a nice sunday

You turned 14 months on Sunday. It was a beautiful day - finally - a nice autumn day with sunshine and temperatures in the 60s. We spent a lot of the day outside, finishing up the fall yard work. I pulled the tomato plants out, a little saddened as unconsumed green bulbs fell to the ground. We planted way too many seedlings - 8. But it was our first attempt and we learned so much. How those little pants grow so quickly from mere seedlings to bushy fruit bearing structures that tower some 6 ft. high is quite amazing. And as I pulled them from the earth I was marveled at how comparatively small their root system is. And I thought about you, about how much you have grown too. I watched as you played on the deck with your balls and truck, taking in the day, the briskness in the air. I wondered if you are aware of seasons, changes in our environment. Of course we talk about the leaves and the flowers and the weather, but naturally I question your comprehension. Maybe you just recognize that the days are cooler because you are no longer wearing sandals and there is a new hat on your head, a new puffy coat on your arms and a blanket over you on our walks.

You are starting to babble a lot now. More consonants and more syllables but nothing that really translates into a real word. You also communicate a lot by pointing, reaching and whining for things you want. You seem taller these days. Your visual scope is widening as you see something you want high above on the counter or table top and then reach and whine for it when it is out of your reach. When you want to go play in the basement you go over by the door and reach for the doorknob. You are in to regular household objects: any kitchen tools, straws, food in the pantry, any type of bottle or glass, the Swiffer, the humidifier and of course the remote controls and our cell phones. Recently the Swiffer has become your new obsession. You push it around the house, as if you are cleaning, for up to 30 minutes with intense focus. You have figured out how to take the humidifier apart. You can flush the toilet. You are still fascinated by opening any drawer or cabinet. If you are in the bathroom when I open a drawer you will grab a bottle of lotion or hair product and run away with it, laughing. You even reached up to the sink and grabbed the liquid soap the other day. Yesterday you ate a piece of a leaf.

Teeth just keep coming and coming. You have 12 totally in and one incisor that is poking through. So you are still chewing on everything and anything.

Sleep is still sporadically bad...as in, you are waking 3-4 times a night. I am talking to a few different sleep consultants to figure out what to do beyond letting you cry it out. We tried this method one night and after 45 minutes I broke down and retrieved you. It is too hard to let you get it all worked up, stressed and full of snot, especially during flu season, when it feels like I am being selfish - your pain is our gain. I keep thinking that there has to be a reason, a genuine developmental/medical reason why you don't sleep through the night. I keep thinking that it has to be more than just you wanting to be nursed. Are you cold? Do your teeth hurt? Do you have bad dreams? Does your skin itch? Does your tummy hurt? If we only knew.