Anna's checkup

We went this week for Anna's 15 month checkup. She's actually 16 1/2 months old; somehow we got off track. But we're scheduled now to go back in 6 weeks for her 18 month checkup so we'll be accurate then. Overall, she is doing great. He weight is just under 22 lbs, which puts her in the 20-25%. Her height is 33 inches, which puts her in the 90%. Our tall skinny girl! I have a feeling that one day she will be much taller than her mommy. She must have inherited those tall Hatten genes. (Jay's grandfather was about 6'6".)

The only strange measurement is her head circumference. In her last visits it has increased from the 40% then to 65% and now to 85-90%. We don't know if she is just genetically supposed to have a big head or if there is something else going on. She isn't showing any signs of anything that would be concerning with her head size--no developmental delays, seizures, vomiting, eye problems, etc. So we're going to measure her head again in 6 weeks and see if anything has changed.

She continues to be so much fun for our family. Catherine and Will are her favorite friends. She has lots of fun with them every day. As much as they love her, I think at times they get annoyed by her. She constantly wants something of theirs--Will's shoes, Catherine's baby, etc--and she pulls their hair, ears, and nose while we ride in the car. But they tolerate her antics well and take turns playing with her when she is being difficult (which really is usually when we're in the car).

She also pays attention really well and imitates whatever they're doing. One day Jay was practicing shaking hands with Catherine and Will before we went to Milwaukee. He practiced with each of them a couple of times. Then he started to walk away, but Anna went over to him and held out her hand just like they had. Another time, they were standing up next to me to see how tall they were. When they stepped away, she came right over and did the exact same thing.

She discovered Catherine's old bike helmet in the garage and thinks she's a really big kid now. She wears it around frequently. It may not be a bad idea for her to wear it since she has also figured out how to climb on kitchen chairs, the couch, and anything else that looks interesting.
She is so sweet. I love this stage--still sometimes babyish but also learning so many new things. She's learning about one new word a week right now. Her current vocabulary includes "brother", "baby"--which she says as Bay-BEE, "up", "more", and we're working on "please." She also understands communication very well. I can ask her to go upstairs and get her shoes and she'll go get them and bring them down. Or if I say I'm going to take Eli out to potty, she goes to get his leash.

She also is pretty strong willed. We've had a couple of "i'm not giving in or going to obey" confrontations. Thankfully Jay and I didn't give in either and after many tears on her part she eventually cooperated. All over minor things--like handing us the camera case she put on the floor or returning diapers to the diaper bag she got out. I predict more of those confrontations to come. We better prepare ourselves.

It's a blurry picture--but this captures how she's always moving around and always has her green blanket with her (and how I'd like a new camera that focuses better :)
We love you Anna! I can't believe you're growing up so fast!