Asher seems to be thinning out a little. He has a checkup in January, so no height and weight measurements this month. He wears size 5 shoes, size 18-24 month clothing, and he finally got his sixth tooth!!
Asher's pretty close to walking. He has taken one or two steps, and spends a lot of the day standing while he plays. He's gaining confidence and becoming more interested in walking, but still crawls rapidly around the house and yard to get himself where he wants to go.
Our boy is growing in his understanding of spoken words, and in his use of words and signs. He can communicate a lot more now than he could one month ago.
Sleep/ schedule
This was a sad month, with Asher getting his first serious cold which turned into a double ear infection. He was on antibiotics for the first time, and got a really bad diaper rash from some digestive adjustments to the antibiotic. Poor little guy was miserable for Thanksgiving dinner, crying and needing to be held.
Needless to say, his sleep and daily routines have been all out of whack. Many nights he woke up fussing, many mornings he had a bottle at 4am and slept until 7:30. Some mornings he was wide awake at 6, just like "normal." Some days he took two naps, other days just one. He went to bed at all different times, mostly in the 6:45- 7:15 range.
I can't decide if he's (I'm) ready for just one nap. In some ways, it'd make our days easier because the kids could have similar schedules and we'd have two big windows of time to do things, but I've also gotten used to the rhythm of staying home until he wakes up from the morning nap. Charlotte and I often do messy or fragile activities/ toys during that time, and I also catch up on chores and household tasks then. Plus, I'm afraid if he's overtired he will start waking up in the night. Also-- he wakes up soooooo early sometimes that it seems impossible to keep him happily awake until afternoon nap time. We'll see.
Communication
Asher does signs for more, all done, food, please, and (sometimes) thank you. He also does a motion for washing his hands (adorable!!!!) and sometimes makes a clicking noise when he's hungry.
New words this month include WaWa (water), Peppa (when he wants to watch Peppa Pig, or talk to his Grandpa, haha), baba (bottle / baby), and he finally says Momma consistently! :) He snorts like a pig and woofs like a dog.
He nods yes and shakes his head no. He waves hello and goodbye, blows kisses, and gives real open mouth incredibly sweet real kisses. He points at a million things a day, and makes all sorts of babbling noises- his voice is the sweetest sound.
Food
Since he was so sick this month, Asher regressed a bit on his bottle drinking. I've been offering food as consistent as always, and especially try to give healthy things I know he likes. But it's difficult to fill up his belly at exactly the right times. It's easier to give a bottle of milk, and I know bottles are comforting to him. This is an ongoing challenge for me.
He loves baked oatmeal, sweet potatoes, pomegranate seeds, raisins, cucumbers, bell peppers, and all kinds of breads/ muffins (mostly we've been eating banana muffins lately).
Activity
Asher's favorite thing to do these days is climb. If nothing else is available, he likes to climb my body. It's not the most comfortable thing in the world, to say the least, so I try to give him opportunities to climb something else (playground equipment, stairs, beds/ couches, etc.) as much as possible. He likes to stand up while playing, and he lives for the great outdoors. We've had a lot of fun lately, pushing him around in the stroller or wearing him outside in the hiking backpack.
This month Asher played in snow for the first time. He liked it!
He also loves to watch the Christmas lights on our tree, and on our neighbors' houses.
14 months is such a fun age. We love our big boy!
