Month 14

Wesley is 14 months old. That sounds older to me. "A Year" didn't seem so shocking, 13 months just seemed a bit over a year, but 14 months seems bigger. He's no longer just one month over a year, he's moving into his second year full-force.

Kissing and Hugging
There has been so much kissing and hugging going on in our house this month. Every cat that Wes sees in a book gets a kiss. The stuffed animals love to kiss one another. Stuffed animals kiss the animals in the books (especially, interestingly, if they are of the same type--that is, dinosaurs kiss dinosaurs, monkeys kiss monkeys, etc).

Wesley spontaneously gives us hugs, too, which is so sweet. He continues to snuggle more and more.

New Words (that I can remember):
"NuhNuh" Tomato
"Blaaaaaah" Garbage, garbage cans, gross little things that are garbage.
"Bl-oooooooo" Blue (only repeats colors after we say them)
"Duh-doh" Yellow
Hat
Turtle

Letters:
Wesley knows the sound of some letters. I feel a little confused as to how he learned them, but he definetely knows them. We play with the magnetic letters on the side of the stove, so I guess he just remembered them. He knows the sounds for A (ahhh), B (buh), T (Tuh), H (huh), M (mmmm), H (hhhhuh), V (some weird noise that doesn't quite sound like vvv but is consistent).

When he learned A he thought it was sooo fun. He walked around the house with his letter A saying "AHH AHHH AHHH" really loudly and hamming it up. Then when he saw the letter the next morning, he remembered it and started doing the same thing. He was so excited to jump on sleeping Daddy and shove the "A" in his face.

Wes points out a horse

Matching:
He loves playing matching games where he matches his Memory Game cards. The game only gets challenging if we use cards that have different colored shapes on them, otherwise it is pretty easy and fun.

If we try to play Memory with the cards (that is, leave them face down after he turns them up), he gets stuck in a pattern of alternating between turning two cards over, instead of searching the others. If we leave them face up, he will turn them all up one at a time until he finds the correct card.

Wesley can also do his smaller wooden puzzles with the pegs without much trouble.

Physical:
Wes can run now. It's still a straight-legged, arms to the side run, but it is running. His endurance is amazing.

He walks up steps without using his hands or a railing. Most of the time he still needs to hold a hand when going down stairs. He likes to kick balls and walk backwards with a sweet little smile that says, "hey check me out".

Patience & Anticipation
In some ways Wesley has more patience than he used to have. He understands time and routine and the cues that something is on the way. He will stand by his chair, waiting for his bib sometimes, rather than screaming the second he senses food is beginning to be prepared. On a walk I can inspire him to keep moving if I ask him if he wants to continue to town to see the boats/fountain/hear music. He waits for the moon to come up and understands that it's not there yet when he asks us about it.

At other times the flair of temper innihilates his patience. And patience does not mean compromise when he wants something, but there is definetely an expanded ability to accept more complex explanations or contexts, including the need to wait a little while.

Garden
Wesley is quite good at picking the ripe tomatoes from the garden. He has taken to just relaxing in the garden. He'll take the hose, put it at the base of the tomatoes, and stand there "watering", looking meditative and calm, for ten minutes at a time.

Other Delights:
One thing I hope to remember is just how keen Wesley is on seeing garbage. Somehow, once, when we saw a garbage can, I must have gone "blaah", as in, "yuck". It stuck. In a serious way. With an eye like a hawk, Wes spots every garbage can whether it is down the street, in someone's back yard hardly visible, on the road--anywhere. He also notices each tiny piece of litter and says to it all, with dramatic flair "BLEEEEHHH". Smiling. He says it until we acknowledge his discovery. It is really quite a funny thing to do.

BLLEEEEEH (garbage cans)

Wesley loves to share. He shares everything he has to eat, even if he only has a little bit about which he's very excited. This kind of sharing can sometimes result in a soggy rice cracker being put unexpectedly into your mouth. Bleeeeh.

He doesn't share, sometimes, if he thinks we're going to take the thing away (that is, if he is not supposed to have it in the first place). He will place said item in our hand, but not let go. Also, he also does not share with kids his own age. If he does, he expects his shovel right back and will maneuver to recover the toy if it is not immediately returned.