This Month in Kahlilah: 15 Months Old

For this month of Kahlilah’s life, I’d say the most significant progress has been in language development: I believe we can say now that she’s speaking her first words. On our visit to the US, both my mom and dad confirmed that they heard Kahlilah say “meh-meh” (her pronunciation of “mama”) when I left the room. She may have been doing this for awhile but, since she only seems to say it when I leave, I can’t say for how long. She also says “nah” (her pronunciation of “nurse”) when she wants a little nip of mama’s milk, but she also uses it to express a desire for practically anything so the meaning of this word seems to be pretty broad for her. And, while this is more of a combination of words, she also says “tsa” and points when she sees or hears something exciting. This is her version of “what’s that?” I find it adorable. Finally, Kahlilah also just seems to be jabbering a lot more: vocalizing with the intent of communicating something but the vocalizations, as of yet, are indecipherable. Still, it’s exciting.

Kahlilah also understands a lot more words. My mom taught her “nose” although, unfortunately, she quickly moved from pointing to her nose to picking her nose…then sticking fingers up both nostrils at the same time and joyfully saying “naaaah naaaah.” My mom also taught her “eyes,” “mouth” and “ears” but she only occasionally will point those out; she seems to have much more of a nasal fixation. In addition, if I combine requests with gestures towards particular objects, I can get Kahlilah to go get something for me or put something somewhere specific.

Beyond these developmental milestones, I can tell you that Kahlilah has developed a real love of dolls and shoes. When we were in the states, we took her to several toy sections and she went absolutely wild in the doll area. My mom tells me that I had absolutely no interest in dolls and I assume Albert didn’t either…so this is entirely Kahlilah. She also is intrigued by anything to do with feet. She likes putting on socks and shoes, and she likes bringing Albert and I and anyone else who is around socks and shoes for us to put on. She can entertain herself for a good half-hour just trying to put something in between her toes (case in fact: I got through the last leg of my 4-hour drive up from Milwaukee to Eau Claire because Kahlilah decided it would be a great idea to put a cracker between her toes). ***If there is anyone out there who reads this and also has a child that has a toe-obsession, please leave a comment telling me Kahlilah’s not the only one!*** So, combining these passions, we bought her a set of doll shoes (with shoe rack) to bring back to Venezuela. It’s been a huge hit.

Well, I’ve written quite a bit so I better wrap up…I’ll close by saying how much I loved seeing Kahlilah play with my mom (her Nanita) and dad (her Grandpapa). And, I can’t wait for her to visit Albert’s mom (her Lita), dad (her Grandad), and brother (her Tio) next month. Being far away from family is hard enough just when I consider myself, but it’s even harder when I see how much my daughter enjoys being with her family and how much they love being with her and how rare it actually happens. Absence/distance from extended family is truly one of the greatest costs of Foreign-Service life. Still, I grew up far away from all my grandparents and aunts, uncles and cousins, and I was able to develop and maintain close relationships with them because my parents made an effort to have regular family reunions. So, Albert and I will just have to do the same…

~ by Chela on June 15, 2010.