Sweet Reid is 14 months!! For the majority of this past month, I wanted to retract his nickname, "Sweety Reidy," due to the fact that he exchanged his sweetness for pure terribleness!! Seriously, he has had some moments but thankfully we are seeing that sweetness return the past week or so and he is re-earning that name. :)
I think developmentally he has gone through a lot of changes over the past month or two. He is much more independent and wants to do everything on his own. He is also understanding everything that we say but is unable to always communicate what he wants or needs and so he has been easily frustrated. He has also started to be into everything, taking things out of drawers, pulling pictures off of shelves, etc. Randy and I have really had to adapt to his new abilities and are using some new techniques to help him communicate and give him better direction. I wouldn't call it discipline per se but just more intentional guidance. For example, we have taught him several more signs over the past week. He can now sign: all done, more, up, please, help, and we are working on thank you. It is amazing how quickly he learns a new sign and how much it helps his frustration level!! We are also working with him on playing independently. I am putting him in a playpen for 10 minutes each day with some educational toys (puzzles, shape sorters, etc) so that he can "focus" on one thing at a time instead of tearing through the house and being distracted by everything around him. So far, he does not enjoy this time. Hopefully in time he will! My other boys still enjoy alone time to use their imaginations and I love this!
Reid has learned several new words this month. A few off the top of my head: school, banana, snack, book, dog, girl, cracker, and a plethora of animal sounds: moo, quack, neigh, rough, etc. :)
We have finally managed to transition from a bottle to a cup and to cow's milk. His "cup" is very similar to a bottle with a soft spout, but I am still calling it a successful weaning! We had to transition from formula to milk very slowly, like an ounce or less a day. This kid is pretty picky!
We have also finally switched to cloth diapering full time. I have tried so many different kinds but FINALLY found one that we really like. Apple Cheeks are so cute and are working really well for Reid!
Reid loves for me to read him books and especially to make animal sounds when pointing to the animals. He also loves rolling the ball, building with blocks, and sorting shapes. I am impressed that he can correctly figure out in which hole to place the shapes most of the time. He still loves taking a bath! If he is fussy, a bath will always calm him. He could play in there all day. He also is still enjoying being outside although the weather has not been great for that! He liked his first tubing in the snow adventure but only for about 15 minutes! He also enjoys ipads and phones and loves to play the peekaboo app. I hate that he loves this but have found it hard to keep it away completely. We usually play it once a day for a few minutes. After that he just goes up to my laptop and starts slapping the scream, frustrated that it does not respond. :/
Thankfully, his eating has gotten much better. He is eating everything we give him, which is usually what we are having. I supplement with some organic baby food pouches that have things like kale and spinach in them, since I know he wouldn't get much of that good stuff otherwise. But mostly he eats the meals I make and enjoys them.
Happy 14 months, little guy! We love you!
