Fourteen months of Gunner

My dearest little gunner,

You are now fourteen months old! 

And what an amazing little boy you are. 

- you are the FUNNIEST little boy I've ever seen. You love making people laugh and seeing other people laugh makes you laugh even louder. 

- you are also the HAPPIEST little boy, and that alone makes me feel so happy inside, to see how happy you are always. 

- eating: since we've started transitioning you to real food, you're less willing to eat any baby food now. You're pretty picky actually now. You do love macaroni & cheese, all pastas, raviolis and meats. However, you hate all vegetables, soups, and a lot of fruits. You seem to go off texture more than tastes, so we're learning still what you will & won't eat. All in all, you're between baby food & real food. 

- you're very independent. You love foods & drinks you can give yourself and you don't like us to feed you very much anymore. Sad. 

- bottles: you still love your formula bottles more than anything. It's mostly become a comfort thing I've noticed. You get a bottle for bedtime and nap time and usually another one during the day. With your food being so off&on lately, bottles are always a way to get your nutrients in, but slowly we are trying to switch you to more food than formula. 

- sleeping: you are such a great sleeper! Mommy and daddy thank you for this amazing gift. You go to bed every night around 9 or 10 (we let you tell us when you're ready) and you sleep till 10am. Sometimes a little later, but never before 10. Then you take one nap a day for 2-3 hours. You love your sleep & we love you for loving your sleep! Especially with your sister now, you being such a great sleeper is a huge help for us. 

- you are a total cheeseball. Always smiling and laughing and you even have this crazy loud yelling laugh you do, it's the funniest thing ever. You sound like doctor evil because it's such a loud laugh, but it's awesome. 

- everyone absolutely adores you. You have this way of making an entire room full of people just watch you and smile. You literally light up our lives. We always have company coming over just to see you & your sister (we know it's not really to see us) because you both are just so incredibly special to all of us. 

- your new favorite thing in the whole world is juice boxes! You can't get enough of them. You love that you can drink out of the straw and now we've even started giving you the big boy formula that comes in the "juice box" form! (Transition formula for toddlers)

- you love to play! You can play all day and all night and never get tired. You have a house full of toys and you love every single one of them. 

- favorite toys right now: the incredibly loud popper that you run with a you love it! From 8am to 10pm you'll run around the whole house popping, and I can't even get annoyed because you have so much fun with it - it's totally adorable to watch. You got a lawn mower that pops for cheistmas and that's your second favorite now. All your toy trucks that sing and make noise - all of them always have to be out because you love all of them in different ways. You literally love every single toy you get or have, and even though you have favorites - you always manage to play with them all. 

- clothes: as much as you eat, snack & drink - you're still a tiny little thing! You can wear your 6 month clothes but the pants are like kapris so 9 month clothes are the best fits. Most 12 month clothes are still too big so we've got a TON of clothes for you to grow into, whenever you're ready.

-  you have tons and tons of hair! It took awhile to grow but once it started, wow it grew fast. In the last couple months it's gotten so long and wavy, you've totally got a little surfer guy look with your wavy blonde locks. Your dad and I keep planning on your first haircut, but them get sad and postpone it. We're still struggling with you being so big now, your hair is a small way of you being a little baby still. 

- you talk a LOT now! Oh man you can talk & talk forever! I can't get enough of it. I probably record you talking or having conversations with us like twice a day because I never want to forget how completely adorable your baby talk is. You can now say: DAD, DADDA, MAMA, OG (dog), UH-OH (you say it all the time if you drop a toy or fall down), & BALL is your newest word and everything is a ball. Everything that is circular (light bulbs, polka dots on clothes, balloons - everything) is a ball. 

Oh and yes, you can now say SISTER ("didter")! Proudest moment yet! You say it everytime you see mckenzie and really all the time she's nearby. 

- you're a huge cuddle bug now & I just about MELT inside everytime you run over to me and ask to be picked up- all so you can just sit on my lap or lay down beside me. I really hope this phase goes on for a long long time. Really, no amount of time will be long enough because I never want you to stop wanting to cuddling and snuggling with me. 

- speaking of snuggling with me - I am very very happy to say that you are now a TOTAL mamas boy! You love playing with dad, but you always want to cuddle with me or just sit next to me and you are super clingy to me and I LOVEEEEEE IT! Oh man there is nothing sweeter than seeing you asking me to pick you up for no reason other than you just want to be in my arms. I'm going to be so sad when this phase passes also. 

- you know tons of new tricks now! You love spinning around in circles, running and jumping, fluttering your lips really fast with your finger, pointing at things and aging hide & seek! 

- you learned the word "no" and you hate it. You also learned how to throw a fit and those two things go hand-in-hand now. Luckily it takes a couple minutes or giving you one of your toys to get you over your little fit, so they don't last long. But yes, you definitely don't like being told you can't do something you want to do. 

- you're very smart. You always have been pretty "advanced" in our eyes - but now we're seeing just how smart you are in daily things. You got a play toolset for Christmas and after showing you ONE time how to use a screwdriver into a nail- you did it on your own and now use your tools all the time - and in the ways they all should be used! You pick up on things real fast and you love learning new things. You're very very bright. 

Okay, so I can go on and on with this blog just because there's so much you can do now and so many amazing things you do every single day. This is, by far, the funnest age because you are such a little man now. You talk to us, play with is, teach us new tricks, eat and share our food with us, have a sleep schedule like us and you just grow smarter everyday. Not to mention, you are our main entertainment day in and day out because you are so funny and are always making us laugh. In fact, almost daily your dad and I talk about how we wish we could freeze you at this age forever, because you're just so fun and so so loving. & I already can't wait to see your sister at this age and you guys playing and laughing all day throughout the house together. 

You're amazing little guy, you are a true blessing and we are both so thankful for you. You have the biggest heart and such an infectious smile, you make all of our lives so full of love and laughter. And you already are such a great big brother to mckenzie. In fact, that's the next blog :)