14 months - but acting like a 2 year old

I've never had a 1 year old quite like Kevin. Danya was somewhat talkative. Gloria waited until she was about 2 1/2 before saying much. Kevin will probably be correcting my grammar before he's 2. Today he popped up with three new words and can make the sign for milk! It's like he pays attention to what we're saying to him, logs it in his memory banks along with the correct meaning, and then just begins using it immediately. It's wild!

Today he started telling me "sna" and pointed to the pantry closet, rejecting every offer until I realized that he wanted a fruit snack. I've been saying "milk" and making the sign (opening and shutting my hand like I'm squeezing a cow's udders) since he was born every time he would nurse or we'd give him a cup of milk. Today he just casually started making the sign perfectly and saying "mik" as if he'd been doing it his whole life. He also recently started saying, "tas" which means trash, as he throws away his own diaper. He'll actually get mad if we throw his diaper away for him. He even crawls up to us, pats his pants, and says "poop" when he needs to be changed.

Seriously, I have never experienced anything like this! Someone please tell me that other 14 month olds do this, too. It's like he's a 5 year old trapped in a baby body. Another funny thing happened today when I was sitting on the floor downstairs reading a Magic Treehouse book to the girls. Kevin crawled over to the bookcase, pulled out some of his books and started waving them at me hollering to let me know that he expected me to read him a book, too, lol. This kid is definitely going to be a challenge!

Kevin's First Sneakers

We bought Kevin his first official pair of sneakers today. No more soft flexible shoes for him. They are size 6 1/2 wide. We got them at Kmart for $10, mainly because they were the only pair that we could fit over his chubby feet.

He had picked a pair that had flashing lights, but unfortunately they just weren't able to encompass his fat little clodhoppers. (for those of you not native to the midwest, "clodhoppers" are what you wear on your feet when hopping over clods of dirt while walking through a fresh plowed field on a farm)

Kevin loves to walk around, holding onto someone's hands. I think he prefers it to crawling because it gives him better access to all the interesting items on low tables. I wonder if he'll be the first of our kids to walk before the age of one.

Laugh It Up!

Kevin's so funny! He finds amusement in the smallest things like splashing water, messy icecream, and silly faces or noises. Yesterday he took a bath with Gloria sitting on the side of the tub. There was only a couple of inches of water in there, but he went to town splashing and laughing that hard gut laugh of his. Gloria would scoop water into a cup and splash it against the tub wall and Kevin would just explode laughing! He even whined if she took too long before doing it again.

Yup, he definitely rules the roost here. He has moments of quiet time playing by himself, facinated with a car while he makes "vroom vroom" noises. Mostly, though, he expects to be held, fed, or entertained at all times. He'll whine and scream if we aren't obeying him fast enough. We're trying to teach him not to scream for food. Instead we're teaching him to do the "more" sign with his hands. So far he's only done it a few times. I think he's confused because it seems similar to when we tell him to "clap, clap" his hands. I'm praying he figures it out soon.

Bible Boy!

Kevin found our bible in the living room, pulled it down, and started thumbing through it. We can tell he has a real "hunger" for the Word of God because after he finished examining it he attempted to eat it.

We totally understand his interest in scripture. After all, Psalm 8:2 says "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise..." He's probably looking up some good verses to turn into his next sing-song monologue as he rides in the van. Maybe he'll be the lead vocalist in a Christian rock band when he's older! Rock on, Kev!

Matthew 4:4 "Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' "

10 Reasons NOT to give a baby a bunny

1. He'll end up wearing most of it.
2. Wipes won't be enough, you'll have to give him a bath.
3. He'll puke most of it onto his clean clothes after the bath.
4. Seeing that may make you revisit the bunny you ate, too.
5. He'll "share" by smearing his chocolatey hands all over you.
6. The chocolate will get smooshed down into the cracks of your new kitchen floor.
7. Everyone else will conveniently "not see" the mess and you'll end up on your knees scrubbing the floor with a wet sponge.
8. Your older kids will accidently step in it and track the chocolate throughout the house.
9. Everyone else will conveniently not see the mess and you'll have to clean that, too.
10. The baby will cry because you don't have any more chocolate bunny left.

Nine and feelin' fine!

Nine months old and already Kevin looks like a little man! Here he is in his Easter outfit, tie and all, holding his nine month old sign. We took this at the last minute trying to get ready for church this morning. He didn't really want to cooperate, so this was the best of the photos we managed to get while he squirmed and snatched at the sign.

This little guy has changed a lot lately. He's crawling all over the place, diving fearlessly from a sitting position to the floor. He's got four teeth coming in on top and uses them on everything and everyone! His latest word is "hat!" He still doesn't say "mama".

He eats all kinds of solid foods now. He still hasn't managed to drink from a straw. He can walk sideways while holding onto something. He also broke the laptop. He snatched the "alt" key off and it won't go back on. His feet are too big to fit in any shoes. They are just some seriously fat feet. It's not the width, it's the top to bottom. Baby shoes just weren't designed for solid guys like Kevin.

What's really fun is his quick mind! He understands so much of what we say. He knows what "kisses", "bang bang", "swing", "no", and other words mean. You can show him once how to do something, and he'll imitate it. Danya showed him how to comb my hair instead of eating the comb, and he immediately started trying to comb my hair and Danya's!

The only real irritating thing he does is fight us when we try to put him in his car seat. He'll arch his back and scream at us. Once he's buckled, though, he chats happily and chews on his toys. I also wish his naps were longer. Some days he's out for an hour, other days he takes 10 minutes to recharge and is ready to go again.

Kevin's Room

Mechanic on duty! Kevins car room is starting to look like a garage! We've finished what we can for now until we get a little more funding and free time. This week we added silver pegboard around his room and hung the last piece on the wall. We're going to put some hooks on the wall piece and hang tools from it.

We also got him a "Cars" poster. Eventually we'll get him a couple of posters of actual cars, to hang around the room. We've got alot of ideas for his room. Since he may end up sharing it with a new brother we're trying to keep the theme boyish, not babyish. This is the first room totally completed in the whole house!

Boy in Motion!

Kevin is crawling! He can start in a sitting position, dive onto his belly, and do a military crawl across the room. He pushes with his feet and pulls with his elbows until he gets where he wants to go. Occasionally his tush will shoot up into the air and he'll do little thrusts forward.

The other day I set him in his room to play with some toys for just a moment while I went to grab something from the other room. Before I knew it he was all the way out in the hallway hollering his, "How DARE you leave me?!" yell.

Kevin has several different yells. There is the ever popular "outraged scream", the "I'm not going to sleep, so get me out of this playpen!" rhythmic yelling, and his excited babbling yells announcing to the world that he is in his stroller, wind in his hair, on his way to "swing swing" at the park, "whee!".

8 (and a half) Months old

I didn't have batteries for my camera when Kevin turned 8 months old on March 7th, so I never got around to taking his photo. We took this one today. I think it shows how active he's getting.

He can pull up on things and stands very well as long as he has something or someone to hold onto. He'll also hold one of my index fingers in each of his hands and take steps. He loves to practice walking lately. He's also pulling hair and biting, ouch! The other night he grabbed my arm with two hands and leaned over and tried to take a chunk out of my arm!

Kevin has started fighting being held sometimes. He'll thrash, arch his back, and throw himself backwards if he isn't getting what he wants. He can roll anywhere he wants to and can spin on his belly in multiple directions. If he's sitting up and wants something out of his reach he'll dive onto his belly and stretch to get it. Sometimes he sticks his tush into the air, but he just can't manage to crawl yet. We think he's close, though.

He talks constantly. It even sounds like he is saying, "Dada, Gloria, and Danya". I joke that he'll speak full sentences and say the contractor's names before he says mine. I clearly heard him say "Mama" one time, but I've never heard him say it again and had no witnesses, so I guess it doesn't really count.

He's been waking up happy every morning in his playpen since we moved. He still doesn't sleep through the night most nights. He can suck his toes. Once it sounded like he growled, "I love you, Dad" to Daniel. We think he's very smart, and he surprises us daily!

Cookie Monster

Danya shared one of her little chocolate cookies out of a small package that Daniel gave her. Kevin managed to make a HUGE mess out of just one tiny little cookie.

He's becoming such a little boy. He's wearing 2 year old outfits because they fit in the torso. We still have to roll up the sleeves, though. He's also starting to turn up his nose at baby food and demand to eat whatever we're having. The other day he ate Daniel's sandwich!

Undeniable!

Daniel and Kevin were at a grocery store to get a couple of items. At checkout, the clerk said, "You couldn't deny him if you wanted to!" Although rudely put, she's absolutely right. There's an undeniable resemblance between Daniel and Kevin.

Speaking of rude strangers, Daniel and the kids were walking back from having lunch at a local pizza place the other day. Kevin was in the stroller and Danya was pushing it. Daniel had the kids stay put on the sidewalk for a second while he ran a few feet away to grab the blanket that had fallen off the stroller. Some lady stopped her car, got out, and came towards the kids as Daniel was walking back over to them. She yelled, "Are those your kids?!" Then she started screaming at Daniel for walking away from the kids. She scared the kids more than having their dad five feet away did, that's for sure. I'm all for helping kids, but some people are just way over the top.

Valentine's Day Photo Shoot

We finally got our Valentine's Day photos done, so friends and family can expect to see some of these adorable photos (and more) in the mail by February 14th!

We had so much fun taking these, even though it was hard to get everyone to look at the same time. Danya took the photo of Daniel, Kevin, and me. Didn't she do a good job? We just printed the photos last night. The girls and I made handmade Valentine's cards last week with their new card making stamp set. We should be mailing them out tomorrow.

7

Kevin is seven months old! Daniel made the sign this month...okay, so he made the large seven leaning against Kevin's back.

What's new? Kevin can stay sitting up on his own much better now. He can easily roll from front to back and vice versa. His hair is growing a little more. Even his eyelashes seem longer! He has his first tooth. He's eating level 3 baby foods. He arches his back when he wants to stand up. He talks all the time! He gives adorable little open mouth kisses. He also likes to dump his toy truck out. We fill it back up and he dumps it again.

He's growing by leaps and bounds! I can't wait to see what's new next month!

Kevin's First Tooth!

Kevin got his first tooth a few days ago, and another one is coming up right beside it. If you click on this picture you should be able to see the little white tops sticking out of his gums.

Poor guy, he's been running a slight fever, sleeping poorly, and fussing alot. He also chews on everything and everyone he can get his sore little gums on. It's good timing, I guess, since I'm trying to wean him. Hopefully it will motivate me to complete the process. I'd like to have him completely weaned in the next two weeks so that I won't have to worry about nursing him while Daniel and I are covered in paint at our new house.