14 Months

Elliott is 14 months old. For the other two kids, I kept going after the first year, just because babies/toddlers still change so much during the 1-2 year.  So what is Elliott up to at 14 months?

~ He is a super speed crawler, and a not-motivated-walker.  He does take steps and walk short distances, but he still prefers crawling as his fastest mode of transportation. And when he walks, he usually does it with both hands raised all the way above his head-- like he is signaling "touchdown!"

~His favorite word is "dup" (cup).  He uses it whenever he wants a drink, but he also will say "Dup dup!" when he is hungry, too. His siblings have started to call his sippy cup a "dup dup" and will run in telling me, "Elliott wants his dup dup." :)

~He is saying more new words, and said his first sentence-- "I come," as he was walking over to me.  He likes to say "dog" and then woof, and "cat," although he doesn't have the meow sound down yet.

~ He loves to climb. He tries to get our stairs whenever he someone leaves the door open or takes the gate down. He will upend containers of toys or boxes so that he can crawl up on them, and then climb onto whatever he wants to get on.  Usually, it is the couch he is aiming for.  Then, he will walk across the couch over to the window, so he can look out it and bang on it. Not too long ago, I was doing dishes and Trey came running into the kitchen, saying "Mommy! Mommy! Elliott is sitting on that thing you put your coffee on!" So I go running in to the living room, and lo and behold, there sits Elliott on my end table, grinning and giggling and looking extremely proud of himself.  (And for the record, Trey was right-- coffee is pretty much the only thing I put on the end table. In our baby-proofed house, there are no cute knick-knacks, table lamps, magazines, or decorative features on our end table. Ha!)

~He continues to be a good eater, and wants to feed himself with a spoon or a fork more and more.  He will sometimes get upset and fuss at me if I try to hold the spoon to give him a bite. And of course he still loves throwing food off of his highchair tray.  Between the squawking for his own utensils and throwing his food and cup repeatedly, we are a treat to go out to dinner with. :)

~ He is finally, finally, a GREAT sleeper. He still takes a nap around 10:30am and 2pm, and sleeps from 8pm-7am almost every night.

~ He is still doted on by his big siblings, and he is starting to be able to play with them more.  They like playing with blocks or building gears together, and Elliott likes to play with cars, tractors, or anything with wheels, pushing it along the floor and making "vroom" noises. He will try to grab crayons or colored pencils from Collette and color on her papers.

~And of course, playing in the dirt is a favorite pastime.

Happy 14 months, sweet boy!