No Snooze Button

Lesson Learned #9: My 14 month old is smart, nosy, helpful, inquisitive, and determined. And he doesn't come with a snooze button.

At our house we've been waking up before the alarms for about two weeks now. For a while, Adam was waking up and moaning every morning around 4:45-5 hungry or miserable or something, and one of us would roll slowly out of bed to try to get him to quickly go back to sleep. In the last three days, he's done the same except he's pushed it to 5:45-6am and when he's up, we rock a little bit before he pushes himself out of my lap and onto the floor and he takes off squealing through the house. Good morning, everyone. Maybe someday I'll get to sleep until 7 again.

A few "Adam Stories" from this week.

On Saturday my parents came by to hang out for a few hours, and Adam pointed to all of his toys, showed off with his "pretend fall" (he falls on his stomach and then looks around and makes his "ouch" face), got jealous when my mom patted Caley, and gave kisses to Mamie and Grandpa. He showed them how he can pick up three balls at once (one ball in one hand, two balls in the other), and spoke as many words as he knew how. He tried to charm/trick his way into a sip of my Mom's Diet Coke. He was not as sneaky as he wanted to be. And even though he was tired when they left, he wasn't pleased to say good-bye.

At daycare, Adam is cuddly and lovey and territorial about Ms. Tiffany. He still believes that no one is "allowed" to sit in her lap but him, even if he's across the room doing something else entirely. And on Monday whenever she would pick up another baby, even if he wasn't anywhere near her, he'd throw himself on the ground and cry -- I've seen that cry. He throws in an extra pouty face to go along with it just to make you feel extra guilty. Jealous, jealous, jealous. Apparently he even took it upon himself to be the miniature police -- when she would tell someone "no," he would chime in to back her up and say "no!" to them as well. Suck up.

Today I heard that even though Adam woke up yesterday at 5 am and was dropped off at 6:45 yesterday morning, he was not at all sleepy at naptime. As they all ate lunch together in their highchairs, he looked around in disbelief at all his friends (who were slowly nodding off after lunch) as if to say, "seriously, guys?! You're going to go to sleep?" 5 minutes later when each of his friends were passed out in their highchairs, Adam apparently had his elbow on the tray and his chin propped up on his hand, looking bored and unimpressed with his friends' stamina. She said she figured once she got him down and changed he'd be ready for a nap, but after everyone was put in their cribs, Adam was doing laps around the room with a big grin on his face.

Last night I went out for a short girl's dinner. Before I left, Adam was standing by the couch next to me reading a book. I told him "bye" and gave him about 6 hugs and kisses, and he ignored me. I got up to walk out the door and said, "bye, Adam!" which finally got his attention. He whined and ran toward me with his arms in the air, and I picked him up to give him another hug and kiss. He said, "bye," waved at Shannon in the recliner, and blew him a big, deliberate kiss. Shannon said, "Adam, you're staying here with me. Mom is going bye bye." Adam blew him another big kiss and waved and grinned, and another. I almost just took him with me to dinner. But instead I ran out the door leaving the cries behind me so Shannon and Adam could have a guys night to hang out.

Funny Face.





Little Swimmer

 

14 Months Old - Adam's Words and Games

Adam's Words

At Adam's one year check up, our pediatrician told us that being able to speak 5-8 words was developmentally appropriate for a 15 month old. At that time he was saying about 8-10 words. 

Adam now has at least 17 words, along with some "almosts"...

1. Hi
2. Hello?
3. Night Night
4. Bye/ Bye Bye
5. Dog
6. Eli
7. Gus
8. Thank you
9. No/ No No
10. Yes
11. Daddy/ Dad/ Dada
12. Momma
13. Uh Oh
14. Shoes
15. Drink
16. Juice
17. Keys
18. Outside

"Almost" Words:
- Hot
- Dance
- This
- Stuff
- "I did it."

Sounds
Grrrrrrrrrrr
Oooooooh ("ouch" sound)
Meow (a really high pitched squeal that he saves for when he sees Gus, Eli, or a cat in a book or on TV)

Signs
Eat
All Done

Somedays I feel like I get some skeptical looks about whether he actually does say all these words - typically he is quiet or makes faces, smiles and flirts. If it's just him and I he says a lot more than when he is around a lot of people. But I promise he's said these words, and more than once. Although some of them, like "Drink," require mom-translation sometimes, and some of them, like "Thank you," are incredibly rare.

Adam's Games

-- "The Indian"
-- "Where's Your Tongue?"
-- "Where's Adam?" (Played when Adam goes into his room or the laundry room and shuts the door, then giggles behind it)
-- Chase (which is becoming more frequent when he sees you with a diaper or a change of clothes in your hands)
-- Stomp Stomp
-- Answering the Phone
-- Uh Oh! (where he intentionally drops/throws something and says "uh oh!")
-- Sticking out his tongue and making noises.
-- Kisses
-- High Five (soon to be "fist bump")
-- Pretend Fall
-- Pretend Sneeze
-- Singing/Dancing
-- Flipping light switches
-- Closing Doors
-- "I Can't Reach!" (This game is played when I make him a cup or a snack and he decides that I should bring it directly to the spot where he is playing because he's too busy to meet me halfway. I stand where I am and pretend I can't reach him from where I am. He giggles and mimicks me, stretching out his arms and keeping his feet still, groaning like he just can't reach his cup -- it's just too far. Then he comes and gets it.)
Every mother thinks their child is a genius. Lately I'm starting to wonder if Adam has a few more synapses firing than many babies his age. At the moment, that is... some days he's on fire and some days he just sits back and observes. At any rate, he clearly does not act like he's 14 months old - in most ways (except for still only having 2 teeth) he is more like an almost 2-year-old. He wants to grow up fast.



Happy Happy Happy