Daniel Update- 15 Months!

Daniel is 15 months old now! At his 15 month pediatrician visit today, he weighed 22 pounds, 14 ounces and was 31.5 inches tall. He had to get three "pokeys" which made him very, very sad, but I got a cute photo of him beforehand.

He growing out of his 12 month clothes and into the 18 month ones. He still takes two naps a day (usually) and he will typically sleep through the night from 6:30pm-6:30am (give or take 30 minutes). He has 8 teeth and has recently started cutting two new molars (I can feel the pokey part, but they haven't come in yet). He has a handful of words (that we can actually understand) and he shows an understanding of MANY things that we say to him. His words include: "all done", "bye bye", "mama", "cracker", "go car","up", "eat", "uh oh!", and I think I've heard him say "outside" a couple of times.

He surprised me the other day when I told Etta she needed to get a baby for the empty stroller she was pushing around in the play room and D ran over to where the babies are and brought one to me! He also runs to the hall gate when I tell him that it's time to "go car", or he'll run to the gate at the bottom of the stairs when I tell him we're going to go upstairs, or he'll run to the front door (or front window) when I tell him that Daddy is home, or he'll run to his high chair when I tell him it's time to eat. He doesn't really walk anymore, he moves quickly and with a purpose!

We recently introduced a fork at mealtimes. He's starting to get the hang of it. I managed to get a photo of the very first time he stabbed a piece of food! (Still can't manage to get video!)

He mostly likes to hold the fork with one hand while he shoves food in his mouth with the other. I've tried a spoon a couple of times, but it gets really messy really quickly! So, I've backed off the spoon a little. He's a pretty good eater. He'll eat *almost* anything you offer him. I did the "peanut butter test" at the pediatrician's office today (you know, the one where you shove a spoonful of peanut butter into your kid's mouth right before you go in for the 15 month appointment so that IF your kid is allergic, they will have the reaction in a place full of nurses and doctors and epi pens). He passed the test. lol. So, today he had his first PB&J at lunch! That Daniel ate it all gone! He cried when there wasn't any more. haha.

Daniel has *mostly* weaned from the bottle. He's really done with them, I think. We gave him a couple last week when he needed some comforting (but he hasn't had one all this week, so I think I'm going to go ahead and pack them up for the next three months until we need them for Alice).

He's generally happy and really sweet. He loves his glowworm. It was once Etta's, but she never really "took to" it (I believe it was a gift from Aunt Kimi?). He knows right where to push on the glowworm's belly for it's face to light up and the melody to play. I frequently replace the batteries in it because he wears them out! He likes to push it over and over before he goes to sleep and if he wakes in the middle of the night, he'll find it and push it a few times. I think he finds it comforting, I find it very cute!

He likes to stack two Duplo blocks together over and over and he's really good at putting the big plastic coins into the toy piggy bank. I've seen him correctly put a puzzle piece in a toddler puzzle, but he mostly likes to take all of the pieces out and toss them across the room. He can also manage the shape sorter for a few minutes before he loses patience with it.

He can be a little stinker too! Mostly, he does "annoying little brother" things. He is CONSTANTLY yanking Etta's glasses off of her face. Poor Etta doesn't get to wear her glasses half the time because of this. He also likes to pull her hair. I can't give Etta a snack unless D is either napping or trapped in his highchair because he will climb up her chair and grab whatever it is off the table. He wants her (straw) cup even though he has his own and he wants to snatch her iPad, which makes her mad. Changing his diaper has become an Olympic sporting event. He's super squirmy these days, which is super frustrating!

He likes to crawl up the stairs and he can climb into the leather chairs in the living room and he likes to slide down the slide in the playroom. He loves playing with/being silly with his big sister!

I caught him the other day after he completely emptied a practically brand new package of baby wipes. (video)

One more random video from back in December:

He has what I call "Stranger Danger". It can take him a while to warm up to new people/ places (though, he eagerly/flirts with most people in Publix/Target or in a restaurant from the safety of his spot in the shopping cart or high chair). The other day I ran out to the mailbox while Daniel was still in the house. It was cold out, so I had put my hoodie hood on my head. As I was walking back, I could see him peeking out of the window in the door. As I got closer to the door he LOST IT! I was a stranger with a hood on my head! I quickly took the hood off and ran in, but it took a minute to convince him that I was really his Momma. lol.

We love this sweet boy!

"uh!" = "up"