Minnesota Barlows: Brooks is 14 Months!

This big boy is 14 months old!

Brooksie Boy turned 14 months old on the 27th, and he has developed lots of new tricks over the past two months. You can really see the wheels in his head turning, and it's been wonderful to watch him start to understand and comprehend the world around him. He is still just as sweet as ever. He's very loving, and he likes to cuddle. He's becoming more independent, and will play on his own for longer stretches of time. He still has a few crabby moments each day, but he is getting really good at "telling" us what he wants. By "telling," I mean communicating in hand gestures and grunts, but he can get the point across for the most part!

Some of his favorite things right now are playing with trains or cars, climbing on anything and everything, taking baths, eating most foods (not vegetables), "talking" and laughing with Kylie, using his pacifier (we've got to starting weaning this), destroying puzzles or towers that Kylie has put together, stacking blocks, putting stuff in boxes, and taking things out of drawers (especially, but not limited to, pots and pans, utensils, DVDs, and clothes).

Some of his least favorite things these days include eating vegetables (only whole veggies, purees are acceptable), getting his diaper or clothes changed (it's still a war), leaving mommy, having toys taken away, being told, "no," and getting his winter coat on (other coats/sweatshirts are fine).

As I said earlier, he has developed quite a few new skills over the past few months. The most noticeable is his climbing ability. He's also a bit of a daredevil...Not a great combination. He tries to climb up on anything that appears climbable...chairs, tables, beds, boxes, drawers, toys, strollers, toilets, stools, pretty much anything you can think of. He's persistent...If he can't climb it on the first try, he won't give up. He comes back over and over until he can! Thankfully, he is learning to climb down off of these things in a safe, feet first way, but that doesn't mean he always gets down like that. If he's in a hurry, or his mood is just right, he just dives off head first. He's learned to tuck and roll, so usually he's good, but sometimes there are tears and bruises along with the dive! Much to my dismay, he is NOT walking yet. He'll take a few steps here and there, but it takes a lot of persuading. He'd much prefer to crawl to his destination. I don't know why, but for some reason, my kids have inherited some slow walking genes! I'm sure there is some lesson in patience in all of this! :) Some of Brooks' other skills include waving, clapping, covering his eyes for peek-a-boo, signing "milk," "all done," "more," and we're working on, "help." His language skills are really coming along too, especially his receptive language. He understands many simple commands and phrases. For example, if I say, "go get your trains," he does. Or when I say, "Are you hungry?" He will crawl over to his booster chair and grunt loudly until I put him in it. He has a few words. His best and most common word is, "mama." YAY! He also says, "dada," "Kykee" (for Kylie), and I still think he says, "car," "doggie," "ball," and "boo" (for peek-a-boo), but those are up for interpretation! He does two animal noises. He pants like a dog anytime he sees a dog or when we say, "What does a doggie say?" He also says, "Ah, Ah," for "What does a monkey say?" We are working on owl, cow, kitty, and a few other common ones. Another accomplishment that I am probably a little too proud of is that Brooks now drinks exclusively from a sippy cup with a straw. I was dreading the transition from bottle to sippy cup, but my genius friend, Danielle, taught me a trick to getting him to take to the straw. We gave him a smoothie with a straw in it, and put a little smoothie on the end that he was sucking from. When he tasted the smoothie, he naturally and immediately began to suck, and then he got more smoothie. We did that two or three times until he was really proficient. Then we gave him the sippy cup with milk in it, and away he went! Easy, peasy! Thanks, Danielle!!! As for his schedule, he's still taking two naps per day most days. His morning nap is from about 9:30am-10:30am, and his afternoon nap is from about 1:30pm-3:30pm, though he has skipped his morning nap a few times. I think he is getting ready to start trying to drop that one, but I'm trying to push through the winter before I let that happen. He still sleeps over night from about 8pm until 7:30am. He eats pretty much whatever Kylie is eating for all of his meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The only exception is that I will sometimes give him a baby food pouch at dinner time if he hasn't eaten many vegetables during the day, since he is picky about those. He drinks milk with his three meals, and right before bed too! Lastly, he is wearing mostly 12-18 month clothes, size 4 shoes, and size 4 diapers. I'm not sure on his height and weight, but he's feeling a little heavier to me these days. He has his 15 month check-up in March so we'll report back then!

That little boy lights up our life! He makes us laugh everyday, and we are so blessed to have two wonderful, beautiful, sweet children in our lives! We love you, Brooksie!