14 Months Old (10 Months Adjusted)

At 14 months, Samuel is officially one busy kid.  He's crawling, he's feeling, he's licking, he's chewing, he's rolling, he's cruising, he's all over the place and I LOVE IT!  He hardly plays with his toys anymore now that he's happily mobile.

There's so much to say about what Samuel loves.  He loves being outside...especially when he gets to see cars drive past the house.  During meals, I face his chair to the window so that he can see out.  He also likes playing peek-a-boo.  He doesn't cover his own face yet, but he loves it when we hide and pop out of places.  On any given day you can find various kitchen utensils in each room of our house.  He loves them.  He bangs them on everything, chews them, and carries them around.  When he does play with a toy, it's usually something that barely fits in his mouth.  He opens his mouth wide, sticks it in, and blows out "boooooo."  It's probably one of the most adorable things he does.  Although I no longer put him in his jumper, he LOVES to bounce.  He would have me stand him in my lap all day, bouncing him up and down until my arms gave way. 

Now that Samuel is older, his list of dislikes is quite a lot shorter (thank goodness!)  He's never been a fan of independent play....despite my intense desire otherwise.  If he's left alone, he usually cries and follows me.  At mealtime, I've tried introducing things like pasta so that Samuel can play in it and become accustomed to picking it up with his hands...but I've learned that he strongly dislikes touching messy things.  He'll happily play with or eat anything that he can pick up with his pincer grasp, but if he has to scoop it then I might as well forget it.  Diaper changing (which has always been one of his favorite things) is now mightily despised.  If he's restrained, he's not happy.  Such is the case with getting dressed, getting his inhalers, and having his teeth brushed.  Lastly, and most disliked, is the EVIL lawnmower.  If anyone in the neighborhood is mowing their yard, Samuel cries until they are finished.  At least I know he can hear fine.

He is still a little guy for even his adjusted age.  He's doing great on the growth charts for weight, but is barely on the chart for height (and no where near the height chart for his chronological age.)  Most of his days are spent moving around the house talking to himself.  He says 'da-da', 'ma-ma', 'na-na', 'boo', 'bwa', 'ba-ba', 'goo', 'gee', 'ga', 'yeah', 'hey', 'wah', 'ya-ya' and various other combinations of those consonants.  His most used phrase is 'da-da.'  Since he is now mobile, he's been getting a lot of practice with the word NO....which he is beginning to understand.  He's also beginning to say 'ma-ma' when he wants me or when he's upset.  He goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up around 6:45am.  During the day he naps 3 times...45 minutes each.  At the moment, he has 7 teeth but he is working on tooth number 8. 

He has a few quirks that are just 'Samuel.'  He tends to scratch his head when he's full or tired.  When he's excited he growls loudly (his version of a squeal.)  Sometimes when he wants attention or is annoyed, he makes a noise that sounds exactly like Donald Duck. 

Samuel is very observant.  You can tell he is always thinking about something or watching carefully.  For the most part, he is a happy baby...so long as he's doing what he wants to do.  He is very opinionated and doesn't give up easily. 

Hmmm.  I wonder where he gets it?