14 month update

What an active little one you are!  I am exhausted all the time now from chasing after you all day.  Your skills are growing so quickly as you become more and more determined to be independent.

Some things about you at 14 months:

• You have this silly way of picking things up with your mouth.  For example, if you're crawling around and see your binky on the floor, instead of picking it up with your hands you'll lean your head down and pick it up with your mouth.
• You've stopped giving kisses in favor of giving hugs.  You'll snuggle onto our shoulders and relax your arms straight down. 
• You DO accept kisses from the puppies daily!  You'll even invite kisses by opening your mouth wide and leaning toward them for them to lick your face.
• You do so well with walking with your push-dinosaur that Nana and Papa got you.  You can even seat yourself on it, and now you sometimes climb on with both feet on the dinosaur's back and pretend to ride it like a daredevil.
• You love to push your stroller around.  At the airport we locked one of the wheels and you spent a good half hour just pushing the stroller around in circles!
• When we're in public you like to position yourself where you can see the most - even if that means you are sitting backwards in the highchair.
• You still love your cars and trucks.  You'll crawl all over the house pushing one around, and will even try to take them up and down the stairs now.
• As you are getting older you'll constantly alternate between bliss and tantrums.  You will play happily until you don't get your way about something and then you'll throw a fit, then a moment later you'll get distracted doing something else.
• When you throw "quiet tantrums" (as opposed to the kicking and screaming ones) you'll put your head down on the floor while the rest of your body is in the crawling position.  So funny!
• You are very interested in filling and emptying containers right now.  Unfortunately you like to end your games with emptying, so I am constantly picking up after you.
• You can go down stairs now!  I had worked with you several times trying to show you how to scoot down the stairs on your bum, but you didn't seem like you understood.  Then at church a couple weeks ago you spontaneously started doing it for Daddy!  You do really well!
• You are so close to walking.  You will come and grab our hands and then push against us to try to get us to walk around the house with you.  In NY you manipulated Papa John to bend over holding onto your hands and walking around several times a day!  You can't stand on your own yet though unless you are perfectly balanced.
• You don't like it when I wear sandals.  Anytime you see my toes peeking out from shoes you will try to pull my shoes off.
• You say some new words!  You mimic very well but we only count them as real words if you say them on your own and at the proper time.  Your new words are no ("doh"), buh-bye, and that ("dat").