Saturday, April 25, 2009

15 months

Bear turned 15 months on the 22nd and we had his checkup yesterday. He was really a good boy at the doctor's office! He got into things while we were waiting, of course, but overall was very well behaved. The doctor remarked that most 15 and 18 month checkups are ones filled with screaming and crying, but Bear just wanted to crawl all over the floor. While we were waiting for the doctor to come into our room, Bear had some fun opening and closing the cabinets. He's very into object permanence right now, in that he'll take an object, put it in a drawer or cabinet and then close the drawer or cabinet. He then opens the drawer and takes out whatever object he's put inside. He kept himself busy doing this with saltines and the doctor's cabinet yesterday and it was pretty funny to watch. By the time the doctor made it into the room, Bear himself was inside the cabinet! He only cried when he got shots (MMR and the last of 3 meningitis vaccines) and even then, he didn't cry for long. According to the measurements they took, Bear weighs 25.3 pounds (60th percentile) and he is 32.25 inches long (80th %). Max and I both think the length isn't very accurate, because that would mean that he only grew a quarter of an inch in 3 months. Maybe we'll attempt to get our own measurement this weekend.

Bear and I decided to celebrate the extra long nap he took after his doctor's visit by going swimming in our neighborhood pool. Bear is a definite natural in the water!! He was kicking his feet and paddling his arms at no instruction from me! I couldn't believe it and I have every intention of working with him lots this summer to get him to actually swim. He put his face in the water on his own and I turned him over on his back and let him float for a few seconds. I didn't get any pictures, sadly, but I just can't figure out how to take pics once I'm in the pool. I guess I'll have to get a friend to take some of us next time. I have a feeling we'll be at the pool quite a lot this summer. It's a nice way to count down the hours between Bear waking up from his nap until his Daddy comes home!

I did, however, get some 15 month pictures of him. He's getting less cooperative the older he gets, but I think some of those pictures are cute, too!

These were taken in the morning, before his doctor's appointment.
Please ignore the odd assortment of junk on our kitchen counter.


Loves his hat and these beads!


After the doctor and a nap:


Would rather look out the window.


Wants to get up!


We often find him standing in chairs these days.


Still loves books!! (Especially ones that include cement mixers.)

Sunday, April 19, 2009

His favorite things

I took a few pictures of Bear taking part in his most recent favorite activities:

Riding a car/truck through the house while watching The Wiggles and while drinking water/lemonade out of his straw cup:


Look at Momma!


Walking around his slide:


Climbing up his slide:


Walking all over the back yard (He only needs to hold onto one of Momma's fingers at this point!)


Looking back at Daddy:


He loves to climb up his roller coaster track. I'm not sure what happened to his other shoe.


Whoops! Fell off!


Got back on:


And climbed over:


Sitting in his chair and eating a snack:


Loves this blanket all of the sudden!


He loves to sit on Daddy's lap...and he wanted to wear this hat today!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Finally...

I have been attempting to capture Bear's little booty-shakin' dance countless times, but every time he hears the camera turn on, he stops what he's doing and comes crawling toward me. This dance happens numerous times throughout each day and I had all but stopped trying to get it on camera when I finally caught him.


Friday, April 3, 2009

Baby steps

Literally...Bear finally took a few steps! Three, to be exact! We were standing in a friend's driveway yesterday and I wanted to show my friend how long Bear could stand up without falling. He'd been getting better and better at it and I was a proud momma. Every time I went to stand him up, though, he'd make me look like a liar. He would fall into the driveway, acting as if he'd never stood up in his life, so I finally gave up. We kept standing there talking and Bear started whining like he wanted something. I handed him his water cup and he pulled up on my leg to get it from me. I unclenched his fist from my pants and he stood up and drank his water! I got my friend's attention to show her, and just as she was turning to look, Bear dropped his cup and walked toward a toy shopping cart!! Everyone in the driveway (us and 3 or 4 other moms) started cheering for Bear! He just started walking along with the cart like he'd done nothing unusual. Later in the day, we were playing outside and he was standing at his sand and water table, playing with boats. His bike was a few steps away, so when he turned around, he walked right over to his bike and started pushing it. If I had to guess, I'd say that he's very close to walking at this point. However, Max and I have been thinking that for several months, so I can't be too sure. The other clue that's leading me to think he's about ready is that he refuses to hold both of my hands when I'm helping him walk. He'll push one hand away so that he's only holding one of my hands while he walks along. I've heard from several other moms that this is a big step. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

If he is indeed walking soon, I'm sure Bear will get more independent than he already is. I can tell he's frustrated lately at needing help for all kinds of stuff. I think it's just typical toddler behavior. It seems as if he's thinking, I don't want your help. Don't help me. And then when I don't help him, he seems to be thinking, Why won't you help me? I need help, dummy! He'll do things like yank the spoon out of my hand when I try to feed him and then cry when he can't pick up certain foods with it by himself. When I try to guide his hand to the food with the spoon, he'll get all frustrated and start waving his hands around, sometimes throwing food around the kitchen. When he realizes he needs my assistance or he won't get any corn (or whatever it is that he wants), he gives in and lets me help. This is an almost everyday occurrence at this point, though. I wonder if he'll eventually let me help him without a fight or if he'll just learn to feed himself? He has similar reactions when he wants an object that is stuck in a drawer/cabinet/box or when he runs one of his walker-type toys into a wall. He'll get angry when I try to help, so I let him try by himself for a bit. Sometimes he'll figure it out by himself, but more often than not, he'll get REALLY frustrated, so I'll go help him. I suppose it's just something to be worked through and a test of my patience!

He has two current loves right now: steering wheels and toys with little buttons that make noise when they are pushed. The steering wheels that he loves are at the parks that we frequent. He'll climb up the playground equipment to get to one and he'll just steer it and smile for a long while. I make it a point to show him whenever I see a steering wheel, since he seems to love them so much! I set him on my lap in the car (when it's off, of course) and let him practice "driving", which he also seems to enjoy quite a bit. He loves ride-on toys that have steering wheels, too. He'll sit on them and pretend to drive for longer than he actually moves the toy around! Grandma and Grandad J. just sent him a steering wheel that we're going to attach to a fencepost in the backyard, but he's been happy just holding it in his lap up until this point! As far as toys with buttons go, he's just recently gotten very good at using his index finger to push buttons. He helps to open the garage door by pressing the button and we play Fisher Price computer games that require no more than just the push of a button for a fun Peek-a-Boo game. Sadly, he also loves things like remote controls and cell phones with all their little buttons. I've lost count of the number of meltdowns that have happened because I took away something that I don't want him to play with. We got him a toy cell phone and that seemed to help a little. I can deal with the annoying songs it plays if it keeps him from ruining our things!

All of this independence from Bear reminds me of something that I think of nearly every day--he's really becoming a little boy! I thought I'd be sadder about this, but I'm not actually very sad at all. I want him to experience so much and there are things that a baby just cannot do. Before I had a kid, whenever I envisioned myself with a child, I imagined fun things like trips to the zoo or children's museums. Those things just aren't that fun for Bear yet, but I think once he can walk, they will be more enjoyable. There's a zoo here that we visited a few months ago, but it had no more impact on Bear than a walk through the neighborhood would have. He rode in his stroller while I looked at the animals. I enjoyed it, but I want him to enjoy it, too! There is no children's museum here yet, but there's one near Grandma H.'s house that I'd love to take him to once he's an advanced walker. I'm probably a little better with little kids than I am with babies, anyhow. I think I was good momma when he was tiny, too, but I think I'll be better the older he gets. Whenever Bear reaches a new phase of his short little life, I feel a surge of love for him that I didn't feel before. This has been happening ever since he was born and I find myself wondering if this will happen all throughout his life or if the love will stop growing at some point. I imagine it will have to taper off at some time, otherwise I'll explode! Or Bear will from me hugging him so much!
baby baby