Eyes, Nose, Mouth, Ears & Hair

You can point out all of these things, your eyes, nose, mouth, ears and your hair. You can say all of them too. It's like playing a little game for you. You also like to point out all of these things on me too (you almost poke my eyes out sometimes though!). You are learning so much these days and I just love watching you absorb it all in.

Talkin'

WOW! You have really started talking a lot in the past couple weeks! Some of the words you can say now are:
Hi
Daddy
Dada
Momma
Ride
Bite
No
Night-Night
Book
Cheese
Jakey (I love the way you say his name!)

and one that I get frustrated with, but think it is so cute at the same time is...
Why? (I don't know where you picked this up from, but we will tell you something, like "don't do that" and you come back with "why?" It's hard not to laugh when giving you an answer!

You understand almost everything we are saying, simple one step commands and even two or three step commands. If we are talking about something you try and join in with your half understandable, half gibberish talk. Everyday you are learning and saying new words and I can't wait to hear more from you (although I know there will be a day when I will want to hear less!).

18 month Check-Up

I took you and Sam to the doctors today for your check-ups. You were not pleased about being at the doctor's. In general you were okay, except for the fact that you are at the stage that you want to not be held and touch everything, but when the nurses want to do anything you gave them a hard time. First of all, you have always hated to be weighed and since you are still under 2, they want to use the baby weigher. You are big enough now to just slide out of the thing and you hate sitting in it for even a second. We ended up having to weigh you and me, then let the nurse hold you (while you screamed) so she could just weigh me and then subtract the two weights. That was a ten minute process. And from for the rest of the time with the nurses you were like glue to me. But when the doctor come in you were just fine with him, so that was nice. Of course at the end came the shots and that really pissed you off. All in all, I am glad that the visit is over and we don't have do it again for another six months!

Weight: 30lbs (90%)
Height: 34 1/4 inches (91%)

CHEESE!

You love to smile like this... it's your cheesey smile and I just love it!

Dress - Up

Lately you like to play with my shoes and sandals and try to wear them and walk around in them. The ones with the heels are the funniest to watch you with and you only make it a couple steps in them. You also love playing and wearing my long necklaces that I wear sometimes. Tonight you just had to have my necklace and tired out my sandals and I was able to snap a few pictures! (couple more pics here)

(and yes.. that is how dirty you get your shirt when you are at daycare!)

Rockin' Away

There is a little rocking chair in Sam and Jake's room and from the time you could walk you would go over to it and try to climb in it. I would sit you in it and you loved just sitting in there and rocking. Now you can get into climb up into yourself and you just love rocking in it! Within the past couple weeks you can now climb up onto the big rocking chair in your room. I use to use this chair when feeding you your bottles at night. Now you climb right up there and just rock away, you love it! You rock so hard that you move the chair forward just a little bit each time! You must get this from your Daddy, he has always been a big fan of rocking chairs! I took this little video of you today...

Blankie

Ever since you were only a couple months old you have had to have your blankie. Your blankie.... a white burp cloth/cloth diaper. We used them when you when had to burp you and we always carried them around in case you spit up. But you have clung onto them and now you always have to have one. You drag it around all over the place. We have several of them and so every night before bed you get a nice clean one. But if you happen to find an extra one laying around you get all excited and grab that one too. The more you have the better!
























more pics here

Mr. Clean #2

As so it has begun with you too (see Mr. Clean #1 here)... my cleaning has rubbed off on you and just like your brother you fight me for the swiffer whenever I bring it out. You have not quite figured out that it needs to stay on the floor, but I am sure you will have it done pat in no time!
























more pics here!

New Shoes!!!

You refuse to keep socks on! And so, I usually always have shoes on you (you have not figured out how to take the shoes off yet). So far, I just have gotten you some basic crib shoes. But the other day I ordered you your first pair of Nikes and got them in the mail today! They are too cute! And you seem to like them too, at least you were checking them out and smiling! Oh, I love little shoes... and now off to check the latest Robeez....

what is going on???

Of course being only 13 months this Christmas, you really had no idea what was going on. Sam barged into your room and woke you up, jumping up and down. Jacob was soon to follow in your room and before you could blink your eyes, I was changing your diaper and carrying you downstairs for the fun to begin! At first you were kinda excited... it looked like fun to rip paper and WOW there was a toy under that paper! The first thing your opened was your Handy Mandy toolbox and you loved it right away! You were very persist for Daddy to get the toy out of the box so you could play with it. And that was it. You had no interest in opening any other presents at all. You wanted to play with your new toy. You also were very interested in Lily's new dollhouse. It was about as big as you and it had lots of pieces! Jacob tried to help you open some more presents, but you really were not too interested. I opened your Clipo's sets and got them out of the box for you, but you were only interested in those for about 10 seconds. You had a lot of fun walking around in all the paper and checking out what everyone was doing. I bet next year though you will open all your presents in the time it took you to open one this year!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today we celebrated your first birthday at home. We just did something very simple... cake, some cupcakes and presents. Jacob and Sam got you a YoGabbaGabba dancing doll. You like trying to dance with it. And you also got a new V-Tech Train and a penguin just like Sam's. You are always taking Sam's penguin and so you seemed really happy to have your own now. You really seemed to like your cupcake and got it all over! Here are some pictures!

One Year Stats

Weight - 25lbs 10 ozs (90%)
Height - 31 1/2 inches (90%)
Head - 47.2cm (90%)

yes... you are on the big side. but at least it is all consistent.

First Birthday - Party with Mommy's Family

Today we celebrated your birthday with Mommy's side of the family. You got lots of gifts and had a lot of fun. You were even really good about opening presents! Someone would get the packages started and you had no problem ripping the rest of the paper off! Sam also loved helping you unwrap and play with your new toys. Unfortunately once cake time came you were starting to get kinda crabby and maybe ready for a nap. But you played around with the cake and with Grandpa's help you got a little messy!

All the pictures are here!

First Hair Cut!

I really didn't want to get your hair cut. But it was getting long (every now and then you got called a girl) and you were not sitting still long enough for me to cut anymore. You had the cutest little curls in the hair and I just didn't want to snip them off. So went went to the local hair salon, Sam went first (supposedly to show you how the "big boys" get their hair cut). That didn't go very well, because Sam was not in the mood to get his hair cut. And so it took a lot of bribes to get him up in the chair and sit still through his hair cut. Next it was your turn. You thought the cape was cool and checked that out for a few minutes. And that was about it, the lady got a few minutes of stillness from you and after that you were done. Needless to say I had to hold you for the lady to finish up. It didn't help that the lady we got was either new or didn't have the patience for kids, because she keep saying, "I need him to look this way" or "have him look down." Um, I really don't think that is going to happen to a one year old! But in the end, you got your hair cut and it is shorter than what I wanted, but at least you look like a boy again!

The fun experience in photos!

Walking

You have been cruising around on the furniture for awhile now and you have been doing really good at holding some one's hand and walking. But within the last week you have started trying to let go and walking on your own. Within the past couple days you have really started to walk more and more on your own. You are so cute, wobbling along, unsure if you should go or not. I know it will only be a matter of time and you are going to be chasing after Sam!

Eleven Months

No, no... say it isn't so... you cannot be turning one in just one month! You are just so darn cute these days! You started playing more with Sam (well I should say Sam has started playing with you). You just love your big brothers and eat up any attention they give you. You have learned how to climb lately. And you can climb on almost anything, even the toilet (see previous post). Even almost an entire flight of stairs (I was standing right there behind you)! You seem to also understand the word no. Not so much when I say it to you, because you laugh when I tell you no. But if you don't want something you shake your head no. It is so cute. And you really do seem to mean it! You still love to explore everything and are still into everything. You have taken a couple steps on your own and you can stand on your own for awhile. You can cruise along anything quite fast now too. I keep saying, it will be any day and you will be walking all over on your own. You did a great job for your first set of fall pictures! Something that I look forward to every year. I just can't believe that in a month you will be considered a toddler... but you will still be a baby to me. Lots more pics here!

Climbing on Anything!

You are certainly a climber... you can climb on almost anything you want to. In fact today you were playing the bathroom (a place I really try to keep you away from) and I turned around and there you were standing on top of the toilet. Of course, I pulled you down from there and within five seconds you have climbed back on top of the toilet again. I had to run and get my camera for this and snap some pictures! Thank goodness I had just cleaned the toilet that morning, otherwise YUCK! I can see that I am going to find you in a lot of places you should not be in!

Quick Videos

I have been meaning to get a little video of you crawling. I know it is only a matter of time and you will be walking and I need to capture you crawling! So I got two quick videos of you crawling. The second one at the end always shows you playing with your favorite thing in your room (don't worry it gets cleaned everyday!).

10 Months

Explore, explore... you are into EVERYTHING now! Under tables, inside cabinets, under beds, peeking in the toilet (put a stop to that one right away!). You are checking out anything you can get to and into! You are excellent at cruising now and you can even stand for a few seconds on your own. We are just waiting for that first step and then I now I am not going to be able to keep up with you! You say "mama" ALL THE TIME now! You have three teeth with two more on the way. You do get pretty grouchy when those teeth are trying to break through, but lots of snuggles and cuddles usually makes you happier. You love your baths, as soon as I turn on the water for the bathroom are make a bee-line for the bathtub! And you are bouncing up and down, excited to get in there! You always like to try to turn the knob for the water on while outside of the tub, it's just within your reach and you always get excited when you make the water come out! You are eating more finger foods now and wanting to use a spoon (but I am not just not ready for that mess yet). Chicken is one of your favorite foods, especially when I cube it up and you can eat it on your own. You love to laugh and to be tickled. You love to watch Sam and you love even more to play with him. You just think he is so funny sometimes. For the most part you are always a happy baby and you can turn almost anything into a toy! Ten month pictures here!

Nine Months

You are crawling on all fours now! And you are pulling up on everything and cruising all over the furniture (and anything else)! When you see something that you want you can get to it in seconds, you are really fast! I know it won't be long before you are taking those first steps and chasing after Sam! You have even started playing with Sam a little bit. You love when Sam takes all the cushions off the couch in the living room and makes a fort out of them. You love to crawl under them and over them. You also love playing with Sam's toys in his room (when he lets you!). There is a container under Sam's bed with rollers on it and you already know how to pull it out and play with everything in there! You got your second tooth in, so you now your two front teeth on the bottom. Feeding you is getting easier. You are able to pick up little foods and gum them up. So for dinner you usually eat what we have just cut up really small. You are still a very happy baby and you are very content most of the time. You can say Mama and Dada pretty clearly now and you can even Papa! Some nine month pictures!



















weight: 22lb 14oz
height: 29.5 inches
(both in the 90% still)