I have an announcement!!! Madison just peed in the potty for the first time!!! At 15 months, 3 days old!
Okay, so I am nowhere near ready to potty train. That's not even on my radar. I hate potty training and have to work myself up to it. But a few weeks ago Carter had asked me to see what was in the cabinet under the sink in Madison's bathroom and he discovered the training potty and pulled it out. Tonight Michaela followed me in there to give Madison her bath and asked why it was out and if we could try it. I set naked little Madison on the potty where she was very happy to sit. Michaela said "I'm going to show her how to do it" and sat on the real toilet and went to the bathroom. All this time the bathtub was running to warm up the water. When it was time to put Maddie in the bath we looked down and saw urine in the potty! Everyone cheered and yelled and Michaela went running to tell Craig, who cheered and yelled for Madison too. It was adorable to see how excited Michaela was about the whole thing. So I'm sure it was pure luck, plus the combination of the sound of running water, but it is still worth noting. Especially since I had literally just taken off a dirty diaper so I was sure that Madison had gone already very recently and wouldn't have to go again. I'm going to hope this is something we can replicate but at the same time I'm not going to try very hard at it. As much as it would be wonderful to be done with diapers forever I have a feeling we have a while before that will actually happen.
Anyway, as long as I'm typing I may as well give a 15 month update. Madison had her doctor appointment on Tuesday, the day before her actual 15 month birthday, and did great. She weighs 20 lbs 10 oz now, which is a 2 pound jump in the last 3 months. I didn't get what percentile she's in unfortunately. I also don't really know her height because the doctor wanted her to be re-measured since the percentile had dipped significantly since her last one and he thought it was incorrect. But when the MA re-measured her she didn't tell me what it was so I'm in the dark. Obviously it was okay though or else Dr. A would have mentioned it. He was very impressed with her skills and she passed her autism test, which is just a questionnaire that looks for signs of autism. Dr. A said we got a 100%. He kept mentioning how well behaved she was and that she was the easiest 15 month appointment he's had in a long time. He said usually they try to shy away from strangers such as the doctor when they get close but Madison just sat still and let him do everything and even pointed at him and try to engage him. He said that pointing is big at this age and shows that they are not only aware of their surroundings but that they want to engage you in their world. Madison points ALL THE TIME so I guess she's developing well. She points at birds, dogs, when looking for her brother, to ask for something, to show you something.....the list goes on and on. As for her speaking skills, she really has a very big vocabulary and at this point is now learning to repeat new words right away. She saw a sticker at the doctor's office and I told her it was Donkey (from Shrek) and she kept pointing it out to Dr. A while saying "Donkey". She picks up new words quickly and retains them. I've lost count of all she can say at this point. Madison's favorite things right now are dancing, dogs, baby dolls, and her stuffed monkeys. If she hears music she drops what she's doing and starts dancing. If she walks into a room where music is playing her little face lights up and her legs start bouncing. It's adorable! She loves to play with all toys, including her brother's planes which drives him crazy, but she really likes to carry a baby doll around and say "Baby" while patting it on the back or hugging it. And she can't sleep without her monkey. She has 2 now, hers and Carter's. Carter was kind enough to donate his, which is nice because she prefers that one over hers. Michaela has a matching one too and it's only because it stays in her room that Madison hasn't claimed it as well. When she wakes up in the morning she makes sure to grab one of the monkeys to come to the changing table with her, showing it to me and saying "monkey" in her cute little sing song voice. She still loves to read and usually has a book or two in bed with her too. Finally, she loves to color. I've never seen a baby this young be so fascinated with coloring but I will often find her sitting on the ground with a piece of paper in front of her (she especially loves cards and grabs any old birthday card she can find laying around), holding a pen or marker or crayon and just coloring away. She doesn't even care if the pen or marker isn't opened. She just wants to do the motions of coloring on paper. I often give her the color wonder markers to play with but really she is very good about staying on the paper only. I keep thinking she's advanced, but I honestly can't remember what age the others were when they did these things. But they also didn't have two older siblings to look up to and I can honestly say that Madison loves to copy them and do whatever they are doing. As my mom said, she's going to be my unstoppable one. I think she's right.
