15 months of gunner!

my little gunner man

you are now fifteen months old!

When you turned one a few months back, I imagined only needing to blog your updates & milestones every few months (as opposed to every month like your first year) - just because I thought maybe things would remain the same with you for awhile since you had fit that 12-month-mark.

Boy, was I wrong.

You are still changing everyday and evolving into SUCH a little man! So yes, you still require monthly blogs! & To be honest, I love it! I can't help but brag about you and your sister, and I love that every month I get to sit down and really reflect on you both and smile about all the new things you learned to do.

With that, yes - this was a big month for you!

The last few months you have really been shifting from a little "boy" to a real life "toddler".

It's actually been a little bittersweet to watch, as I am coming to terms with the fact that you are quickly getting further away from being a "baby" at all anymore. 

[However, don't count on me not calling you my baby... that is a habit 400+ days in the making and I have no intentions of ending that anytime soon at all.]

 

Here are the biggest updates with you this month

- dad taught you how to whisper this month. Just to see if you could do it, and of course you instantly started whispering. It was the funniest thing to. He whispers "gunner" and you laugh and run over and whisper real quietly "daddy". Now we both whisper around you just to see if you'll start it up again, and you always do. I even caught you whispering to your toys the other day

- you have grown up so much this month! you learned how to tell which bottles are yours and which bottles are your sisters - and you will NOT drink out of her bottles even if mom accidentally makes you a bottle in her pink one (whoops) - you won't drink it until it's put into your blue bottles... meaning, you seem to know colors now too!

- you are continuing to be the BEST big brother to your sister. you love doing things for her. If she cries you run and drop a toy in her lap (you even know how to turn on her favorite toy and put it in her lap for her!), if her bottle falls out or falls down, you run and pick it up and give it to her (and try to put it in her mouth for her too!), you know how to put her pacifier in her mouth and you also cover her up with her blanket if she kicks it off. You amaze us. I truly wasn't sure how having another baby would be when you're still so small, but everyday you prove me wrong and you prove to us all that you can be a great big brother at ANY age.

- speaking of your sister, you LOVE cuddling with her too. Every time you wake up from a nap or in the morning, the first thing you do is run down the hall yelling and looking for your "didter". As soon as you find her, you run over and climb up next to her and just laugh and touch her face. it's the sweetest thing EVER. I'll be so sad the day you learn how to say "S" because "didter" is about as cute as it gets.

- during these last four months of me being on maternity leave - I have spent all day everyday with you. It has been the best 16 weeks I can ever remember. We woke up together, played all day together, ran errands together, took care of kenzie together, went to the park together, cooked all our meals in the kitchen together - we did everything together. It was so special to me because I've never been able to have this much time with you since you were just a few months old. During my time home though, you have become a TOTAL mama's boy and I LOVE IT. You are super clingy to me and always want to be sitting in my lap, cuddling on the couch, or just near me in general. You are my little shadow now everywhere I go in the house and you are constantly throwing your hands up at me and wanting me to hold you. I love it so much and I am so scared it'll change now that I have gone back to work and can't be home with you as much, but hopefully this is one phase that will last for a very long time, because I am enjoying every single second of it and will be so sad when it passes.

- foods: you are almost completely out of baby foods/snacks. You are mostly eating real food these days and now you really won't touch anything from a jar. It's sad on one hand because you've grown out of that "baby jar" stage - but it's also fun being able to cook and feed you dinners that we all can eat. It's fun cooking food for you in general & I am learning all over what foods you do & don't like.

so far you love: most vegetables (carrots, corn, brocoli are your favorite), all snacks of any variety (including your toddler snacks), you love red meats for the most part, apples and bananas are your favorite fruits but you are pretty picky with the rest, french fries (which we rarely let you have more than a couple - but you do love them a lot, but then who doesn't?), white rice, cereal bars of any flavor, you love all pastas, all breads and really you "like" more than you "don't like" right now.

so far you do NOT like: a lot of fruits it seems like you are real picky about, mushrooms, asparagus, you don't seem to like chicken nuggets or grilled chicken (though I am going to keep working on that), cranberries (or craisins), you don't like oatmeal anymore and you don't like brown rice... I know I am forgetting some things though because you actually are quite picky when it comes to what you will and won't put into your mouth. 

- with your eating preferences - we have come to discover that you will NOT eat something two days in a row. No kidding. You will absolutely LOVE something one day and eat 2-3 servings of it at once, but come the next day if I try to give it to you again - NOPE, it won't happen. This has happened with about five different meals and that's when I realized you are not a fan of repeat meals. If I wait about 2 weeks in between giving it to you, you'll eat it all up - but never if it's anywhere closer than that.
Like I said, picky!

- You learned how to point to things now and you are now able to point to things when you want them! This is really cool because now when you're upset or crying for something - I can actually find out what it is you are wanting! Now during meals if I put all the foods or drinks separately, when you want one you just point to it and I give it to  you, and if it's not the right thing then you nod your head "no" until I get the one you're asking for. Pretty neat!

- & yes, you definitely know what you want and when you want it and everyday you are learning more ways to voice that to us. It's really cool to be able to know exactly what you want, we are just working on polite ways of asking - and polite ways of taking rejection when you can't have something you want & are asking so adorably for. 

- leading us to our next milestone: tantrums.

I hate to say this little man, but yes - you have learned to be a bitttttttt naughty in your 15th month mark. 

not bad, I will never say you are a "bad" boy - just naughty... or, um, frustrated.

you have learned what you want and how to ask for it, so it's only natural I suppose to learn how to get upset when you don't get those things, it makes sense. 

but yes, tantrums.

I have recorded a few of them actually because one day you will laugh pretty hard at the dramatic little fits you throw. If we tell you "no" it's an INSTANT meltdown. I'm talking - instantly throwing yourself on the floor, kicking your legs around, fake cries and high pitch screams (some pitches we didn't even know existed in you), you then begin to become really heavy... as in, you are so heavy that you try to stand up and are too heavy, so you instantly fall down real hard and scream some more. You forget how to walk, so you sorta "fall" down anytime you try to stand or walk to us when we try to comfort you... yeah, you name it - you do it. 

You're quite the little actor (hehe)

- I know I say this every month, but you really do talk a LOT. More & more everyday. Your words have turned into sentences, and those into conversations. You have full conversations with us now and you love to tell us all about what's on your mind. 

favorite words right now: mama, block (lock), sister (didter), you say "ni ni" for "night night" and "bye bye" when people leave, and "ball" and "uh oh" are still your favorites also. 

- you learned how to wave goodbye AND give high fives on command! SO FUN! You can even give double high fives with both hands at once. And you think it's the funniest thing! 

- You still LOVE hide & seek. You play it every chance you can! Even in the car when I'm driving, I'll look back and check on you in your carseat and then I see your little head turning around and laughing until I look at you and catch you "hiding" your face. You love it.

- You're starting to mimic! You try to say words now that people say. The other day your dad said "no no no" to something on the tv - and you instantly repeated "no no nooooo". Same thing when I said "yuck" one day - you yelled "UK!" haha. It's so crazy that you hear, understand and are teaching yourself how to say the things you hear - annddddddd we are ALL learning real fast that we have to watch our mouths & actions because you pick up on things QUICK! 

You also mimic actions you see - so we are able to teach you things real fast now, so that's fun! 

- we brought out your basketball hoop we got you for your birthday and dad taught you how to shoot hoops! You run over and toss the ball in the hoop now, and you can "dunk" it just by placing it directly in it - totally still counts as a shot though! We love playing with you. We play catch or basketball every single night together and it usually always ends in your dad & I having competitions of our own skills after you go to bed. (you're dad's realllll competitive)

- You LOVE LOVE LOVE your sister. You are such an amazing and loving big brother - all you want to do is be near her or take care of her in any way that you can. You even learned how to turn on her bouncer for her so when it turns off - you run over and turn the music or vibrations back on for her. You take her her bottles, her paci, her blanket and even turn on her toys and lay them in her lap if she is upset. I couldn't imagine you being more great with her. You really amaze all of us with how much you do for her always and how concerned you are with her at all times. It's the sweetest thing. 

- Last but not least - you are becoming very independent. More and more as time goes on you want less help from us with things. 

Eating food has become a bit challenging because you don't want us to feed you anymore at all. You cry until we give you your own food and spoon and let you do it yourself. Then you will do everything you can to get that food on your spoon and into your mouth (eventually end up using your fingers) - but yes - you want to do it all on your own. Even your carseat, you try and buckle yourself in and even try to put your own shirts on when we are getting you dressed. 

Ugh, this one I am not a fan of. It'll be fun when you can do things on your own, but I also will really miss being the one to take care of you - and you actually NEEDING us. 

Sooooo, slow your roll on that - you're still a baby afterall! 

Well little man, those are the big ones for now. Like I said, it's been a big month for you and you are growing and evolving into such a little person now! You're constantly learning new words, new tricks, new skills & you are amazing us with us something new you pick up on, every day! I can't even imagine what new things you will learn tomorrow or by next week! 

Until next time buddy, we love you & are so proud of you. You're not only incredibly smart, but you are so fun-loving, funny, joyful and just such a loving little guy. You light up all of our lives and I've seen first hand how you can cheer just about everyone and anyone up - just by being around you. I am enjoying this age so much because you are so interactive and you are changing so much - there's nothing more fun than watching you evolve into your own little person. 

Love you Gunner man.