15 Months Old!

Charlie is 15 months old and loving life. He is walking, running, swimming, and talking up a storm. Some of his words I can understand (favorites are "tractor," "bellybutton," "apple," "all gone," "bye bye" and "doggie"), and sometimes Charlie says very elaborate "sentences" that seem to have a lot of meaning to him, but I haven't been able to decipher yet.

I know I think this at each stage, but I really think this is my favorite stage yet. Charlie is very independent right now, and seems to understand so much. He follows directions now (those of you who have been at playgroups with us will dispute this, but he's really pretty good at home :), and loves to try to do everything on his own (including trying to put his own dinner together when I don't do it quickly enough). We laugh together constantly--luckily for me, he has a nutty little sense of humor and is always laughing at various things that happen in our days. I love just riding along in the car with him and listening to him talk and laugh to himself in the backseat.

Charlie is still as social as ever, and although he doesn't mind playing trucks at home with me, he is happiest with he has lots and lots of people around. He loves our various playgroups, playdates, swim classes, Little Gym, and any other activity where there are other people involved. The only downside to his social ways is that Charlie usually pitches quite the fit when we have to leave social gatherings, but we are working on that... :) Charlie still loves playing trucks (especially loves sending them flying down the slide), playing with toy trains and train tables, throwing balls, chasing ducks, squirrels and dogs, and reading books (one of the few activities he will do alone for long periods of time). He has also turned into quite the little fish this summer and is getting pretty fearless in the water. Charlie can now stay under for 6 seconds and has just started to "swim" to me under water. He also does a great imitation of a swimmer when we hold him on top of the water. I think he thinks he's swimming when he does this, but it mostly just amuses us. :)

And now, here is the perky little 15 month old on one of our morning strolls around the Village lakes.

The ducks were smart to be running: Danger was following close behind!

When the ducks proved too illusive, Danger decided to take a jog on the running trails instead...

I tried to get an action shot, but unfortunately, it came out all blurry...

Following our walk, Charlie helped me get ready for the day. This included pulling out all the tissues from the tissue box and then stuffing them back in and kissing himself (repeatedly) in the mirror.

Charlie had his 15-month appointment this week and did great! He passed with flying colors--even giving our pediatrician some very sweet smiles and happily telling him "bye bye" at the end of the appointment. His 15-month stats are:

Weight: 23 lbs., 4 oz. (35%)

Length: 31 1/2 in. (70%)

Head: 19 1/8 in. (85%)

Charlie didn't really need those official stats to tell you that he is SO BIG!

And because I mentioned it above, here is Charlie preparing his own "dinner." Thanks for the help little guy! (And no, I don't give him fruit pouches for dinner, he chose that on his own. :)