Makena at 15 Months

How do I describe Makena at this stage in her life?  There are so many things that come to mind.  She is loud and determined.  She is sweet and giggly.  She is growing up fast both in size and learning new things.

She uses a handful of words to communicate to us.  You would think I love hearing her say, "Mama" the most, but when she says that word, she's usually yelling at me as I'm leaving her with strangers or when she's attacking me at the front door and I can barely make it through the threshold.  My favorite word that she says, by far, is "Amen."  When we pray, she puts her hands together and when we're done, she'll say her own little, "Amen."  I love it. 

This little girl knows what she wants.  She is loud to express it.  She doesn't take "no" for an answer.  She'll cry, stomp her feet and walk away.  Yes, you heard it here first.  My 15-month old is already throwing tantrums.  I don't know if it's because of her strong-willed personality or because Karis has just started throwing tantrums and Makena is a quick learner.   The other day, Karis was protesting a nap.  As we had our little power struggle, Karis was crying and yelling and crying.  Makena sat next to me and did her own loud crying/yelling.  At what?  I have no idea and it sure wasn't helping my situation with Karis. Perhaps Makena just wanted some attention too.

Makena tries to do everything Karis does from climbing the same thing on the playground to rubbing her hands together while she watches Karis use antibacterial gel.  She loves it when Karis plays with her, but Karis has to be the mood (which she often isn't).  If Derek and I take away something from Makena, she'll often protest.  But if she sees Karis coming, she'll quickly drop the toy or whatever item she's holding onto the ground.  She knows not to mess with her big sis!   I think it's interesting how she never tries to play with Fluffy.  If anything, she'll pick up Fluffy and bring it straight to Karis.  

I love how Makena can understand simple commands like, "put that back," "bring it here," and "put the diaper in the trash can." She is still really clingy to me and doesn't like meeting strangers.  She naps great during the day and has started to transition to only one nap.  All of her teeth are in or at least have started to come in.  She still takes one bottle in the morning and one at night.  She loves to climb onto furniture.  She's super ticklish.  

It's been fun watching her grow up and seeing her personality develop.  It's also been a learning experience to know how to appreciate and work with each child's uniqueness.  I would hope that with each child, parenting would get easier, but I have quickly learned that kids don't follow a text book.  What works for one doesn't always work for the other, and we can't expect our second child to do what our first child did.