15 months

Sophia’s personality is revealing itself more and more everyday. She is curious and wants to know what’s going on around her. She has a happy disposition (most of the time) and is very social. She loves being around people, especially other children. That is why she has adjusted so well to being in daycare. She actually doesn’t want to go home when I arrive to pick her up. She’s happy to stay and keep playing there. But on the days when we are home together, she tends to get a little clingy, following me wherever I go in the house, and wanting to be carried a lot. I find this weird given that on daycare days, she doesn’t seem to miss me at all. 

She is getting better at communicating to me what she wants and doesn’t want and I am getting better at reading her. She’s very definite about what she likes and dislikes, especially with food. With a flick of a hand, she will wave away food I am offering that she doesn’t want to eat. I try to trick her into eating it by hiding it with other foods but she spits it out once it touches her tongue. Sometimes, though, she surprises me by agreeing to eat a food that she has rejected many times before. So I have to remind myself to not be discouraged and to keep offering the food to her.

Her motor skills are getting better everyday. She still uses her hands to eat but is getting more adept at using a spoon. She is better at playing with the sort-a-shape type of toys and with pulling things apart then putting it back together. She’s been enjoying playing with Mr. Potato Head, lately. She is also starting to show interest in puzzles and writing tools. She loves to climb on things! They call her Miss Daredevil at daycare because she’ll climb on anything, precarious or not. Today, she didn’t want to get out of the car because she wanted to climb in and out of her carseat, over and over. At the playground, I’ve let her go down the smaller slides on her own and she loves it.

She knows some parts of her body: hair, nose, ears, tongue, teeth, belly button, and toes. She knows a few tunes, as well. She sings all the time and she has a good ear for music. She still enjoys reading books (especially when on the potty) and insists on picking which one to read. She knows a few words now but hasn’t used her words to ask for things. On rare occasions, she has used the signs I’ve been teaching her since she was six months old, like more and food. Mostly, she whines to communicate. Drives me crazy sometimes.

She is a lot of fun but also a lot of work. And as she gets bolder at expressing frustration and anger through tantrums, crying, and whining, keeping my cool gets more challenging. And usually, I have no idea what to do or how to respond, and that stresses me out. Children are so unpredictable and there isn’t one way to raise a child because each one is different. I get a lot of “it depends” type of answers from other parents when I ask for advice. I guess that’s why everybody says parenting is hard.