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On October 20th, Ali turned 15 months old…1 year and 3 months! It didn’t go unnoticed and I wanted to write a record of what she’s doing these days.

Ali-gator, you are now walking more than crawling, and even walking with your hands down! (No more Frankenstein.) You still trip a lot. I guess it takes a while to get a sense of where your feet are and what’s coming up. You’re really into climbing lately. You love to climb from your little rocking chair on to Grandma and Grandpa’s big recliner and then back down. I got you a toddler slide from craigslist to help satisfy your climbing desires but you haven’t figured out the ladder yet. You love the slide though!

You’ve started becoming a little more picky and opinionated in your eating lately. The result is just that you’ve been eating a little less because you don’t always care for what’s offered to you. I figure if you’re really hungry you’ll eat it anyway. We sometimes hand you a plastic toddler fork or spoon with food on it and you’re happy to eat whatever is on it. You haven’t yet tried to get the food on to the utensil yourself but that will come eventually.

We’re working hard on stay positive and redirecting you rather than saying “No” too much. You respond so much better to a gentle redirect than to an angry, “No! Ali! That’s Lucy’s food!” That only makes you want to do it more. I felt convicted recently that I was getting too harsh with you, after reading “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” So true that is with you. Thank you for being patient with me and giving me lots of chances to practice.

Just lately you’ve started putting 2 word phrases together. We were Skyping with Jason while he was out of town one day and right after I ended the call you said, “Bye Dada.” (You also gave him lots of kisses on the phone that day – so cute!) You also sometimes say, “Oh Yeah!” and it cracks me up. You’ve also said “more pwease” and “read it.” You babble all the time and I love getting little glimpses of what’s going through your head. I showed you some pictures I was working on of paint mock ups of the new house and you indulged me with, “Ooooh!” You never hide your excitement when you see something you love or think is pretty. You’re a jewelry fanatic so it’s no surprise that you’re saying “Jewry” even before you’re saying “Grandma” or “Grandpa.” You’ve been trying, though, and I can tell the subtle difference between “Dada” and “Dinda”… Dinda is your word for both Grandma and Grandpa at this point.

You’re growing slowly and steadily. We weighed and measured you at home the other day. You were 21.5 lbs and 29″ tall. (Sidenote: you’re exactly the same height and weight as your cousin Iris right now, who is 3 months younger than you.) You’re still wearing size 3 shoes though 2/3 of them are too small. Your size 4s, however, are mostly all too long. So we’re back to having just a few pairs of shoes that fit, but that’s fine. Your hair is getting longer and longer but still sitting up on top of your head. Is it going to start falling downward eventually? You have 8 teeth now and you are great about letting us brush them before bed every night. Daddy taught you to hold hands recently and you love to hold his hand while I push you in your stroller back and forth from Grandma and Grandpa’s house to our new house.

You’re great at making choices between two items and I love to give you that power. (More than 2 options is a little overwhelming.) Banana yogurt or peach yogurt? Do you want to wear this shirt or this shirt? Should Mommy buy these striped sheets or the gray sheets? Do you like this soap dispenser or this one? Obviously, I think you’re an excellent shopping buddy. I see many, many mother/daughter Friday night shopping excursions in our future. You are super fun to spend time with, excited about life, easy-going, loving and curious. Thanks for being my daughter.

All pictures in this post are from Ali’s buddy Jaron’s adoption day October 2, 2012; taken by Beth Rose Goin.