Considering How Big it Was At Birth, Her Head is On the Small Side

(Editor's note: I posted two more pictures on the June 6 blog from the recital)
Baby B had her 15-month checkup today and got two shots (owies). Daddy got to take her, so I was spared the pain of watching her pain. I'll have to keep an eye on her crankiness and injection sites in case she needs a dose of tylenol or advil. She is 30 and a half inches tall, which still leaves her in the 50th percentile for height; and she's 22 and a half pounds, putting her in the 25th percentile for weight. For those keeping score, her head circumfrence is 45 cm, which is also the 25th percentile.

Hard to imagine that she's 15 months old. She yammers on all the time, sometimes with actual words thrown in. We know for sure she says Hello (helwo) and ball; she says something for dog but then follows up with a woof woof so we know she knows what dogs say. She tries to say "Love you" when I start. You can see her trying to move her tongue to say that "L" sound. Of course she says Mah mah and Dah Dah. But as far as Mah Mah, it still usually means boob, because she says it when she's patting my chest or trying frantically to get my shirt open. She says something for "I want" that sounds like nee nee nee! (usually frantic and said when she's pointing at something.) Negg is for egg. But the babbling goes on and on. Jack has taken her to the YMCA babysitting so he can work out, and they asked him if she talks because apparently, not being a trained monkey, she wasn't saying much around these strangers. But she'll babble non-stop around us, or when she's not aware of her surroundings. When she wanders the mall, she babbles happily.

One thing this kid does is wave. She waves all the time and at everyone. She waves in the mall, in the street, in Wal-Mart, at the TV. She gets a real kick out of people who actually wave back, and with a beaming, beautiful child such as BB, who can resist waving back?

Last night was Patricia's fourth-grade performance that all three fourth-grades created. It was a series of songs and narrations about living in a global world and getting along with one another. Patricia and two other girls had a solo with the chorus backing them up, and I have to say Patricia blew them all away with her singing voice. She is so confident and sings so well. I was so proud. But BB made it difficult to watch the entire performance from my seat so I spent most of the hour program running around the gym after her so she wouldn't bother everyone else. She would stop what she was doing, however, when the audience applauded and join in with an enthusiastic round of applause herself. She loves to clap, she loves to perform and be part of the action.

Ranking right up there next to her love of waving is her love of dancing. I've written before how she'll dance around to her CDs or tapes, but she's taken it a quick-step further and dances around anytime she hears music. She can be sitting in her car seat and she'll start to sway to music on the radio. She does this side-to-side move that's adorable. She'll wave her arms up and down while bending up and down at the knees, all in time to the music. She marches really quickly in place or turns in circles. She just LOVES music and dancing. Can hula babies be that far off? I even think she has started trying to sing when she hears some of her songs on the player. Of course, Margaret and Patricia will spend hours with her in the living room, singing and dancing with her. Daddy has his morning music time with her, too.

Speaking of Margaret, today is Day Two of final exams. She's never had final exams before and she's been very conscientious about studying and being prepared. Yesterday's exam was an essay for English which they started as a rough draft before school ended. The entire exam was re-writing the rough draft. Today is social studies, and she stayed after school Tuesday for a review class. But just like everything else, Margaret and about five other students showed up for it and all six of them are A or A-plus students. The kids who can benefit from extra help or review never show up for these things.

She has an exam on Monday and one on Tuesday; she doesn't have to return to the building after that until Friday morning when she picks up her report card. Patricia has full days on Monday and Tuesday next week and then half-days the rest of the week. Tuesday, however, is a field-trip day where they're going roller skating in the morning and to the beach in the afternoon. I don't know why they have school in June. Most of it is spent on field trips.