As of this morning, William now weighs 22.5lbs, has a head circumference of 18.5" and is 31.5" long.
William is 14 months old today! There were a lot of changes this month (like a new bottom tooth, which makes 8 total), and more and more hes is acting like a toddler and not a baby anymore. Tantrums have increased in frequency, he is definitely more willful (and yet often doesn't know what he wants, which can be frustrating!), and best of all, he is clearly able to understand us a lot more than before, which is useful, even if he can't communicate back to us as well.
He is a pretty good listener most of the time (as long as we are there watching him). If I say "no," he will stop whatever he is doing 90% of the time. Often I shake my head while saying "no," and he will also shake his head while stopping whatever it is he is doing. Its pretty cute. The other 10% of the time, just saying "no" isn't enough, and I have to actually get up and remove/distract him with something else. Though sometimes just the motion of me getting up is enough for him to crawl away and do something else. He is learning!
One of the way he learns about things is to get into mischief. If I leave him in the bathroom for even a second, he makes a bee line for the toilet, and rapidly unrolls all of the toilet paper, then lifts the toilet lid and splashes around. If I leave him in the kitchen, he will open and empty nearly every drawer and cabinet in a matter of minutes, and he has figured out how to unlock the dishwasher, open it and start playing with the dirty dishes. Luckily he hasn't broken any yet. He also loves to play in the pantry, but you can't leave him alone for even a moment, as I found out to my chagrin the other day. I left the room for two minutes to go
to the bathroom, and when I come back, I found that he had dumped a
gallon of olive oil all over the floor. I then had to spend nearly an
hour cleaning it up, while he screamed on the other side of the closed
door.
On the plus side, his skin became nicely lubricated and soft, and our floors have a nice, glossy sheen to them (even after repeated cleaning). I can laugh about this because it happened in our laundry room (thank GOD) and nothing was actually damaged. My favorite part was walking in the room and seeing him trying to navigate the floors whilst covered in oil. Not unlike someone trying to navigate slippery ice while wearing shoes with no traction. Oh the joys of toddler-hood!
Speaking of learning, he has learned to do a lot of new things this month, including:
In the food department, there are changes as well. He is getting trickier to feed lately. He has always been a great eater, and still eats purees pretty reliably. However, he doesn't want to have much to do with actual chunks of food. Every meal literally requires a song and a dance (several actually), to get him to eat. And it still takes 30 minutes or more (and he will only eat about 1 TBSP). Its exhausting. I am really struggling to get him to eat enough and constantly worry about his nutrition. At least he will eat purees, so I can still get him to eat a variety of foods that way, but he can't go on eating those forever! I get the sense he is in a bit of a growth lull at the moment. I think in a month or two, he going to go through a growth spurt, start eating well again, and get a bunch of new skills all at once. It happens like that every few months and I am waiting eagerly for it to happen again! At least that's what I hope happens. What I don't want to happen is for eating to become a battle. So I am trying not to force the issue and hope that his eating habits will change soon.
Sleep schedules are changing too. He is close to dropping one nap, to only one a day. He goes down ok for his morning nap at 10am generally (but isn't sleeping as long), but really fights the afternoon one at 2:30pm. I have to rock him for 10-20 mins often just to get him to go down (but its worth it as he often sleep for 1.5 hours). As much as I love two naps, those days are numbered. One nap is so much more work as he is up for longer! But he does go down for that nap a lot easier, and he goes to sleep at bedtime easier on those one nap days, so I'm guessing we will make the switch soon, but in the mean times will be back and for a bit.
It is hard to believe that my baby is growing up so fast! Where has this year gone? Though he will always be my baby, hes not really a baby anymore. I think tantrums, power struggles, and mischief will be making our lives more exciting from here on out. I am also looking froward to some of the good things about toddler-hood, such as being able to communicate more and teaching him new things, him becoming more mobile and independent and watching him learn. Each day is a new adventure, and a new opportunity to learn and grow, and not just for William, but for me as a parent. Not every day is easy, but I love being a mom more than anything!
And now, here is a video of the above mentioned unassisted standing:
William is 14 months old today! There were a lot of changes this month (like a new bottom tooth, which makes 8 total), and more and more hes is acting like a toddler and not a baby anymore. Tantrums have increased in frequency, he is definitely more willful (and yet often doesn't know what he wants, which can be frustrating!), and best of all, he is clearly able to understand us a lot more than before, which is useful, even if he can't communicate back to us as well. He is a pretty good listener most of the time (as long as we are there watching him). If I say "no," he will stop whatever he is doing 90% of the time. Often I shake my head while saying "no," and he will also shake his head while stopping whatever it is he is doing. Its pretty cute. The other 10% of the time, just saying "no" isn't enough, and I have to actually get up and remove/distract him with something else. Though sometimes just the motion of me getting up is enough for him to crawl away and do something else. He is learning!
One of the way he learns about things is to get into mischief. If I leave him in the bathroom for even a second, he makes a bee line for the toilet, and rapidly unrolls all of the toilet paper, then lifts the toilet lid and splashes around. If I leave him in the kitchen, he will open and empty nearly every drawer and cabinet in a matter of minutes, and he has figured out how to unlock the dishwasher, open it and start playing with the dirty dishes. Luckily he hasn't broken any yet. He also loves to play in the pantry, but you can't leave him alone for even a moment, as I found out to my chagrin the other day. I left the room for two minutes to go
to the bathroom, and when I come back, I found that he had dumped a
gallon of olive oil all over the floor. I then had to spend nearly an
hour cleaning it up, while he screamed on the other side of the closed
door.On the plus side, his skin became nicely lubricated and soft, and our floors have a nice, glossy sheen to them (even after repeated cleaning). I can laugh about this because it happened in our laundry room (thank GOD) and nothing was actually damaged. My favorite part was walking in the room and seeing him trying to navigate the floors whilst covered in oil. Not unlike someone trying to navigate slippery ice while wearing shoes with no traction. Oh the joys of toddler-hood!
Speaking of learning, he has learned to do a lot of new things this month, including:
- He will raise his arms in the air and say "up" when he wants to be picked up
- Has learned to put coins into a piggy bank coin slot
- Getting more proficient at untwisting screw-on tops
- Has learned to say "mama" and use it appropriately!
- He will crawl toward me and say 'mama' and crawl toward Michael and say 'dada.' When Michael comes home from work, Will hears the front door open, and excitedly crawls toward it, saying 'dada' the whole time.
- The other day he pointed to his water cup and said "Maa, wa!"
- He is starting to try and stack rings instead of just taking them off. He isn't super coordinated at it yet and gets frustrated, but he is trying!
- Can clap his hands, give high and low fives, and gives unsolicited (but much appreciated) hugs and kisses.
- Humps things (and people) when he is excited.
- Is standing unassisted a lot, and for up to 10-15 seconds at a time. I am sure that his first steps are just around the corner. He has the strength and balance to walk, its just a matter of him making up his mind to do it.
- Plays peek a boo with us. He will stand in front of us, holding onto our shoulders, and then walk behind us. When we ask, "where is William?", he will pop out back in front and when we say, "oh there you are!" he giggles madly. Its really cute
In the food department, there are changes as well. He is getting trickier to feed lately. He has always been a great eater, and still eats purees pretty reliably. However, he doesn't want to have much to do with actual chunks of food. Every meal literally requires a song and a dance (several actually), to get him to eat. And it still takes 30 minutes or more (and he will only eat about 1 TBSP). Its exhausting. I am really struggling to get him to eat enough and constantly worry about his nutrition. At least he will eat purees, so I can still get him to eat a variety of foods that way, but he can't go on eating those forever! I get the sense he is in a bit of a growth lull at the moment. I think in a month or two, he going to go through a growth spurt, start eating well again, and get a bunch of new skills all at once. It happens like that every few months and I am waiting eagerly for it to happen again! At least that's what I hope happens. What I don't want to happen is for eating to become a battle. So I am trying not to force the issue and hope that his eating habits will change soon. 
Sleep schedules are changing too. He is close to dropping one nap, to only one a day. He goes down ok for his morning nap at 10am generally (but isn't sleeping as long), but really fights the afternoon one at 2:30pm. I have to rock him for 10-20 mins often just to get him to go down (but its worth it as he often sleep for 1.5 hours). As much as I love two naps, those days are numbered. One nap is so much more work as he is up for longer! But he does go down for that nap a lot easier, and he goes to sleep at bedtime easier on those one nap days, so I'm guessing we will make the switch soon, but in the mean times will be back and for a bit. It is hard to believe that my baby is growing up so fast! Where has this year gone? Though he will always be my baby, hes not really a baby anymore. I think tantrums, power struggles, and mischief will be making our lives more exciting from here on out. I am also looking froward to some of the good things about toddler-hood, such as being able to communicate more and teaching him new things, him becoming more mobile and independent and watching him learn. Each day is a new adventure, and a new opportunity to learn and grow, and not just for William, but for me as a parent. Not every day is easy, but I love being a mom more than anything!
And now, here is a video of the above mentioned unassisted standing:
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