Tyler at 13, 14, and 15 Months!

The days went by too quickly the last few months!  I missed posting for Tyler's 13 and 14 month updates and his 15 month post is already a week behind!  We hit some major milestones each month so I am going to try to cover everything I can remember.  The pictures are from their corresponding months, and I should noted that for the 14 month photo shoot, Tyler is wearing my all time favorite pajamas!

The big news from right around 13 months is that we (I) am sleeping through the night now!  At Tyler's 9 month check up, when I told his doctor that he was waking up to eat 2-3 times a night the look on his face clearly depicted shock.  I swear his eyes went right to Tyler's chunky legs, and he said, "this child clearly does not need to be eating 2-3 times a night, what you want to do is completely up to you, but he does. not. need. that."  At his one year appointment he asked how sleeping was coming and I reported that the feedings were down to 1-2 times a night.  The doctor shook his head a little and said, "I know it's hard to hear your baby crying, but he doesn't need to be eating at night, he probably doesn't eat that often during the day."  That was an aha moment for me, and Tim pushed a little for me to not feed Tyler at night any more, he went in a few times when Tyler was crying and just comforted him, with no bottle, and Tyler went right back to sleep without eating.  I was kind of in shock, I figured the only reason for him to wake up would be because he was hungry.  So, I was a mean mommy, and I turned the monitor off for a week.  Every morning I found Tyler to be just fine.  The next week I turned the monitor back on, and he only woke up about half the nights that week.  These days I keep the monitor on, and I hear him crying sometimes, but I have learned that Tyler wakes up at the drop of a hat, at the smallest sound or just when he needs to change position.  This makes him angry so he cries for a moment until he can get comfortable again and then he's right back to sleep.  And I am one happy, much better rested, mommy these days.

Right after 14 months Tyler had his language epiphany.  All of a sudden one day it was clear that he understood everything we said to him.  He started listening to the "No-no" he got whenever he approaches the receiver.  He started following directions, like, "Take your cup to Daddy if you want more water" or, "Go give Timmy kisses night-night."  My favorite mommy phrases of, "not for eating," and, "not for throwing," suddenly work and life is now easier, with much less jumping out of my seat to take things away from him!  Tyler also started shaking his head no at us in response to questions, which surprised Tim and I both the first time.  His head shake is generally coupled with a whine also!  We get a "no" from him for everything from "come here Tyty" to asking for kisses or asking if he wants to go night-night.  Of course, if we ask him about night-night again in five minutes, he will run to the kitchen gate awaiting his bottle, and then happily carry it up the stairs after giving everyone kisses.

Now, at 15 months, Tyler is climbing.  He can get up onto most chairs and other things he probably shouldn't be standing on.  I first discovered this while I was at home with the boys trying to get some stuff done, and Timmy was playing on the laptop.  Tyler kept going over and banging on the corner of the laptop, so I pushed the ottoman up against the couch so Tyler couldn't reach the table.  A few minutes later I walked passed again and Tyler was sitting next to Timmy!  The next day I put Tyler on Mom's dining room chair and walked into the kitchen.  Timmy came over and said, "Uhm, Tyler's doinin something in there." When I checked, he was standing on top of the table, bumping his head against the chandelier!  Now he's climbing up onto everything he can, and only couches seem to be above his current capabilities.

Tyler's hand/eye coordination is also impressive.  He has been able to take the straw in and out of restaurant kiddie cups for a while now and I was especially impressed when he found a tooth pick on the floor and was able to maneuver it in and out of his sippy cup straw repeatedly.

His good aim whenever he is picking up something tiny has caught several people's attention.  And the other morning he caught a cricket:

He has also started making the kiss noise.  We will occasionally hear it as he's walking up to Timmy, letting Timmy know that he wants to give him a kiss!

Tyler has a handful of words now.  His favorite is "mom", this is used to call for me or ask for anything he wants or when something catches his eye, he points and says mom.  He says "Da" sometimes too, and "Ba" or "Baba" every once in a while.  He doesn't have a word for Timmy yet, he just smiles at him and loves on him whenever he has a chance.  Tyler does say "Ka" for cat and "Dah" for dog. He says "Uh-oh," usually after he purposefully throws something onto the floor.  His best word, by far, is "Ta-Da" when he does something he's proud of, or after a trick like a somersault.

Last night, as we were preparing to leave my parents house, I told Timmy, "say byebye to Grandpa" for which they have a routine of two high five's, two fist bumps, and then dad tousles Timmy's hair.  Usually when I tell Timmy to say good bye, I'm already holding Tyler, but last night he was still down.  As soon as I said to say goodbye, Tyler stopped what he was doing and ran over to Grandpa with his hand up for a high five!  I was impressed!  I have truly been blessed with two smart, sweet little boys!