Sprout is Fourteen Months Old!

Today Sprout is fourteen months old!

Doing  the last monthly update so late really makes it seem like this month has flown by. :)

-Sprout is really and truly walking now.  She's been out to walk around the mall and one mild day did a walk down our street.  She mostly wants to do it on her own, but every once in a while will reach out to hold on to our hands.  She has a bit of a cowboy walk --her legs are quite bowed.  We're pretty sure it's just because she's a little more stable on her feet this way.  

-A new favourite game is "big hugs."  If Sprout is across the room we hold out our arms and say, "Big hug?" and she'll run across the room as fast as her little legs can carry her to give us big hugs around our neck.  I don't know who loves this game the most.  

-She's been more into playing with dolls lately.  The Bean has a baby doll that she's taken to pushing around in the stroller.  She has her lovey doll and will hug and give her kisses.  She'll also bounce and shush dolls.  I wonder where she learned that. ;)

-She also loves playing with balls, especially the big ball we have, which comes up to about her waist.  She'll happily chase, toss and kick it around for quite a while.  

-Her absolute favourite gross motor activity is probably still climbing though.  She has figured out how to get up onto our dining room chairs.  She can also climb up onto the big stool.  She's surprisingly quick and fortunately nimble.  No big falls yet.  (Though I know that by saying that I am asking for trouble.)

-Fine motor wise she's really taken an interest in a toy we have with switches, buttons, etc. that makes little bugs pop up.  She loves the actual light switches on the walls to, and she has to flick them on and off at least a dozen times before we can leave a room.  She's also started using crayons to colour (scribble).  Like with other things, she can get quite demanding when she sees the crayons and decides it's time to colour.  

-She keeps picking up new words.  Jen noted that they can be easy to miss if you're not really paying attention, which is true.  She often tries to repeat words I've said/read. This list will be far from complete, but some of the words that come to mind are banana, shoes, apple, woof, meow (when she sees a cat), bubble noises (when she sees a fish), light, off, hot ("haa!"), dip, hop, banana, hello, hi, Ma, her brother's name and his nickname, and others I am sure...

-She understands quite a lot too.  The Bean loves that he can give her instructions and that she will do what he asks.  Admittedly, it can be rather entertaining.    

-She's still enjoying lift-the-flap books.  We read a lot of Peek-a-Boo Kisses this month.  

-She loves being sung to.  She's really been enjoying action songs like Skidamarink and Head and Shoulders.  She also loves Round and Round the Garden... especially when I tickle her!

-Eating is going well.  She really seems to be taking an interest in what we're eating and often refuses her baby food in favour of what is on our plates.  She'll nod or shake her head to indicate what she wants.  She loves dipping into humus, dips, maple syrup (as a treat), etc.  She also loves drinking water from a glass.  She constantly asks for bananas and often only eats about 1/4 of them.  She LOVES cheese.  And crackers.  And Cheerios.  And all those typical "baby" foods.

-We've turned a bit of a corner with sleep.  For the past few weeks she has been settling herself back down when she wakes in the night, and overall it seem like her night-waking has decreased.  She is usually up between 4:30-5:30am and Jen will move out to the couch so and I will nurse her and put her back in the pack'n'play for an hour or so.  After that if I want her to stay "asleep" I pretty much have to keep her in bed with me.  Once she's decided she's up, it's very hard to convince her to settle back down.  She's still doing two naps, but if necessary we can get away with giving her just one.  

-The past week or so she's been chomping on her fingers even more than usual.  We're pretty sure that her two bottom lateral incisors are on their way.  The one on her right seems particularly close to popping through, but our past experience with her teething lead me to believe I may be saying the same thing in the next monthly update.  

-She went to daycare for the first time on her fourteen month "birthday."  I got called in for a job, so she went in with The Bean.  He was SO happy.  I was kind of emotional.  The report home was that she made it through the day with only a few tears when they woke her from her (only) nap.  Why they woke her from her nap, I don't really understand, but whatever.  She look pretty red-eyed when I picked her up, but she wasn't crying and she hung in there until bedtime, which was only slightly earlier than usual.  She'll go in again at the end of this week, so we'll see how she does for round two.  

-The daycare provider was saying how ready she is to be with other children, etc.  I know she would enjoy being with kids and the different activities, but if I'm home she'll be staying with me.  

She's definitely enjoying more "big kid" things and it's really amazing to watch her and help her navigate all that.  She is a loving, silly, willful, delightful little girl.  We love her to bits.  

 

Some outtakes from her monthly photos, because I just couldn't resist.