Max – 15 Months

My little guy is already 15 months old! 

In the past week or so, he’s really gotten the hang of walking.  Uncle Tony was calling him “Franken-Max” a few weeks back, as Max was doing that newly-walking-baby thing of holding his arms out straight in front of himself.  

Suddenly, though, he’s tearing around the house at a fast-paced walk, carrying balls and toy screwdrivers and Christmas ornaments everywhere he goes.  Max isn’t quite running yet, but it won’t be long.  He’s so thrilled to “chase” around the house with Alex, Daddy, or Gage & Grace.

He’s becoming an expert stair climber, but he sometimes forgets to be careful when going DOWN the stairs.  He’s now fallen down the stairs twice, getting a rug-burned forehead once and a bloody nose the second time.  (The second time, he pushed through my legs as I was taking down the baby gate, tumbled about 5 steps, and I caught him by the leg as he was somersaulting.)

He has a HUGE appetite, although his weight doesn’t prove it.  At his 15 month well-baby visit, Max weighed 19 lbs, 9 oz.  Pipsqueak!  (Also worth noting – he let out his piercing scream any time the ped’s nurse came near him.  He *hated* being weighed, *hated* having his temp taking, and DEFINITELY *hated* getting his shots.  I think the whole office could hear him shriek!

Most days, we can’t feed him enough.  He lives to eat, I think! ;)  He adores dry cereal, and right now he’s loving Fruity Cheerios.  Max will eat just about anything he’s offered these days.  He especially loves mac & cheese, mostaciolli, pizza, garlic bread, bread of all types, crackers, yogurt, and (sadly) candy. 

We never even gave Alex candy at this age.  Unfortunately, Max has a generous big brother who has introduced him to this yummy sugary stuff.

He’s no longer nursing – I cut off the morning feeding at a little over 14 months.  Max doesn’t even seem to miss it, and he loves to drink milk or juice from a cup.  His favorite cup is a STRAW cup now that he’s gotten the hang of it!

His list of words is getting longer, but Max would still rather shriek, squeal, or scream to get what he wants.  He’s jabbering in sentence-style more and more often, almost as if he expects you to understand him.  Here are the words I can think of:

hi
bye-bye
daddy
day-dee (thank you)
dah-dee (doggy and all done, depends on context)
dir-dee (birdy, not often used)
(GOOD LUCK figuring out all these “D” words!)
upsies (upstairs, meaning “can I go up to the playroom?”)
up
seez (please)
Ba-pah (Grandpa/Papa)
Mama (has only used a handful of times)
see
tee (Christmas tree)
something that sounds vaguely like Alex (Ahhh-Ick)
Amen
hot
dance

His only sign is “all done”.  He just has no interest in it.  I wish, wish, wish that he would learn a few more…but it’s just not his thing :(

He still loves to dance, loves to watch videos of kids singing, loves music.  His favorite activity is DEFINITELY walking, walking, walking.  He’s mastered that skill, and he’s going to prove it all. day. long.

He’s also still loving toy cars/trucks/trains, putting small things into holes, riding the four wheeler, and all the same things he loved last month.  He’s not terribly interested in his own toys right now, though…he’d rather just walk all day :)

Other Tidbits at 15 Months:

• still a good napper, taking a morning nap of at least an hour (10:30 – 11:30) and an afternoon nap from 1.5 – 3 hours.  (2:30 – whenever he wakes)
• bedtime is 8:15, and most nights he goes to bed without any complaint – a Bible story, a song, a kiss, and he lays down to sleep until morning!
• sleeps with 3 blankets and his little minky taggy blanket to cuddle, and he will wake up crying if he doesn’t have his blankets
• His day starts between 6:45 and 7:15 most days
• is determined to figure out how to use a fork
• still plays the same little “grunting game” with Daddy at dinner
• gives Daddy the biggest grins when he walks in the door
• LOVES to wrestle/chase/play with Daddy & Alex
• doesn’t really like it when Daddy puts him to bed
• is going through that stage of always looking beat-up and abused because he’s exploring and into EVERYTHING!  He fell out of the bathtub one night when I turned to help Alex, he’s fallen down the stairs twice, and he’s constantly falling while trying to climb things!
• can point to his nose, but hasn’t really mastered any other parts of his face or body yet.
• has mastered the big slide upstairs.  He climbs up the steps, sits at the top, and then flips over to go down on his tummy.  No fear!
• is the bravest little boy about nursery!  Alex went through a several-month-long phase of SCREAMING when left in the nursery.  Max might fuss for a few minutes, but then he plays hard the whole time!
• is totally uninterested in smiling for the camera lately, hence the somber face in all of these pictures!

He’s the sweetest little boy, a bundle of energy and mischief, and we just ADORE him!