14 months old

What fun month 14 was!  Max really turned into a little boy and his personality just oozed out.  He's a character for sure!  He's silly and happy and determined and definitely has a touch of mischievousness added in for good measure.  He is all boy, just like his brother, though a lot less cautious than Jack, so he keeps us on our toes.  But his smile...it gets him most everything he wants and he's not afraid to flash it!

He still LOVES balls.  Maybe even more so than before.  It doesn't matter what kind.  If he spots one, he must have it and he must THROW it.  And go get it, and throw it again.  He is fairly good at entertaining himself.  At the moment his 3 favorite things are balls, the dinosaur popper that spits a ball out of his mouth when you squeeze his belly, and the electronic nasal aspirator because it plays music.  Last night he even insisted on taking that to bed with him.  Don't worry, it was clean!  I remember my Grandma telling me that my Uncle Harold went to bed with wires as a child, and he grew up to be an engineer.  Chemical, not electrical, but I guess it's a good thing he didn't get to go to bed with chemicals.  Anyway, perhaps Max will be a doctor...?  Or maybe a musician.  We'll see.  He does love music, just like Jack.  We often have dance parties after dinner.  It's the most fun ever!  Their favorite song is Hot Dog from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Max also LOVES his brother.  And his brother LOVES him.  

It's really crazy to me how much they like each other.  

Max watches every move Jack makes and tries to do it too.  He wants to sit in Jack's chair at the dinner table and eat from Jack's plate.  He usually won't drink his milk, but if you offer Jack's cup, he'll slurp it down.  Jack plays so nicely with him and always just wants to make Max happy.  If Max cries, Jack will tell me what Max needs.  "He just wants a snuggle from you Momma" or "I think he wants a cookie!"  Jack always comes in Max's room just before bed to give Max a kiss goodnight.  I often get teary because it's just that sweet.  Jack will rub his head and tell him night night.   He also likes to sniff Max and say he smells like a chipmunk, but in a sweet way!  And first thing in the morning when Jack gets up, he wants to know where Max is and get to him right away.  Max, you are very very lucky to have a big brother that is always watching out for you.  Two boys I'm sure will pose plenty of parenting challenges, but for now, watching their relationship grow is the most amazing thing we could ever ask for and I'm so very thankful that Max is part of our family.   I'm sure Jack is too!

This month brought a lot of independence for Max.  He's able to reach so many more toys and big enough to pull them out of the bins and baskets.  He's still not using many words, though he did master the use of uh-oh, even though he only says the oh part and it sounds more like owh.  But even without words, it's rare that you don't know what Max wants.  He'll point and squeal until you figure it out and then just grin and grin, like GOOD JOB, you listened so well, Momma!  His teachers also said that he said bye a time or two, but we've yet to hear that one.

He finally got his seat at the big boy table for breakfast.  He's using my old chair for now and it's tough for him to get into by himself, but he loves being able to sit there with Jack.  He even got his own bowl, just like Jack's because he'd wait until Jack turned his head for a minute and swipe Jack's bowl off the table and carry it around.  I'd try and take it back but much screaming would ensue, so we just scoured the internet for another to keep the peace.  

We worked on learning to feed himself with a spoon this month...

and it went well...

There may be room for improvement, but really, it did actually go fairly well.  He definitely needs a bath at the end, but he gets a fair bit of it in his mouth and he's so proud!

I think life settled a bit this month, mostly because Max became more of a kid and less of a baby.  He's able to do most of the things we want to do, with a little modification or assistance so life just seems a little bit easier.  I'm so very thankful for that.  It also helps that he and Jack can play together now, so there are times where we actually get a few minutes of peace after dinner while they giggle away in the other room.

In other record-keeping, sleep was pretty good this month, at least until he got an ear infection.  That made him get up a few times a night, and now, even though his ears are fine, he's kind of in the habit, but I'm sure we'll get back to normal here soon.  We also stopped taking Prevacid and then went back on it.  I'm not sure that was necessary, as his discomfort may have been from his ears...we'll never know.   He's still no fan of milk unless it's in a bottle.  I still let him have a bottle at night, but it needs to stop here soon.  He won't drink anything all day unless it's juice.  He's still in love with fruit but does well with veggies and meat and cheese too.  He's not as picky as Jack was at this age, though he is pickier now than he was just a few months ago, so who knows what the future holds on that front.  
I sure hope it holds lots more smiles and snuggles though...I can't quite get enough!