Reading!

Last night Doodle wasn't tired enough to fall asleep but it was 8:00 and we had finished his bed time routine. He said he wanted to read some books in bed, which he occasionally does. Usually this means he looks at the pictures of the books on his bookshelf and turns out the light when he's ready to sleep. But last night I gave him Bear Snores On to look at and two Easy Reader books that he got for his birthday. I said he could try reading those by himself.

I came downstairs and had dessert with Mr. D. While I was checking my email Doodle came downstairs for the sole purpose of having me put him back to bed! When I put him back to bed he said that he had read the two Easy Reader books. I asked him to show me. We laid on his bed together and he read one and then the other. Sounding out words like they do on Sesame Street and Between the Lions. Identifying words that recurred a lot, and, a, an. I was so impressed and proud and happy. He literally taught himself how to read. I went and told Mr. D who came into Doodle's room to experience our little reader himself. Doodle read the two books to him with more ease, having already read them twice. He was so proud of himself and we were proud of him, too.

This morning he tried another book and read that one too. He's still working on it but he's trying and succeeding! It really is incredible watching my children grow and develop. It's truly a wonderful experience. . . most of the time.

15 months

Pancake is talking and saying tens of new words. She babbles holding the phone to her head (not aligned at all with her ear). She has a cadence that sounds just like an adult on the phone, she's just not using actual words -- at least not ones I understand. There as been construction across the street from our house for more than a month now. Whenever Pancake hears banging she points outside and says, "ouse." She doesn't pronounce the H of any word: at for hat; ot, for hot; ouse for house. She continues to string two and three words together: want cheese, see that?, Doodle see that?. When I ask her if she wants something she'll either shake her head very quickly and says a short "no" or bop her whole body up and down and occasionally say es for yes, smiling the whole time, of course. She's very communicative, which I appreciate.

She started WALKING!!! She will now take from 4 to 10 steps by herself completely unassisted. She also stands up by herself in the middle of a room without the support of a piece of furniture or a human leg. She sticks her butt into the air with her feet and hands on the floor, then she slowly lifts her hands and straightens her legs and ta-da she's standing. She usually claps for herself at that point and sometimes falls back down from all the clapping vibrations before she can take a step. She can also turn herself around while standing unassisted -- as opposed to walking in a straight line in the direction she has found herself. She rarely scoots on her butt, opting to crawl around, quite well now I must say. Her physical therapist is coming tomorrow, but I don't think we'll need her assistance any longer. Walking before 15 months is a gross motor milestone that Pancake has met. My baby girl!
She's become a little picky in the eating department. She favors sweet things to savory, which, I realize, is normal among children, but she was eating veggies and grains very well and now pushes the carrots away and points to the fruit basket saying peach peach. I know, I can't really blame her, it's just hard to watch that transition. But since I know she has it in her to eat non-sweet foods I'm going to assume that she'll go back to her better eating habits at some point.

She's sleeping 12 hours a night without interruption which I LOVE! She's down to one nap during the day, but it's usually pretty long -- 2.5 to 3.5 hours.
She's been a bit clingy lately. She says Mommy frequently when she can't see me. She used to be thrilled to see Mr. Doodle in the mornings when he went to get her from her crib, but now she looks disappointed, puts her head back down and says Mommy. But Mr. Doodle's charm wins her over quickly and she's perfectly happy to be rescued, even if it is Daddy. That said, when Mr. D gets home from work she doesn't try to hide her elation screaming Daddy Daddy Daddy and putting her arms out to have him rescue her from me!

She is just starting to be interested in the shape sorters we have. She's not that good at it yet, but I can see her potential. She shoves the circle into the square hole with gusto over and over and then hands it to me to show her where it goes.

It's so cute to watch her concentrate on reading her books. She loves to take the books off her bookshelf and look through each one, pointing and babbling. Sometimes she doesn't make any noise but has a discerning look in her eye.

She continues to thin out with all the standing and walking she's been doing, but she still has rolly legs and a protruding belly, and chubby cheeks. She still has that baby look. I'll be sad when she starts to resemble a toddler. She's adorable as ever.

Outer Banks

We went on a five-day trip to the Outer Banks to stay with friends of ours who have a house there. Doodle has overcome his fear of the ocean, for now anyway. He wanted to boogie board like his six-year old friend and rode the "waves" after they broke. Pancake took her first real steps and has been practicing walking short distances ever since. On the way back home we went over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel which was amazing. It's about 16 miles of bridge then tunnel then bridge then tunnel . . . You can't see land until you're at the very end of it. It was crazy and so cool, definitely the highlight of the drive home. Not surprisingly, the Philadelphia part of the drive was the worst. I think I'll take this opportunity to say to the Philly Streets Department: if you're going to close an exit ramp you should alert drivers before they make the turn so they can take a much more efficient alternate route!
Despite the traffic and the detours we had a great time on our vacation. We went to the beach every day, played mini golf, rode bikes, showered outside (my favorite part), and drank.

One of the nice things about coming home after being away is the kids play with their toys again as if they were new.

Doodle quote

Me: You can have either ice cream or a piece of candy for dessert.
Doodle: I'll have a bowl of ice cream with a candy sticked on top.

I have to add some stats to Pancake's 14-month update. She held up her foot yesterday and said, "that's a foot." Then she looked at the trees across the street and said, "that's a tree." Then tonight at dinner she insisted over and over, "wan wawoo" (translation: I want water). It took me quite a few tries until I understood what she was saying. She also regularly says, "bye bye Daddy" and "bye bye Doodle."

E - F - G

Pancake pointed to the alphabet poster in her room and said, very clearly, E - F - G to the tune of the song. She also pointed at the wall of letters that Doodle made at school and said, W.