Bethany keeps growing and learning. It’s amazing to see. She has a very strong little personality, giving hugs and kisses freely when she’s content and expressing her increasingly stronger opinions when she has them. She’s very attached to her blanket, and always makes little question sounds as she looks around her world. Her car seat faces forward now, and she likes to ride the city bus. She loves reading books, singing and dancing, playing with toys and swinging at the park. This is an exciting time to be a parent.

And now for those “How is your kid?” FAQs.

Q: How big is Bethany?

A: At her 9 month well visit, she was 19 lbs, 5 oz and 27-1/2 inches tall. At her 12 month visit, she was 20 lbs, 11 oz and 29-1/4 inches tall. And at her 15 month appointment, she was 22 lbs, 10 oz and 30 inches tall. Whew! And for those of you who wonder, that means she grew 10 inches in her first year of life. What’s even more amazing are her head measurements. Her height and weight have been about average for her age, but are currently a little less than average. On the other hand, her head measurement has continued to surpass the average so that she’s in the 75th-90th percentile range.

Quite the melon head.

Q: Does she walk?

A: Sort of. As it turns out, Bethany is very cautious about letting go. We can coax her to take about two unassisted steps at a time before she drops to a crawl or lunges to grab a support. She will, however, push furniture and her toy shopping cart around the room to allow her to cruise where she doesn’t have handholds. Most frustrating for me, though, is her refusal to take any steps when I have the camera at the ready. Switching the camera on seems to be the most reliable way to ensure that she immediately stops what she’s doing and crawls directly toward the camera’s pretty red light.

I’ll catch her someday. And when I do, I’ll post it for you. I promise.

Q: Can she talk?

A: YES! What Bethany lacks in the walking department, she makes up for in the talking department. She’s a real chatterbox, with her vocabulary growing by the day. She started by saying Dadadada when she was happy and Mamamama when she was upset, but those definitely became our names by 10 months. Around that time, she also started to woof when she saw a dog. Now she has a considerable repertoire of animal sounds (dog, cow, chicken, monkey, fish, lion, owl, bear, elephant…). She can ask (and demand) to be picked “up” and put “down.” At night she takes a “bath” where she plays with “bubble” and then tells her daddy “night-night.” She’ll talk on the phone and say “hello, hello, hello,” unless the phone talks back to her, in which case she is too surprised to say anything. When we pass the kitchen counter she tells me that she wants a “nana". She can name eyes, nose, ears, heh, muth and toes. In fact she even sings “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” omitting all references to shoulders and knees. One of her favorite activities is to read a buh. Her current favorite is One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Last week, it was Go, Dog, Go!

Oh-and when Bethany needs to tell me something but doesn’t know the words, she just makes them up.

Q: Does she sleep through the night?

A: You had to ask this one, didn’t you? No, she doesn’t sleep through the night yet, but we’re working on it. Things are improving a lot.

Q: What does she like to eat?

A: Right now, I think Bethany’s favorite food is the banana because she asks for it by name. She’s eating mostly table food, but she doesn’t quite eat what Dustin and I do. Back in January, she was tested for food allergies, because she’d had a few reactions. The tests turned up eggs, wheat and peanuts as offenders. The doctor we saw said that she’d probably outgrow the allergies in a few years, but for now, we’re avoiding these foods entirely. On the bright side, there are a lot of creative alternatives she can eat, including alfredo sauce on rice noodles. She’s also learning how to eat with a spoon and spork. Mealtimes are a bit messy, but fun.

Q: Has she had a haircut yet?

A: We’ve had her bangs trimmed twice. She is very cooperative at the kids’ hair salon and likes to sit in the fire engine chair. They gave me a little baggie of the first locks they trimmed.

Q: Who’s her favorite?

A: Da-daddy. She asks about him frequently while he’s at work, looks out the window for his car, and wiggles like crazy when she greets him after a long day of work. When she plays with the socks on laundry day, she also asks if each one is his—“Da-daddy’s?” And while that last part is a little odd, I’m glad she loves him so much. Especially now that she doesn’t cry whenever I leave the room.

What else would you like to know? Just ask, and I’ll give you an answer!