15 months

Neil turned 15 months on April 29th.

I think we have a daredevil kid. This kid has no fear. He loves to go down steps (thinks he can) and twice now we’ve accidentally left the gate open at the top of the stairs, and he’s made a beeline straight for the stairs to go down them. Both times I caught him, the 2^nd right as he was stepping off. This kid is going to give me a heart attack one of these days. (Both times he headed for the stairs my heart was racing for a few minutes after I caught him.) 

We also had our first bloody injury. Neil is starting to carry (kid sized) chairs around. It’s so cute. He drags it around (and through areas that it doesn’t fit but somehow he finds a way) and sits in it. One day while sitting in it he leaned over and tipped the whole thing over, falling in the cat’s food dish. He ended up with a small black and blue mark on his chin and also bit his lip enough that it was bleeding. I’m sure this is just a preview of what’s to come. 

And as most kids are (from what I hear) he manages to find whatever we have out that he ISN’T supposed to have. We are learning very quickly what is baby proofed and what is not. 

Neil got his 3^rd tooth this month! And I think a 4^th is coming in. He got the top right tooth. I don’t have pictures of any of this teeth. For the most part teething doesn’t seem to affect him too much. He seems to get a bit more clingy but I honestly can’t tell if that’s from teething or just him being clingy. We give him Hyland’s teething tablets if it seems like he’s pointing at his mouth or something like that. 

Neil still eats like a champ, with the same preferences. We try to vary what he gets but I know sometimes kids prefer having the same thing over and over again. We tried making Kraft Macaroni and Cheese one day out of laziness and he didn’t like it. I will say, though, that he does seem to get into a mood for certain types of foods at times. My big “dilemma” right now is daycare lunch. They have asked us to bring in food for lunch that doesn’t need to be heated up to give the kids more time to play outside. But we just give Neil some of what we had for dinner the night before. He doesn’t really like sandwiches. So I’m trying to think of ideas for him. Often lunch is his biggest meal of the day, so I want to make sure he gets protein and good food. 

Starting to feed himself with a spoon. It's pretty messy.

I’m still nursing morning and night although my supply is continuing to drop. But he still wants it and it’s still time to bond together so we’re continuing. I have a feeling as my supply continues to drop he might eventually just say forget it. 

Sitting at the drums at church

Neil is definitely a musical kid; he’s been dancing from a young age. Now he is “singing” to the alphabet song, and likes to play the piano when I play it. At church, Dave was playing the drums. They have practice before the church service so we were there for that. A few times between practice and church, and then after the church service, Neil headed up to the front of the sanctuary. It took me a couple of times to realize he was trying to climb up to the drums. Before the service, I put him in the seat (in my lap) and he actually grabbed the drum sticks and started hitting both the drum and the cymbal. Dave was so proud! (So was I of course.)

 

At an Easter Egg hunt. He just grabbed an egg in each hand and then watched everyone else.

Neil is still throwing temper tantrums and I just ignore them. Actually, sometimes I have to admit I cause them. He thinks when I say “ouch” it’s funny and sometimes hits and pinches me (and has even bitten nursing a time or two but I think he’s just testing me there). Each time now I take him and put him on the floor, which to him is the worst thing in the world and starts a temper tantrum. I leave him for a bit and then pick him up and tell him not to hit anymore. Sometimes I feel mean but hopefully he will understand that “ow” isn’t funny. He still laughs anytime I say “ow.”

 

In the morning at daycare

Neil is talking up a storm and his vocabulary is just increasing. It’s still hard to understand most of the time, but he still signs along with some words, especially “please”. He says please a lot, because he’s realized it helps him get what he wants. We try to not always respond to please with a yes though, if it’s something he doesn’t need. Most of the time though he says please and it’s for something appropriate. He continues to repeat things, to the point that he says phrases back. He has started saying “hot” a lot and he knows if something is hot you blow on it (so he blows out).

We got some outside toys- a little trike roller thing, a cozy coupe, and a quad with a battery and a pushbutton instead of pedals. He doesn’t like to sit on the trike, but pushes both the trike and cozy coupe. He likes to open and close the door of the cozy coupe. So far he doesn’t like the quad at all.

 Stats:

Diapers – size 3
Clothing - We tend to put him in 18 month tops/onesies/pajamas but he still needs 12 month size in pants, and even some 12 month pants are falling down on him. He can still fit 12 month tops but I put a bunch of them away when I pulled out the 18 month clothes.

Weight - 22 pounds 4 ounces

Height - Not sure. At the doctor's they measured him as LESS than at the 12 month appointment which isn't right. I meant to measure myself but just never got around to it.

This picture is from Easter Sunday at my mom's church.