Walker, 15 Months Old

I often think about Walker's first nickname..."Walk." Lainey couldn't say "Walker" so she just called him "Walk." The memory makes me smile. We love you, cute boy. You have a big heart, a sensitive soul, and an adorable smile. You are perfect!

This is the cute sleepy face that greets me every morning. Just love him.

Walker likes any cardboard box that can be emptied. Particularly if it contains powdered drink mixes, like hot chocolate or Crystal Light flavor packets. He also likes the challenge of putting the packets back into the boxes.

He has learned to climb upon a stool, and he loves "bouncing" on the trampoline. He is still a little guy, with strong little muscular legs and no rolls to speak of.

He loves watching TV in his sister's chair (also known as his favorite chair). Sometimes he can steal a moment or two in there before she notices.

Height: 31-1/2 inches (50th-75th percentile)

Weight: 21.8 pounds (just above the 10th percentile)

Walker and Lainey had been playing doctor and patient on the couch but she abandoned him to do something else, leaving him to play with her doctor kit.

At 15 months old, Walker can respond to simple requests, like "get the ball" or "bring me the (toy) hammer." Well, he responds when he feels like it, that is. :)

Lainey is one of his favorite people. He LOVES it when she plays with him (which she's starting to do more often). She will sometimes just start laughing at something funny and try to catch his eye so that he'll start laughing. And it always works. However, she has told him frequently that she "is disappointed" in him when he throws things. :)

I found Walker reading his current favorite book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? just before bed the other night. He had apparently gone over to his book bucket, gotten the book, and started reading while I was helping Lainey get ready for bed. Ha!

This little guy is still wearing size 3 diapers. At night, he wears size 4 diapers. Most of the time, he can still wear his 6-12 month clothes.

He sleeps all night, usually 10-11 hours. He prefers a small cat nap in the morning and a big nap in the afternoon. He had a nasty bout of strep throat this past weekend. He was miserable.

Walker loves...

• when I smell his tiny feet and say, "Poo-tinky!" He cracks up every time.
• bubbles. He can even blow bubbles using the bubble wand! He'll chase you around with the bubble wand, begging for you to play bubbles with him.
• his toothbrush. Not for brushing, mind you, but for chewing.
• blowing out pretend candles, blowing on hot food...etc.
• to laugh with us whenever we're laughing, even if he has no idea why he's laughing or why we're laughing.
• going night-night. He knows those words, so that's all we have to say to him and he starts marching towards his room towards his binky, blankie, and bottle. Sometimes, if I'm putting Lainey down first (like for a nap) then he'll bring me things from his room (his jammies, his sleep sack, the bottle's coaster) to show me that he's ready to go down for his nap, too. He'll just keep bringing me things until it's time for me to put him down for his nap.
• books. He loves books.
• Ainsley and Gage. I am pretty sure that he thinks they are his age. He points to their house, waves at them any chance he gets, and lets out little excited yelps when he sees them. Cute.
• dancing. He (usually) dances by bending his knees and lightly bouncing up and down whenever he hears a song that catches his attention. However, he does like to dance with Dora, and sometimes he'll move his arms back and forth like she does.
• our framed family picture from the day that he came home from the hospital. He picks it up all the time and carries it around the house and points to our faces and talks to it.
• playing "Where's Walker?" by hiding under his sleep sack. Lainey did this exact same thing when she was younger, too.
• trying to feed himself with a spoon.
• kicking the soccer ball (well, it's more like dribbling, but the ball does actually move forward!).
• food. This kid needs regular feedings or we have severe meltdowns. He will pretty much eat almost anything at this point - or he's at least willing to try it.
• his bottle. Good luck to us on breaking him of that habit. :)
• trying to go down the stairs by himself. As I've said before, I have to supervise this process because he still falls. He thinks he can go down the stairs like a big person - stepping down while holding onto the railing - but in actuality, he isn't quite able to do that. So we encourage him to do down the stairs by scooting on his bottom.
• babbling. I think the only "words" (and I use that term loosely, friends) he tries to say are "hi" ("ayyyyeeee" and waving) and "bo" ("boo") and, of course, "mamama" and "mommm mommm" whenever he needs something. :)
• clinging to me when in a new environment. After he's warmed up a bit, he'll get right out there and play. But until then, he'd prefer to stay on my hip or in my lap.
• the playground. And being outside. And climbing the ladder to our fort in the backyard, even when I've laid our small trampoline up against it and secured it with a bungee cord! He can squeeze between the trampoline and the ladder. So that's fun. I need to move onto Plan B because I need something to block him from going up there if I have to run inside for a minute.
• falling. Well, he doesn't love falling but he does it all the time. He bumps, trips, falls, collides, smashes, bonks, and doinks on a daily basis. The boy always has a bruise or a cut somewhere.
• exiting buildings/play areas. He's always headed for the doors, especially if they lead outside! He's a runner. ;)

We look forward to seeing what next month holds for Walker. Kids seem to grow SO quickly at this between-one-and-two-years-old stage. Happy fifteen months, Walker! You're a sweetie and we love you!