Ryleigh Lately

Ryleigh is 15 months today! Where does the time go?
I was watching her run and swim and play on Mother's Day and was thinking about what a difference a year makes. Last Mother's Day, she was three months old. A little teeny baby just learning to roll over. Now she is a walking, talking, laughing, person....with attitude might I add. I can't say I'm surprised considering who her parents are.

Here's what our sweet girl has been up to:

Hanging out at the park. We start every morning at the park by our house. It has a large lake filled with ducks, geese, and turtles, and Ry loves to wave hello and "bu buyyy" to all of them. Lately, though, she's quite happy staying in the swing for our entire park stay. She also has mastered the slide and loves it. Now that the temps are rising, we have been spending many of our afternoons in the pool. She LOVES the water. She also adores the splash park at the shopping center by our house. I used to think splash were the strangest thing. The idea of sticking your kid in a swim suit and letting them run around the fountains right outside a Victoria's Secret and Banana Republic seemed a little weird to me...I mean, why not just take them to a pool? Alas, we now take part in yet another activity that I swore I would never do once I became a mom. I mean, kids just go nuts for it! Now, when I have to make a quick stop at the Shoppes, I have to purposely avoid going anywhere near the splash area or else I will have a very unhappy toddler on my hands. Girl knows exactly where they are and will make a beeline for them if left to her own devices.

Learning. I think every mom thinks her kid is a genius, and since I don't have other kids to compare milestones with, I will just assume that she is one. Genius or not, Ry is definitely one clever cookie. I love just looking at her and seeing her little gears turn. She is really into figuring out how things work. She will remove caps/lids from water bottles, yogurt pouches, cups, etc, and then screw them back on. Once she gets the cap back on she will applaud herself. You really can't get anything by this kid either. The concept of out of sight out of mind doesn't work with her. If she wants something that she can't have like my phone, or daddy's glasses, I will hide it under a pillow or behind a table. She instantly starts digging through blankets, looking under pillows, and searching the general area until she finds what she is looking for. She gets so proud when she finds it, that I usually give in and reward her by letting her play with whatever it is. Oh well. She also loves "re-organizing" her drawers, grandma's kitchen cupboards, and mama's shoes. We have nicknamed her Hurricane Ryleigh. She is also really into mama right now. She watches me get ready, and then finds my makeup bag, locates a compact and a brush, and pretends to put makeup on. She will rub the makeup brush on the compact lid, and then brush it on her cheeks while saying "awwwwww, petttty". So funny! We have to be very careful right now, as she thinks anything remotely resembling the shape and size of a q-tip is a q-tip and will insert it into her ear. Same thing goes with anything resembling a toothbrush.
She has several baby dolls, and she is very sweet with them. She will share her water with them. If I ask her to give the baby some water, she will run and get her sippy cup and put it up to the baby's lips. She will also clean the baby's ears, and rock and pat it. Ready for a sibling? Haha
Her vocab is growing as well. She has mastered all of the animal sounds that we taught her: cat, dog, horse, monkey, bird, duck, snake, dragon (she got this from a show we watch and it's so funny), bear, owl, and cow. She says the following words: mama, dada, papa, up, cat, mer-mer (merlin is our cat), water (pronounced waf), cookie, banana (pronounced nana), bye bye, ni-night, shoes, hat, that, this, more, again, hi, oh no, stop...there's more that I can't think of.

She is pretty independent, and when she wants her space, she will say "bye bye mama" and blow a kiss. If I don't get the hint, then she will waive her arms in the air and say "No, Stop!" and will proceed to lecture me in babble.

She loves bath time, and all we have to say is "It's time for tub, and she will run to the bathroom door and start banging on it.

She is also sleeping like an angel, which is amazing since sleep was hit or miss for her first 9-10 months. Now she's down anywhere between 8-9, and sleeps until btwn 7-8, only waking when she's having a bad teething spell, or if she is battling a cold, like she has twice in the last month!

I have thought every age is the best yet, but I am truly enjoying this stage right now. It really seems as if she understands everything I say, so I feel like we are truly interacting. She will also sit through a cartoon or long chunks of a movie, which makes me happy. I am so looking forward to the day when we can sit on the couch on a cold day, wrap up in blankets, and pop in a movie. I think it will be here soon (well, minus the cold day part).

All in all, this kid is just a joy to be around. Even when she's being a feisty she-devil telling me No No No, she still manages to make my heart melt.