Don’t Tell Me, She Looks Like *HIM* (at 15 Months)

ME (the fat pumpkin):

HIM:

HER…whatdaya think?

She’s making a face in the next picture as if she smells a dirty diaper or something (flaring her nostrils).  I don’t remember what that was about, but look at her eyes.  JUST. LIKE. HER DAD’S! 

They’re sort of greenish, brownish, hazelish, which she got from her dad.  The color is sort of mottled, making them very intriguing when you try to figure out her eye color.  As Travis has gotten older, his eyes have turned more green. 

Well, Finley is 15 months old.  Can you believe it?  If you knew her sleeping habits, you DEFINITELY wouldn’t believe it;)  I am SO tired (thankyouvery much Miss Finley) and don’t have it in me to write out an organized update, so here’s every quirky thing I can think of about here in bullet form, just so I remember this age when I look back on these posts later.

• TEMPER, temper, temper!!  Finley still has some, um, aggressive issues?!  By that, I mean Shane still needs to be decked out in body armor and we have to make sure his tetanus and rabies shots are up to date!  No, but seriously, when the Littles get into it, the Littlest bites.  And she can throw a traffic-stopping tantrum with the worst of the 2 year olds!  She throws herself down on her back, then scooches all over the ground on her back while yelling and howling so everyone can hear her protests!  She did this at the Children’s Museum yesterday and drew an audience of laughing onlookers who thought her that kind of display from a 17 pound twerp was valiant, spunky, and precious…as did we!
• Is VERY outgoing.  Every park, museum, etc. we go to, Finley just walks right up to strangers to see what they’re up to.  She’s so nosey, but so darn cute and tiny that people almost always stop to indulge her.  She LOVES being the center of attention.
• She’s still breastfeeding.  We are slowly trying to decrease the number of daytime feedings because it greatly impacts her eating and she usually prefers to just nurse.  Right now, we’re down to maybe 3 daytime feedings (though that’ll have to change when I start work in a week), and 2-3 overnight.  I am getting to the point where I just really want more than 3 consecutive hours of sleep.  She is 15 months old!!  Still, I LOVE breastfeeding.  I never thought I’d be one of those women, but I totally am.  My goal was to get her through 1 year, but I have loved that relationship so much I haven’t wanted to stop.  Finley certainly shows no signs of becoming disinterested either.  We’ll see what happens when I start working though.
• Hates swings still, but LOVES to go down slides she has NO business going down.  She’ll fly off the end and just expect to be caught in mid-air (we’ve only missed a few times;)
• Loves bath time and asks to be bathed a few times a day.  Also likes to brush her teeth…this gives me hope that her personal hygiene will be more similar to mine than her dad’s!  jk, sorta.
• Likes coloring, but likes eating crayons more.  Oh, and I once had to call poison control while doing an arts & crafts project with stamps because I took my eyes off her to change Shane’s diaper and by the time I’d come back, she sucked down the ink pad.  Turns out it was non-toxic…phew! 
• Loves to dance and jump
• Can do the fastest walk you’ve ever seen!!  She’s also extremely coordinated and is told all the time by people at the park how athletic she is, which makes her daddy proud.
• Almost always has a scraped up knee, but never seems to feel pain or be deterred by the very real likelihood of an injury.
• Also almost always has a busted lip.
• Loves to climb onto the back of the couch, and from there onto the window sill to look out at the street and watch for dogs passing by.  She lets us know if there’s anything interesting going on out there, in which case her brothers join her in her lookout.  I think the love for people-watching must be genetic (right Yiayia;).
• Signs a ton, is very verbal
• LOVES teddy bears and baby dolls, but also plays with cars and trucks (which also makes her daddy proud)
• Favorite books: Good Dog Carl, Goodnight Gorilla, 8 Silly Monkeys, and any book that has dogs, pop-ups, or textures!
• LOVES the game Crocodile Dentist.  She and Shane play it almost everyday.
• Enjoys the misery she can cause Jack by wrecking his lego towers and trains
• Is a snuggle-bug.  She is the most affectionate little thing and will give hugs & kisses spontaneously all the time.
• Is a TOTAL daddy’s girl.  I don’t know what it is about men in general, but she LOVES almost all men.  If she meets a hetero couple, it’s about 100% guaranteed that she’ll show little to no interest in the woman, but will be ALL OVER the man.  Travis says it’s because she’s had such incredible male role model in her life;)
• Is NO vegetarian.  She likes her meat right off the bone (ribs, chicken, etc.)
• Fave foods: cottage cheese, meat, beans, shredded wheat (my cereal), general tso’s chicken, pasta, smoked salmon, cream cheese, guacamole
• Twirls her hair when she’s tired, pulls her hair when she’s pissed
• Flashes this IRRESISTABLE dimply, flirtatious smile with her huge eyes as wide open as can be and her adorable little mouth all puckered up, like she’s sucking in her cheeks to keep from smiling, pretending to be shy – does this to get our attention or woo a new fan
• Says “bye guys,” and waves to the monkeys hanging from the vines on her ceiling (she’s in Jack’s former nursery) when she wakes up.  It’s her way of saying “peace out suckas” when someone has come to rescue her from her crib and bedroom.
• Loves to do things she’s not supposed to RIGHT in our faces and then flash her coy smile, shake her little pointer finger at us, and say “don’t touch!” 
• Signs “sleep” every time Shane cries or whines, and follows it up with “bye guys,” meaning “he’s tired, put him to bed.”
• Loves to have her face tickled / gently touched as she’s nursing and drifting off to sleep
• Loves to have her toes tickled.  Also loves when we pretend to smell her feet and say “peeuuuuwww!”  It’s gotten to the point where she sticks her feet in my face while she’s nursing. 
• HATES sunscreen.  Too bad she fries like a little piggie in 15 minutes without it!  As soon as she sees us coming at her with the tube, she races for the farthest corner of the room and backs herself up against it and tries to fend us off.  Then she just repeats “all-done, all-done, all-done” until we stop.
• Loves to walk on her tippie toes for fun and can really get up there and balance on the balls of her feet.
• Says “bonk bonk” and bops her self on the head with her palm each time someone goes out the back door.  This is because she’s warning everyone around her (and reminding herself) not to stand near the door because it opens inward and always whacks her in the head when she waits by it!
• Has ~40 something words / signs, but NONE of them is mom, mama, or mommy.  That’s right.  She calls me “milk” and my name sign happens to be, ahem, milk (squeezing her hands open and shut).  She calls Travis Dada, and because of all the times he’s gone out the back door, his name sign is the “bonk bonk” sign (hits her head with her flat palm)!  He’s heartbroken by that.  I don’t mind being called “milk” for now, I know she means it as a compliment;)
• Calls Shane something that sounds like “cheese,” which is hilarious.  It’s a hard name for a baby to say!
• Can go up & down stairs by herself with no trouble.