Tootah

Cosette is speaking in sentences. The problem is that it is hard enough to understand her when she speaks in single words; try stringing a few practically incomprehensible words together and then making sense of them. Sometimes she babbles on for 10 or 15 seconds, and I'm sure she is saying something significant but I just can't understand it. Some shorter phrases that we've successfully interpreted so far include:

"I got that!"
"I want that!"
"She did it!"
"He did it!"

She often speaks in exclamation points. At this age, everything is very exciting.

Although she does get frustrated when she is trying to tell you something and you aren't getting it, she will get her point across one way or the other. Yesterday, at Nonna's house, she spoke to Nonna "Blabble flabble blah blah blah". Nonna didn't understand. Cosette repeated herself. Nonna still didn't understand. Cosette repeated herself, then walked over to the fridge and banged on the door. She was hungry. Later, Cosette looked directly at Nonna and said something again. Once again, Nonna didn't get it. After repeating herself once or twice, Cosette walked into the living room, and came back, throwing 4 diapers onto Nonna's lap. Apparently she needed a change. See? She gets what she wants one or the other. Also, it makes me think that she will potty train easier then Juliette did- Uh, I mean, is- Uh, I mean, will. Maybe Cosette will be potty trained before Juliette.

She also knows colors. She picked up a blue block and announced "boo". She picked up a green block and said "geen". She has a little trouble with her "r" sounds.

It is important to think in context when trying to understand her speech. For example, "boo" can mean blue, or it can mean book, or it can mean boobie. "Dawn" can mean done, or it can mean down- either of which signifies that she wants to get out of her highchair. "Uh-oh", however, always means she dropped something.

Sometimes she will eat something she knows she's not supposed to, then come over and open her mouth so I can see it. Then she smiles and runs away. She thinks its a game. Yesterday she did this with an orange crayon. Today her poopie was bright orange. Didn't smell though, so that's OK.

Another game she likes is to stand up somewhere she isn't supposed to- in her highchair, on the couch, on the art table- and wait for me to yell at her to sit down. Which she does, then she rebounds back to standing so quickly that sometimes, if you blink, you might miss it. So I yell at her again, she laughs again, and she sits for a nanosecond. And then stands again. What do you do with a 15 month old who thinks it's funny when you yell at her?

She likes to try and put her own shoes on, but she really isn't as good at it as her sister is. If I ask her to come to me where I am sitting on the floor so that I can do it for her, she stops, turns around, and backs up to me until she can fall into my lap. I always hear a "Beep, Beep, Beep" in my head when she does this.

Cosette has mastered walking forward. She walks backward. She spins in circles. And lately, she has been walking on her tiptoes. She takes after her mom that way. She does fall often, but that is because she doesn't always look where she is going. She puts her head down and walks quickly, as if she has somewhere very important to be. This is cute, but dangerous. Sometimes the wall gets in the way, and the wall is bigger, so the wall wins. Usually Cosette gets right back up, casually chattering to herself, and keeps on going. I imagine she is saying something like "Oh, I've got to watch where I am going, I might hurt myself!" Occasionally she screams angrily a few times and I imagine what she is saying is more like "F*&$ing wall." She learned that from her sister, who learned that from her father.

At her last checkup, she had grown an inch and a half, keeping her in the 50th% for height; but she only gained 5 ozs, dropping her into the 20th% for weight. This is the baby who was born in the 20th for height and 80th for weight; so now, instead of short and pudgy she is tall and skinny. I use the word tall because compared with Juliette- who never gets above the 25th%, or myself, who was always off the charts (that is, below them) (that is, really really short)- Cosette is tall for her age.

She never sucked her thumb, she never had a binky, and she never had a blankie. But when she was at the mall with her Mimi and Poppy the other day, she walked into the Disney Store, picked up a little plush turtle (Crush from Finding Nemo) and hasn't put it down since. It is very cute. She found her own comfy. The turtle "Tootah". Tootah hasn't replaced me, though; she puts Tootah on my shoulder, and hugs the both of us. And all is at peace.