The Megel Family Memoirs: Madelyn at 15 Months

At her 15 month well-check Madelyn weighed 28lbs 4oz and was 31in long. 95^th percentile for weight and 78^th percentile for length. For the record, Abi, who is 2 years older than her sister, weighs 30lbs. And they now wear the same size for the most part. Which is actually really convenient. She can say a fairly good amount of words and phrases now: mama, dada, Abi, dog, uh-oh, thank you, all done, stuck, ball, truck, cracker. Mostly she just jibber-jabbers or points and grunts. She is very unlike Abi in this way. Who started talking at 9 months and hasn’t closed her mouth since. I asked the doctor about it and he said some kids develop all their motor skills first and then verbal skills later on. He is explaining this to me as Madi is trying to dive head first off the exam table, climb the chairs and use me as her personal jungle gym. “This,” he says, “seems to be the case here.” Yeeaahhhh. If you only knew, bub.

Sassy Molassy at her 15 Month Well-Check

She finally started walking at 14 months, right before Halloween. Well, starting walking isn’t really accurate. Starting running is more appropriate. She did the newborn baby giraffe walk for about two days and then she just took off. And hasn’t stopped since. She runs, empties cabinets, pulls down the curtains, stands on top of the dining room table, goes head first down the stairs, jumps on Abi’s bed, thinks window sills are foot holds for climbing and can scale the back of the couch. She is a wild woman. And while it is exhausting and she gives me a daily heart attack, it is hilarious. She is so fearless and determined. I just know she will be this way her whole life and we’ll be in the ER with her more than the rest of us combined.

First (of many I'm sure) black eye. This picture does not even
come close to doing it justice. The whole right side of her face was
a combination of black/purple/green/yellow.

To match her fearless approach to life, Madi has also developed a new sassy baskets attitude. The look that girl gives you when you tell her ‘no’ is ridiculous. My mom is always saying she can’t wait to hear what will come out of her mouth once she learns to talk.

The 'no' face because I wouldn't let her dive head first over the 3 foot edge of the trampoline

Despite all this, she continues to be an extremely happy and snuggly kid. She had been a little fussy the week before her well-check and had had a runny nose for a couple weeks. I could see teeth coming in and assumed that was the cause. Then the doctor informed me that she had a double ear infection and a sinus infection. “Oh, is this where I sign stating I’m the worst mother ever? Great, I’ll just go fill up her sippy cup with Mountain Dew now.” Then on top of that she had to get shots. And God bless her, you would have hardly known she didn’t feel good. About a week after her appointment she broke out in the most horrible rash I have ever seen all over her body. We thought maybe she was allergic to the amoxicillin and promptly took her back in. When I called, the nurse said to bring her through the side door in case it wasn’t an allergic reaction and it was something contagious. Side door!? I didn’t even know there WAS a side door. I was good an anxious just to find out she was having a reaction to her MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine. And she just looked like she had measles. It apparently happens to 1/20 kids and went away in a few days. And bless her heart, she never fussed then either.

In case you ever wondered what measles looks like.
But it was all over her entire body.

Her blanket and her thumb. She LOVES her blanket and it goes everywhere with her.
And of course, she can't suck her thumb without clutching her blanket.

You are a spit fire Madelyn Joy. You are wild, make huge messes, can eat more than your dad and scare me to death every day. But you are also sweet, snuggly, and absolutely hilarious. We laugh out loud at you every single day. Life would certainly be boring without you!