He's still growing!

Robin has now learned to climb over obstacles. We were doing some work in our bathroom and we placed a large chest in front of the door to keep Robin out (the bathroom doorway was too narrow for our baby gates.) It worked for a while, but he was hoisting himself onto it, and then after a while, he managed to get all the way over. And then he repeated the process many times, and is already an old pro. Here I was, trying to keep him out of the way, and instead I taught him how to climb!  Well, on the plus side, he did really well watching us work and wandering about our room before he figured that out, so that gives me hope that if we buy a new house (which we are actively thinking of doing) and have to do any work on it, Robin will be somewhat patient with us while we work.  As long as he gets to watch the use of fascinating power tools.

He's getting pretty good at the use of spoons and forks (mmm... ice cream!) He still primarily feeds himself with his fingers, but he can spear solid chunks of food on a fork now, and immediately puts it in his mouth. In fact, if he doesn't want to eat some vegetables, I can get him a fork and he'll go to town on them now. I wonder how long that trick will work for?

I dressed him up like Tom Sawyer the other day.  Isn't he a cutie??!!!

He must've just had a growth spurt, which is now over, because his voracious appetite has receded. I haven't measured him, but he has reached a magical height for me--he's now tall enough that if I hold his hand while we're walking, I don't have to bend over anymore!

I can't remember whether I've talked about this before or not, but when Robin drops food (purposefully) on the floor during meals, we take his tray away and spin him around to face away from the table for a minute as a way to try to discipline him. Well, it seems to be working. I don't think I've had to spin him around since last weekend! I suppose that means it's time to expand the discipline to include utensils and cups that are deliberately dropped. Anyway, I'd been worried for a while, since I wasn't sure this was having any effect, but his behavior in that regard has definitely improved!

The other day, he called "Mama" for a boost into my blue chair, and once up in it, he sat there with a book in his lap and babbling for a while. Dean thought it looked like he was reading the book out loud! That's what we do, after all!

He says "hi" now, and finally resumed saying "night night." He also might be trying to say "teeth." His comprehension is really growing too. He knows the parts of the face, he quacks like a duck when he sees one (real, toy, in a book), and he can put some of the shapes in his puzzle together. Last weekend he was pointing to the stop sign on the side of his school bus toy, and when Dean told him "it's an octagon," he ran over to his shape puzzle and grabbed the octagon piece.

He has discovered the off/on switch on his toys. Now I can never turn them off for silence!

I think I understand part of why the first year of life goes so fast. They just grow so much, and learn SO MANY new things in that time, that all the accomplishments help mark the passage of time. Things have slowed down a little, and I definitely take fewer pictures (he's still the primary subject of my photos though!)

I thought it was funny that he was eating his "Feed Me" shirt.

We went to the zoo this week with my friend, Sela, from Fort Collins, who aptly called it our "biannual get-together," since we don't see each other much. It was a really nice day, much warmer than we expected.  We had a fun time, and it was good to get Robin together with some other kids for a bit.

I can do anything!

Robin has begun communicating a bit more recently. He's started saying "uh oh" and signing "water." He also says "Mama" a LOT. When he starts shrieking for something that he can't reach, I've been encouraging him to say "Mama help," though of course I always respond when he just says "Mama" (since he hasn't managed "help" yet.)

The only problem with all the "Mamas" is that he's stopped saying "Dada" (mostly.) In fact, when Dean asks him "can you say 'Dada'?" he usually responds with an enthusiastic "Mama!" Sometimes they go back and forth (Dada! Mama! Dada! Mama!) several times. It makes me laugh. Poor Dean.

Robin can now put some of his mega bloks together.  He can also play ball. When I roll a ball to him and ask him to roll/throw it back, he will do so. It flies maybe 8 inches before hitting the ground and rolling the rest of the way toward me. This is something that came up at his 15 month checkup, and it looks like he's slightly ahead of the curve behaviorally/developmentally. And when it comes to being stubborn! He's now 24 pounds and 30 ¾ inches.

This is from about a week ago, when he was carrying a pair of rolled-up socks in his mouth like a dog playing fetch. And a few days later, I put a pair in my mouth, and he took it from me with his, and then I took it back... It was fun!

He is still sometimes cranky, mostly in frustration at not being able to do everything himself. I wonder if he'll always push himself to be an overachiever?

Robin loves zippers, Velcro, buttons, and buckles. If it can attach something together, he will spend a lot of time trying to figure out how it works. Pretty much every time I get him up from a nap now, he's gotten his sleepsack partially unzipped. In fact, last week he didn't really nap one day (that's the last time I let him fall asleep in the car!!!) but I left him in his room for a long time, hoping he would drop off. By the time I gave up and went to get him, he had completely unzipped his sleepsack and removed his diaper (Velcro again.) Yeesh! He also managed to pee on his pants, which were sitting on his ottoman across the room!

I only just discovered that I had this video. I feel like Dean must've shot it since I don't remember doing it, although my voice is close to the camera. Maybe I'm losing my memory. This is from a few days after Christmas, at my parents' house. Robin is pretending to stir something in the pot, and then pretending to eat it!

I took him to the library for the first time last week. It was fun. I'm looking forward to when he's 18 months, because that's the bottom of their age range for story time. He does seem to be getting a little more interested in books! The other day, I was sitting on the floor reading a book to him (he's usually all over the room when I do that) and he came up to me and started crawling over my legs. I was confused at first, until he came to rest in my lap! He wanted to sit in my lap for the story! I was so excited!

Currently, he will clap his hands when he hears the music for "If You're Happy and You Know It."

We're starting to think that Zax, the bear my Aunt Catherine made for Robin before he was born, is becoming a lovey (his favorite, something he's getting an emotional attachment to.) He's started trying to pull Zax out of the crib while playing in his room, which he never used to do. Several times now, he has grabbed for Zax while we get him into his sleepsack before naps or bed (primarily naps.) Whenever he keeps holding onto Zax when I'm ready to rock him and sing to him, I've taken Zax with me and sung to both of them (this has happened 4 or 5 times now.) Also, most of those times, he's fallen asleep in my arms while I sing to him--which is rare, usually I put him in his crib still awake. Coincidence? The jury's still out.

He is now weaned. :(  For the last three days, he has refused to latch at all, and today was the last day I will attempt it. I'm actually surprised he went as long as he did, since we went down from four nursings each day to one in less than a month, but he stuck out with the final nursing (though it got progressively shorter, and he stopped nursing on both sides) for about two months. It's somewhat bittersweet. I miss the time together, but it'll be nice to have a little more time in the day--though I'll have less online time. It'll also be nice to be able to eat peanut butter and eggs again.