Fifteen month NB

Our baby boy is fifteen months today and a post just for him is overdue.  We are still getting back into the swing of things after our beach vacation, so there are no special pictures today.  Plenty of recent shots are available in posts before and after this one.

For a little over a year, LO was the handful around our home and NB was just pretty easy.  Not so much the case anymore.  Since his birthday NB has taken on the task of being a challenge pretty seriously.  I have mentioned before that he has a rocking case of separation anxiety, and that is likely the root of 90 percent of his difficult behavior.  The other 10 percent is what worries me.  That part seems to be pure personality driven.  This boy has personality in spades, I think.  Much of it is charming and endearing even if it is likely to add to my grey hairs in the next couple of years.  The rest of it, well let's just say it's new territory and it is going to be a chore to train.

For now, I'll focus on the stuff that's sweet and fun.  Our little guy has quite a few "words" or least pieces of them that he says consistently at the appropriate times.  He says "mama" and "dada" to the right people now.  I think he has a word for LO, but I haven't figured out what it is yet. Sometimes I refer to LO by his name and other times I refer to him as "(big) brother," so I'm not sure which NB is trying to mimic.  He also says "nana" for banana (which he would eat all day long if we let him), but he also says that to get any kind of food. At the beach he seemed to say "sa" and point to sand.  He also says "si" for (out)side and then grabs shoes when he wants to go outside...which is ALL. THE.TIME.  When he sees a large trucks, digger, or something else that impresses him, he breaks out a "wahahah" that sounds a lot like "wow."  His eyes get big and he stretches his mouth to its limits to make the sound.  It's one of my favorite sounds of his right now.  We heard it a lot with all the new things he saw at the beach. He still says "uh-oh," "dis" and sometimes seems to say "all-gun" for all done/gone.  He does a lot of pointing and whining which we try not to encourage, but he also signs "more," "milk," "all done" and "eat."  He blows kisses like crazy and waves at every passing car.  Some cars get kisses too.

I'd say his favorite things are bananas, outside, climbing anything, but especially stairs, and dancing.  Anytime he hears music, be it at the airport, pool, in the car, or at home, he is bound to start bouncing, clapping or moving to the groove. He still loves balls of all types and, though he still doesn't stand on his own, he likes to hold a basket with one hand and dunk with the other.  He loves to splash in the water, and will try to climb in the tub by himself (maybe just to climb, maybe to get in).  If he isn't outside or climbing and he can get to them, he loves a good book too.  He seems genuinely interested in them more than LO did at this age.  When we got home from our vacation, he stopped nursing in order to peruse his book basket.  He handed his favorites to me one by one, while throwing the others in the floor.  We read Hungry Caterpillar, Dear Zoo, That's Not My Truck, Wheels on the Go, and Red Hat, Green Hat (which we call "oops!").  He really loves Brown Bear, Brown Bear too, but we had read that one daily on vacation.  We both appreciate the snuggle time we get while reading, but he really seems to enjoy the books for their own sake as well.

Not everything that NB does more than his brother gives me warm fuzzies as much as him loving books. NB has been quite the biter, and, less often, hitter.  His biting mostly happens when teething, and he has done more of that lately than LO did at this stage as well.  He has eight teeth now, the last of which came in while we were on vacation.  He uses those chompers on anything he can get in his little hands.  He shows interest in all kinds of foods, but he is more selective about what he'll eat than his brother.  Picky eaters don't make it long in our house, so something is going to have to give in that arena.  He discovered a love of fresh fruit on vacation.  Blueberries, pineapple, grapes, honeydew, watermelon, and, of course we already knew he loved banana.  That would not have been a problem except if he saw fruit, he swatted my hand and spoon away unless it had fruit on it.  This happened three of four times over the last week.  What he doesn't know (yet) is that mama is one stubborn lady when she wants to be.  Last night he went to bed pretty hungry because he refused his dinner when I wouldn't give him more fruit. I hate to say it buddy, but you might have a lot of hungry nights if you don't learn this lesson fast.  I trust you won't starve yourself.

While he's smart enough to manipulate his way around the dinner plate, he's also smart enough to delay his bedtime.  LO did that with book reading; NB does it with kisses. As I hold NB and rock him a little before bedtime or nap, his first move is to suck his thumb and lay his head on my shoulder.  That is my favorite feeling in the world with him right now, and is always tempts me to rock and hold him longer.  As I sing to him though, he always picks up his head and lays a big kiss on me.  That of course interrupts the singing.  Sometimes he does it so many times in a row that it makes me laugh, we give kisses for a few minutes, and then I start over.  Mission accomplished little man.

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After I published this post, I remembered a couple of other things I forgot to include:

1) NB is one tough little dude.  Quite often he'll fall or slam his fingers in a drawer or door and DH or I will jump to comfort him only to find that he barely reacts.  Sometimes he seems more shocked than hurt.  I have heard both that red heads feel less pain and that they feel more pain.  A friend's dad who is in anesthesiology says he is always prepared to give more pain medication to red heads during surgery. I don't know if both could be true, but I do know that NB seems to feel less than the average kiddo.  At least he reacts less to it.  A few weeks ago, then, when I was home alone with both boys and left them playing sweetly to ready toothbrushes for use, I knew there was a serious injury when I heard NB scream in pain.  Before I could get to him, LO met me to say he had hurt NB.  Long, sad, story short, our worst instance of sibling rivalry had ended with an activity table somehow (unwitnessed by me, so hard to know if it was accidental) on NB's face.  His top left incisor was loose and he appeared to be bleeding from the nose and mouth.  Ultimately I found he was "only" bleeding from the mouth, and the tooth was not going to come out, though it will apparently be years before we know if the root was injured.  It was a sad, disturbing night for me.  I was still shaken by it the next day.  I doubted if I could leave the boys alone together again.  Vacation fell right after that and one of us was with the boys all the time anyway.  I've seen enough of their interaction now to feel more comfortable again.  I've also let LO know what the consequences will be if I even think he hurts his brother again.  I'm afraid I'll need to teach NB that same lesson as he gets old enough to retaliate.  Ahh, boys.

2) DH and I joke that NB is either bipolar or has an inappropriate affect.  The kid can go from livid to laughing on the turn of a dime.  In fact, he laughs at the least appropriate times.  For instance, I have had to discipline him for biting me and his response is to just laugh.  It's infuriating!  How do kids know to do that?  He has also laughed before when we thought he was hurt.  I wonder if eventually we will learn that he is laughing out of awkwardness in these situations.  In the meantime, it's weird and a little creepy sometimes, other times it's just hilarious.