15 months

Jacob is 15 months old today! I have no idea how much he weighs or how tall he is...we don't have his well baby check until the 22nd. He has 13 teeth and is working on one more...although he has been working on it for several weeks now, so who knows when it will actually come in.

He has not started saying any new words or signs, but he did say his first sentence on 3/1/11. It was "Up, Mama," when he asked me to put him up on the couch with me. Yes, that is typical and unsurprising for him. Everything is "Up!" In fact, "up" is his all purpose word. It means "up", "down", "I want that" and a host of other things depending on the circumstances.

That "up" would be his all-purpose word is perfectly in keeping with his personality, because he climbs all over the place. He climbs onto the couch and then tries to climb over the back of the couch...but I am usually quick enough to keep him from doing that. I am not, however, quick enough to keep him from climbing up onto the table. He also gets into the pantry and tries to eat uncooked pasta from the box. This boy requires CONSTANT supervision...and even when I think I am providing that, he still manages to get into things.

He is still not walking. He is capable; he just hasn't decided to do it yet. He did take 4 steps, several times on 3/6/10, while we were visiting Aunt Ginger, but he refused to give a repeat performance for Brent. He has done 4 steps several times since then, but mostly would rather just crawl. He cruises all over the place and walks around holding onto only one of my fingers, but he just isn't ready to give up the security of having something to hold onto. This actually surprises me, because he doesn't seem to mind risks with anything else!

I finally found a pair of shoes for him...his first pair. They are 6 extra wide. No wonder I couldn't find any at Walmart or Target to fit him! We are fortunate, though that I was able to find a pair at the Stride Rite Outlet, because we were afraid that he would be like Brent was as a baby and we would have to get orthopedic shoes for him. Jacob doesn't mind wearing the shoes, but he won't even cruise while they are on. I guess it's because he is not accustomed to the weight of them yet.

This boy still eats and eats...I am continually amazed at the amount of food that goes into his little body. He is down to only nursing if he wakes in the middle of the night...and not even all the time then, and first thing in the morning. He does sometimes ask to nurse before his afternoon nap and at bedtime, by reaching for the boppy and then signing milk. I just tell him "Here is your milk" as I hand him his cup, and he does drink it...and when I think ahead, I hide the boppy before we sit down. Then he doesn't even ask for anything other than his cup.

He loves reading and will bring books to me to read to him all day long. He would never leave my lap if I would keep reading to him, I think. He will sometimes just sit on the floor or in a chair and look at the books himself, but his preference is definitely for someone else to be reading to him.
Don't you just love this face?...

It makes me want to laugh.

He is still taking two naps most days, but occasionally, his morning nap is so long that he doesn't take an afternoon nap. I think he will be going to one nap soon. Then I will need to work on moving his nap to later in the morning...and hopefully eventually to early afternoon because when he wakes up at 1pm, there is just a little too much time between his waking up and bedtime and he tends to get a bit grouchy.

Jacob is very easy going. Samantha has had some times lately that she has not been very kind to him...refusing to let him play with toys, blocking him from going where he wants and even pushing or hitting on occasion. But when she cries because she has gotten in trouble for those behaviors, he comes over to her, and tries to snuggle her and give her kisses. And he always smiles at her and gives her kisses when she apologizes for being mean.
He gave himself a mohawk, by rubbing his food all into his hair. Yes, this is a somewhat common occurrence.

Jacob is such a joy to us and we are grateful for the gift of him in our lives.