14 months
I know we are not counting months anymore, but hey, Keegan is 14 months today… we will take any excuse to celebrate him. Plus, he loves the Happy Birthday song: they told us that every time he hears it at daycare, as babies turn one, he starts smiling and laughing and clapping his hands… He does not realize it is not all about him.
So what’s new? Not too much. Some happy notes: he now knows how to sign “Washing Hands”(he rubs his hands together) and he is starting to give kisses. For now he is simply making the sound and puckering up, somewhat, but it is a start. He is also biting a lot less. He seems to understand more and more everyday:he recognizes when we are telling him we are going home, or when we are going out for a walk or outside in the yard. I guess it is time for mom and dad to stop cursing. This will not be easy (-:
He recognizes Matt’s truck’s noise and when he thinks he is coming home he runs toward the door; he knows how to wave goodbye, even if he not always timing it right. And he seems to associate the computer in the living room with calling Grandma and Grandpa with Skype, as he starts waving at the screen.
He now really enjoys playing at the playgrounds (lucky us) and getting in the way of everyone, and of course sliding down. We bought him a small climb and slide for the yard. Another excellent find from Craigslist ($25): we had to drive all the way up to Escondido, but it was worth it. Those things are expensive, and from experience, he will get bored with it soon. Plus he slept all the way though. He seems to like it, even if for not more than a few minutes at a time, and he is getting the hang of it.
Check me out: I am on top of the world
I can climb all by myself
I am all ready to go
no activity is more important that signing for EVERY passing plane.
He also loves to climb, and now he really enjoys being on the couch, or side tables…good thing he has learned how to get down, after a couple of spills: not head first, but feet first.
Keegan is also really set in his ways…already, and very stubborn (someone suggested he is taking after mom… Tizi says she is determined, not stubborn, and that it is a great quality to have). This brings us to a slightly less positive note: a lot of things are still a big struggle with him.
His sleep is a little more erratic, but he is still sleeping at least through 5/5.30 am, and usually 6/6.30. Naps are a hit or miss: some days he takes two 1.5 hours naps a day (Sunday) others he only has a 30 minutes nap the whole day. This means that he still fights us for every nap, and we solemnly observe the rule: Never Wake A Sleeping Baby (even if we have to let him sleep in the car, inside the garage). Sometimes, when he skips is afternoon nap, he so exhausted that he can fall asleep anywhere…like in his high chair.
Of course I don’t need an afternoon nap
And the other two big battles: eating and brushing his teeth. He refuses to open his mouth so it is impossible to brush his teeth. We tried to show him how to, to let him try, to give him a finger brush, to play with the toothbrush…nothing worked. We have few other tricks up our sleeve, but no guarantee they will work. We will take him to a dentist soon, and hopefully we will get some better ideas.
Food is another fun issue. He is the pickiest baby in the universe (again, is he taking after mom? Is he taking anything bad from dad????). He does not like most food. Matt has been cooking delicious meals for him and he snubbed them all. We tried all sort of toddlers recipes, to no avail. His favorite food so far: soup, as in broth, with anything in it (we even tried tortellini and he ate them, with the broth); cheese, pretty much any kind; yogurt, even the disgusting plain one (he ate the yogurt, and spit out the fruit chunks); eggs, with anything in it; pureed fruit (he would not eat most of the fruit in chunks); pineapple; bananas; bread; cheerios and similar; cereals with milk. Oh yeah, and all sort of sweets mommie is eating. In fact, he comes and begs for food ANYTIME we are eating something. He is smart, though: when we try to eat healthy food in front of him, he will snub it.
As you can see no much veggies here. He ate tofu chunks last week, but it may be a fluke. He used to love tomatoes, but that has passed as well. So he does not like chunky foods, he rather eat purees, and being fed (lazy bum)… all we can do is to pack nutritious stuff inside his soups and eggs and hope he will learn to eat more.
He is definitely growing though, so we are not worried, just frustrated. Dinner time is a pain.
Last positive note: the weather keep on being summer-like, with no humidity…which cause quite a few static “problems”. (-:
In fact there has been more days in a row with temperature above 70 (about 15) in January that it has been last July (4 only). I know we will be paying for it later on – water rationing is on the horizon for this summer- but we are enjoying it nonetheless. We went to the zoo on Saturday with Krista, Eric and little Torin and we had a great time. Did not get any decent pictures because it was super crowded and when we set the little creature free, he did not stop a second…so here the best we got.
running around at the zoo
