Eva at 15 months

Evalee had her 15 month check up on her 15 month birthday last week. She weighed in at 21.8 lbs (pretty much the same as 12 months) and 30 1/2 inches tall. She is in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. She cried as soon as Dr. Moen walked in -- she knows what's what with him now. So, I had to pin her down as he gave her her exam, as per usual. Everything checked out great! We talked for a bit about her decreasing interest in meals and he suggested offering her a little less to drink. I've sort of taken this advice, but I just switched to water more often. I don't feel comfortable depriving her of drink when so often she chugs half the cup the minute I give it to her. He also gave her the green light to use a pillow, as long as it is pretty flat. Then she got two more shots, which she hated (see previous entry) more than she ever has, and then we were off!

My baby (and I can't even really call her my baby anymore!) has grown up so much this summer! She loves to listen to books still, but is very careful to pick just the one she's in the mood for before bringing it to you to read. She has really started to dance anytime she hears music or gets one of her toys singing, but her dancing is very white man style. She LOVES applause -- as soon she as she hears applause she starts grinning from ear to ear, assuming always that it's for her even if it's on the radio, and almost always joins in applauding herself. Sometimes, she'll finish something and give herself a hand and look to you expectantly, as if to say, "Hey don't you see that I stacked three bowls inside one another here?! I'm waiting!!" She has started to get more and more attached to her bears, but she is careful to rotate the love every so often between 3 of them each time she gets tired so you never know who she'll cuddle with each night. Her love for the kitties has yet to dwindle, despite not having successfully pet one for more than 10 seconds at a time her entire life. The cats go on full alert now as soon as they hear her say "kitty!" because they know she's on her way. She loves to watch a few cartoons on PBS -- Super Why is currently her favorite, as she usually isn't up in time to watch Sesame Street these days. She also likes to watch The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That and Curious George. These shows come in super handy when I am trying to make breakfast or dinner. She likes to close the door as soon as she enters a room, so you have to be fast if you're following her somewhere. She also likes to empty closets or cupboards and hide in them. She is constantly testing her limits, getting on kicks where she goes from one thing she's not allowed to do to the next until she's heard us say "No" enough to get bored. She likes to put shapes in shape sorters, but often gets too frustrated to get all the shapes in once a shape doesn't fit enough times. She likes to try to dress herself for fun, trying to get shoes on her feet, headbands on her head (but never to stay!!), and necklaces around her neck. If we let her, she would never wear pants.

But perhaps the biggest change in our lives lately has been the change in Daddy's work schedule. Over the course of the last few weeks, the station has been switching Travis to day shifts. This has been my biggest wish for the last 3 years and words cannot express how excited and thankful I was to find out we would get to see him at night. He's been working a little crazy hours lately with the John Deere Classic and holiday shiftings and whatnot, but hopefully now things will start to get regularly ironed out. Initially he was told he would work day shifts Monday-Wednesday, but so far it's been changed to the full five days each week. I realize it'll take away a few advantages during the school year -- daycare will cost a little more and she will spend less time at home than she did last year. But money cannot buy those first few minutes after he gets home and Evalee runs to meet him at the top of the stairs. There is no better sound in the world than the breathless laughs and shrieks of excitement I hear from the kitchen as she runs around with her Daddy. We both get to kiss her goodnight. It's like the missing puzzle piece has finally snapped in and we get to be us full time now. All this time of communicating via dry erase board and text messaging and counting the days down to the weekend where we can sit on the couch together has been a challenge at best and a struggle at worst. But the entire time we were doing it I knew one thing was definitely true: that time would make me fully and relentlessly appreciate it when our time finally did come. I will always humbly thank the Lord for giving our family the gift of time.