15 Months Old.

Max was actually 15 months old last Friday, and today we took him for his 15 month check-up. He was such a good boy; hamming it up with the doctor and being so brave for his shots. He got 2 in one leg and one in the other and he did cry, but the tears dried up as soon as Daddy picked him up, and he even forgave the mean nurse when she brought him some toys.

Before the doctor came in, the nurse took the standard measurements of weight and length. I'm not sure what happened when she measured him, but she came up with only about a 1/4" growth from his check-up 3 months ago. Based on how short the pants are now that he wore 3 months ago, we were sure she had made a mistake. Chris therefore measured Max himself when the nurse left the room, and then made the doctor do so when he came in. Turns out, she was off by 2"!!! That's a ton in the world of a 15 month old...we would have gone home being sad that my short genes were already asserting themselves, but instead we can delude ourselves a little bit longer into believing that we're going to have a tall kid :)

So, his stats are as follows:

Height: 32", which is 78.5% (yay!)

Weight: 23 lbs 7 oz, which is 60%

Basically, he's perfect. But we already knew that.

What Max loves at 15 Months:

• Books! He had no interest in being read to up until about a month ago, and now suddenly he wants to have every book in the house read to him multiple times per day. He does have his favorites, too. He loves this book about a dog named Nubs who was befriended by an American marine in Afghanistan and then adopted and brought to the US. It's not a kids book per se, but I think Max loves it because of the pictures of the dogs. He also dearly loves this German kids' book about different vehicles (police car, fire truck, ditch diggers, trash truck, etc) as well as the book his Omi and OpiLu gave him with, again, animals in it. "That's Not My Train" (given to Max by Aunt Les and Uncle Ben) is another favorite, and he will point out the mouse on every page before he will feel the "touch and feel" item on each page. Oh, and he also adores "Counting Peas", which is a book about two rabbits named Max and Ruby.
• Animals - as stated above, he loves his animals. This makes me indescribably happy. He loves to give Bailey hugs and kisses throughout the day and I'm proud that some of his first words are "fish" and "duck". Actually, besides "uh oh", the very first thing he ever "said" was "baack baack" in response to "what does a chicken say?" I'm pretty much ecstatic about the fact that my little guy already loves trips to the zoo and will happily stand and look at the same animal for quite a while. (longer than his Dad in fact)
• Milk. The kid is obsessed with milk. He would drink it exclusively instead of eating if given the opportunity.
• Music. He had a big time at Best Buy today, operating the speaker display. He kept turning the volume way up and dancing. He also tried to boogie at lunch today when the restaurant sound system played "Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer.
• Brushing his teeth. Anytime you mention teeth, in fact, he imitates brushing. He gets really excited to go brush his teeth each night and has the whole routine down - put the water on, put the toothpaste on, brush. He would just repeat the process all night long if you'd let him.
• Water. He's crazy about water, any kind of water whatsoever. He refuses to stay away from Bailey's water bowl, no matter how many times we reprimand him. And he has been caught trying to go for a swim in the toilet. I guess someone's getting swimming lessons next summer.
• Giving hugs. Chris thinks we need to teach him not to hug so much but I couldn't disagree more. I think it's the cutest/sweetest thing and I love that my boy is so loving. He hugs Bailey, us, his cousins, strange ladies at Nana's funeral, and even a stranger at the zoo yesterday. I know there will be a day when he refuses to give anyone a hug, so there's no way I'm going to discourage it now.

What Max dislikes at 15 Months:

• Being told no or reprimanded in any way. I think he gets this from me, but Max gets terribly offended/feelings hurt when you fuss at him. He gets the saddest look on his face and then cries. I guess it's good, because I think he understands that he's in "trouble" but it breaks my heart every time.
• Having his diaper changed/getting dressed. Doesn't every kid want to be a nudist? I know Sam and Nathanael do. But Max is like a bucking bronco when I try to dress him or change his diaper. It's totally exhausting.
• Most food. He's really been going through a phase where I have no idea what to feed him. His favorite on Monday might be his most hated food on Tuesday. It's so frustrating, but based on his weight and the doctor's observations, he's getting what he needs.
• Being patient/waiting. The kid has the patience of a gnat. I can't figure out where he gets that from.
• When his aquarium doesn't work. He has this "aquarium" that hangs on his crib that makes water sounds and has "fish" swimming by and a light. When he wakes up in the night, he turns on his aquarium and his musical seahorse and then he falls back asleep. But man, does he go through the batteries with that aquarium. I change them out about every 2 weeks. So some nights, when the batteries are about to die, the aquarium will turn on but then turns itself back off in a couple of  minutes (versus the 15 or so it normally runs before turning itself off). Max does not appreciate this, and many times in the middle of the night I have heard him pouding on the aquarium with increasing vigor as it cuts off before he has fallen back asleep.

Max has really developed quite the personality now, and he honestly makes me laugh all day long (in between the times when he is making me pull my hair out). Not a day goes by that I don't ask myself how we got so lucky in having such a great kid. Each morning I wonder what he's going to do to impress me or make me laugh and he hasn't let me down yet.