten words to which I replied, "no way," and then I started counting. Both girls, though they don't each say the same words, know many more than I realized: mama, dada, water, bottle, pup pup, ball, bird, book, more, banana, papa, yes... and the know the animal sounds for lion, dog, snake, monkey, gorilla (yes, they beat their chests and holler like Tarzan!!), and duck. Their receptive vocabulary is huge...there isn't much they don't understand when spoken to, though it will be a few more months before their expressive vocabulary catches up. Which bring us to...
Temper Tantrums: Mallory has been "asserting" herself recently when she doesn't get her way, not all that often, mind you, but maybe two or three times a week, usually when she's really tired (way too many commas in that sentence - and I used to be an English teacher!). Dr. Tillman thinks this may just be her way of showing her frustration at not being able to communicate to us. Once she is better able to express herself, Dr. Tillman said we would hope to see the tantrums disappear. For now, she says the best thing to do is ignore the behavior. Sigh.
Motor Skills: Fine and gross are both on target. The girls are getting better and better using a fork, they can climb up the stairs and crawl down them backwards. Their walking is great and their running is getting faster and faster. They look so cute running!
The girls can also point to several body parts (their own, ours, and their dolls and stuffed animals)...eyes, nose, mouth, ears, arms, fingers, legs, toes, and chin!
Way to go, girls!!
I think that's about it. In a nutshell, the girls are thriving, and I couldn't be happier about that!
Maybe one day he will turn into a prince.
Anna Claire
Anna Claire is pulling ahead as far as height goes, but at this appointment she weighed less than Mallory. 
Mallory took the sourness a little better...
Pucker up!
Saturday was our neighborhood's community yard sale, so we decided at the last minute to try and get rid of some of the girl's gear and clothes. Friday night my mom came over and we got things sorted and ready for the next day.
Anna Claire and Mallory had a great time! Our front yard is shaded in the morning, so the girls played outside all morning long and had so much fun waving at all the folks going up and down the street. Anna Claire wanted to be sure everyone understood her lovie was not for sale.
Walter took the girls on a long walk through the neighborhood. Mallory fell fast asleep and ended up having a great nap sitting in the stroller in the driveway enjoying the awesome breeze.
