You, Me & Baby C: 2013

We had such a fun fall full of great highlights: the birth of Levi Vincent Curcio, camping with the Chapmans, the state fair with Aunt Leslee, visits from GG, Gram Sam & Aunt Cami. Dom was a cow for Halloween (again)... there is something in my roots (i.e Wisconsin) that just thinks a baby in a cow costume is "udderly" adorable. We also had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Marpepps, Aunt Susan, Great Grandfather & Becky's family. Dominic has been growing physically & developmentally. It's such a joy to watch him grow.

LIKES: You continue to adore your perro. He is your soul brother. You would carry him around all day if you could! You have discovered a lot of new toys at ages 14-15 months. Blocks are one of your favorites. You take them all out of the bin & then load them back in. In fact, you do that with a lot of things. You already love organization, like your mommy! Your GG (my father) is a little... might I say... obsessed with organization & always has been. Daddy keeps saying that you got GG's cleaning genes. Other toys you love:

Your standing play yard
Mommy's wooden blocks from when she was a child
Your walker - you have learned how to pick it up & adjust the angle. Now, when you run into walls, instead of getting frustrated, you just move that thing around. This change happened at about 14-15 months. We love watching you do laps around the house.
Your highchair. You use this as a walker. You really like to push it around. It's pretty funny when I'm standing in another room. It never ceases to freak me out a bit when I see the high chair start to move on it's own. I never remember that a wee little one is down below pushing it!
The bed: daddy has taught you how to sit on the bed and bounce yourself a bit. Any time you're on a cush surface, you put your hands down & bop/bounce yourself a few times. It's hard to explain but pretty fun to watch!
Books - a few months ago, you would roam around the room as we read your books. Now, you are starting to show more interest. You especially love books that have texture to them like the puppy book that Cam/Rich/Ollie gave you, "Where is My Monster" that Aunt Cam gave you or Pat the Bunny. You also like books that engage you like the dolphin & pig puppet books. Just this month you're enjoying the Christmas Carol book from when mommy was a little girl. You like that I sing "Joy to the World" and "Jingle Bells" to you. We usually only sing one verse, the chorus & then turn the page to the next song. Anything more & your attention span has moved on.
School - you LOVE your school. We missed a few days due to a recent ice storm & you were so excited to get back there. We now walk down the hallway on your own. You know exactly where you are going. More mornings than not you are excited to see your favorite teacher, Miss Brenda, and do not mind that mommy/daddy are leaving.
Baths - still a very big bath time fan. You are so helpful. You take all of the toys out of there bin & put them back in when bath time is over. You're obsessed with the running water. You would put your hand in the stream the entire bath if you could. I can just see the wheels in your head turning as you move your fingers through the water, figuring out what it is & what's going on. It's really cool to watch you learn new sensations.
Food - You LOVE berries & fruit. You would eat this all day if you could. Other favorites include string cheese, cheddar cheese, peas, baby food packets, crackers, goldfish (we try not to eat these too much. They are like crack for you & your daddy!) Also we've found that you like hot dogs. They're a good go-to on the random occasion that you're being a picky eater.
Alejandra - you're such a big fan of your nanny. You don't see her as much as you used to but she is the first person that you really SCREAMED about when she left. You were not a happy camper that day. Mommy had to distract you with yummy treats & perro to calm you down. Sadly, Alejandra may be moving away so we are counting are days with her as very precious days.

DISLIKES:

Stopping anything that you don't want to stop (see WILLOWER below)
Getting your diaper changed. At about 14 months you started wiggling & squirming. We had to start using the changing pad strap. You are NOT a fan of that!
Certain Foods. At 9-14 months you would eat most anything we put in front of you. While you still love your food, we are noticing that there are things you won't eat. You do NOT like green beans. Also, sometimes you won't eat solid food & just whine until you get one of the baby food packs. I think this might have something to do with your pretty chronic ear infections. The baby food feels good on your throat/ears.
"While you used to love your baby pool full of balls/toys, you've definitely moved to the toys I talked about in the "likes" section. You're not very into any stuffed animals except for pedro.

WILLPOWER: At 15 months, you have started to definitely tell us when you WANT something that you cannot have. Unfortunately sometimes these are things that are dangerous or not baby appropriate. Since this is new, we try not to laugh as you get so very sad. Laughing would not be very nice, though it is a little funny. We're realizing that we quickly find something else to distract you. Daddy & mommy are realizing that the "parenting" part of this whole thing has just beta. You daddy says that the time has passed to simply keep you alive. Now we need to really start teaching you right from wrong, patience and other fine parenting skillz. May the force be with us!

TALKING: You were pretty vocal at about 13-14 months. You were saying "mama" and "abba" quite a bit. At 15 months, you're still talking but not just babbling away. You like to point at things and say "eh?" We now explain what it is you're pointing at & tell you things about the object/person/view that we're looking at. You've had a string of serious ear infections so we will be seeing an ENT to make sure there is nothing affecting your hearing or speech.

WALKING: At 13-14 months you would take 1-2 steps between furniture or walk holding onto the furniture or your little walker. It was around Thanksgiving that you really started to get independent. You took 7 steps first in the kitchen & then in our bedroom. Nick & I were both here to see it, so we felt blessed to all be together for that fun moment. As December passes, you're getting braver & braver. You will walk around your classroom and all around the house. When you're tired or worried, you still like having us hold your hand. I'm ok with that. I think you are beyond precious & love walking around, holding your hand.

SLEEPING: You are still an expert sleeper! You go down at 7pm pretty much on the dot & will sleep in until between 6:30am-8am. When you're at home you will take 2 naps/day. Usually a morning nap from 9-11am and then an afternoon nap from 1-2pm until 3-4pm. If for whatever reason you don't go down until 2-3pm, we usually have to wake you up for dinner at 5:45-6pm. You love your sleep! At school, 1 nap works out fine except if you're going through a growth or development spurt. This December, unfortunately you don't get as much sleep there as you probably should. The class has lunch at 11am and goes down to nap at 11:30am. You'll sleep until 1:30-2:30pm. You sometimes fall asleep on the way home from school. A few days recently, you were pretty tired/upset when we brought you home. You slept 15 hours one night and 15.5 hours the next. You also took 3-4 hour naps with us on the weekends. We think that it's due to the tail end of an ear infection & the development spurt of walking. You went back to school & seem pretty well rested. So, hopefully that is behind us. Your daddy & I couldn't believe you sleep 15 hours TWO days in a row!

We love you, buddy. We are having so much fun watching you grow & develop. Daddy & I are making sure that we do date night once/wk to keep our marriage healthy & strong. We thought that a lot of our single "fun" would change/end when we had a baby. We're SO happy to find out that not only do we have a blast with you, but we are still enjoying lots of great date nights & fun times with our friends. Also, daddy & I love to watch movies on the weekends while you nap. It does remind us of pre-baby days. I think we're pretty lucky to have the best of both worlds. Your dad has been a true partner. We really tackle everything together including raising you, doing the housework, giving to others, etc. We're VERY blessed.

COUSIN LEVI IS BORN - CONGRATS BEN & BECKY