The "Thurkins" soap opera: 14 months

I'm trying to get the 14 month post out before April if I can. :) Neil was 14 months on March 29th.

Neil is definitely walking. It's really cute and amazing. And of course now he's getting into a lot more, a lot faster. I've started letting him walk into our house himself when we get home from work/daycare. It's so cute but makes me kind of tear up because my little baby is growing up. He can also get up the stairs pretty well, crawling up them somewhat.

Opening a birthday present from his aunt (his new favorite toy, Rock N Roll Elmo).
Don't mind the hair.

Neil only has the 2 teeth still but I'm pretty sure one of his top teeth is about to come through and there might be an additional top tooth that's somewhat close. He's been more clingy and cranky the last few days so I'm thinking that might be from teething.

Eating hasn't slowed down, either. Neil still favors avocados, and gets a banana every day. I am cooking for us more than I ever have and trying to make enough to have some to send into daycare the next day. I admit I have bought some frozen stuff (especially fish) and I look at the sodium to try to limit that. Some fish is actually fine if you buy it frozen. Also, with fish fries, we're going to those most Fridays. Neil likes crab cake and shrimp. Expensive taste right here!

He likes to eat with one foot up on the chair.

This is the eating schedule:

7:00 bottle/nurse

7:30-8 yogurt or other breakfast

11:30 lunch

3:30 snack (usually a banana at daycare I think)

5:00 snack (usually puffs just to tide him over until Dave gets home)

5:45 dinner

7:00-7:30 nurse

Pretty much anytime we offer food we offer milk (whole milk) with it as well.

We're still nursing morning and night and my supply seems somewhat sporadic. Some days I get more than others and I can't figure out if something in particular helps or hurts that. I only know because I pump before work. I also no longer ever feel uncomfortable like I used to if I didn't nurse. I have a feeling if I wanted to stop completely right now it wouldn't be too bad. But Neil is definitely still interested in nursing so I'm going to keep it up. I also still like the bonding time so for now we're continuing. One side story related to this- one day after work I was really stressed and upset. Neil came over and lifted my shirt. He had already eaten so I knew he was fine; I'm pretty sure he was trying to comfort me because that comforts and centers him. It was adorable. (And no I did not nurse.)

Speaking of comfort, he gives hugs and at times has patted me on the back. Just seeing him do some of these adult things is adorable. He really watches what we do and picks up on things really fast. It's very enlightening- you don't realize you do something until he repeats it (whether it's words or actions).

Me: Where's Donald Duck? (He's under the covers)
Neil: I don't know....

We are still dealing with some temper tantrums. They really seem to be an indication that he's either hungry or tired. I'm sure we're coming up on tantrums from him for not getting what he wants. And he's definitely starting to test us. You can see his look to make sure we're watching before he tries to touch something, eat something, etc.

He now wants to use everything we're trying to put away. So we humor him.
And then put it away.

At daycare, Neil only takes one nap a day. We seem to be able to cut it from two to one on the weekends only if he's busy playing/distracted. If he's not he gets very cranky and rubs his eyes a lot.

I'm understanding more of what Neil is saying. He added "help" although it sounds a lot like "up". And he's repeating things that we say. He also says phrases but it seems to be more nonsense right now.