15 Months

The age of 15 months is definitely my favourite of the "little" stages. I love that at this point they are so eager and excited to explore the world, but they can't quite outrun me yet (they achieve that around age 2, haha). I love that they are independent little people, but still have no problem needing Mama. I honestly enjoy my kids more and more as they get older, I'm not really a baby person, and I've found it is usually at 15 months where things level out for me.

For those out there who don't know me, I had a really rough go with Judith when she was a baby. She had reflux and spent most of her first 5 months screaming. Our breastfeeding relationship was quite strained for that period of time too, although thankfully I was stubborn enough to persevere. It caused some pretty severe depression in me, especially since the other new mothers I knew didn't seem to be having as tough of a time. The sense of failure I lived with every day was overwhelming, but that story is for another post (I have been meaning to post about my postpartum depression experience since I started this blog, but honestly I have been terrified to, there are some things I haven't even had the strength or courage to tell Dave about yet, although I think it would be good for me to be able to let it all out).

ANYWAYS, I remember things getting a lot better once Judith hit one year. She started walking on her first birthday, and then suddenly transformed. She was no longer angry at the world. She has always been so gross motor skills-oriented. Things started to level out then, and by 15 months I actually thought I had this whole motherhood thing figured out (HA!). Then she weaned at 19 months, and I got pregnant a few weeks later. Annnnnnnd, then everything was hard again. And I knew nothing again. And Judith started watching tv.

But 15 months... 15 months was a wonderful time. Both of my kids started sleeping the night every night at 15 months. Maybe that's why I suddenly felt like I could conquer the world again at that point. Even this time around, even though I have 2 kids and am pregnant (in the easy 2nd trimester, mind you), I am doing quite well these days. I'm totally loving and enjoying Gideon's 15th month. I know that things may very well go vastly downhill as the cold sets in and I get further along in my pregnancy and then will have a newborn again (while being stuck indoors during the winter), but I'm not going to worry about that now. Today, I am TOTALLY enjoying my kids, my pregnancy, and this summer. I'm so thankful that I can enjoy Gideon's 15 month stage, it's seriously the best.

So for fun, here are some comparison shots of Judith and Gideon each at 15 months:













Isn't this stage SO cute? I'm totally loving this time in our lives.