14 months!

Dear Aiden,

This was the month of noises, questions and answers. You started giving us responses to questions like where's your tummy? belly button? chest? head? nose? ear? And you'd give the biggest beaming smile when you figured it out. When you point out your chest you would imitate Tarzan, making the woaaah noise. There are many photos of you this month going aaah, oooh, aaaw as you are knocking towers over or pointing at the flashy lights on the xmas tree.
The holiday season was such a treat with you this year. You continued to love playing with greeting cards and you were especially excited by some cards that played jingle music when you opened them! You got pretty good at pulling on the wrapping paper and you definitely had plenty of practice. You also liked loading up your new wagon with all your new toys then trying to tumble inside with them to take a cruise around the barn room.
We had giggle fests while honking your nose and beeping your toes, especially when you felt cuddly with your tummy bug. You kept your sense of humor all month despite a little tummy trouble. You had your last day at school for a while and we hope that this will mean you might avoid some of the bugs. Although now you are signed up for Gymboree three times a week, but I'd expect that there are less germs there than at school.
Gymboree will soon be one of your favorite places and as we trotted in there this week I heard you babble em-or-eee. Your favorite game at Gymboree is to dunk balls into their basketball hoop. You do it in slow motion with the ball hanging out over your shoulder as you pull up on your tippy toes to tip it over the almost three foot tall hoop rim. You are also really into throwing balls at point blank range. You will run up and throw the ball as close as you can.
Your eating habits have changed dramatically now that you are eating almost all big boy food. Your favorite foods are yogurt (mixed with fruit and cereal especially) and broccoli pancake. Seriously, you won't eat applesauce but you love broccoli and spinach pancakes?! I'll take it kid, but you must have your dad's taste buds. You insist on using your own spoon to scoop which is sometimes more successful than other times. You can even scoop your own yogurt and get about 75% of it in your mouth on the first try. If you don't manage the first time, you will even scoop it off your bib occasionally. You would eat almost anything before your first birthday and then you developed some serious preferences. You know what you want now and you will point at it for us in the cabinet. Daddy had discovered that these little bowls I picked up in Iceland are like magic dishes from which you will eat almost anything. I think you have discerning taste and you like the Scandinavian design.
Your favorite new bath game is bath tub crayons which will even crayon on your tummy. We know that you've been scrub-a-dubbed well once that crayon rubs off. Brushing you teeth became such a fun thing we now have a gum brusher too and you usually want to hold both at the same time. You are also learning to comb your hair, but every once in a while you will mix up the brushes and brush your hair with your tooth brush.
You started learning to be more tender and gentle (although you can get in a good yank on my hair every now and then). You like to rock and cuddle any soft toy including a pillow like it's a baby. We now have a new toy bin just for your soft friends and you seem to like trying to dive into it for some cuddles. You love throwing bins full of things over your head. You are even getting good at recognizing which toys are hard and will hurt. You have learned more about how to get around the house safely too. You know to stop at the top of our three little stairs into the living room and you wait for a hand to take the big steps down. You have also learned how to get off the couch and even the high bed by sliding on your tummy.
Your favorite toy continues to be the xylophone that has a ball pounding area above it. You even like to stuff your weebles up the tube now too. This, of course, is when you are not insisting on bouncing on the big ball, sometimes wanting to do it on your own without our hands on your legs which doesn't work out that well. Daddy does the best bouncing and he says that it is a real arm workout. Your daddy is such a good sport and he even cracked a smile at our matching xmas jammies. You seemed to recognize that we were wearing matching jammies or at least that something fun was going on because mommy kept giggling.
Hat, bird, ball, baby and cat where your favorite new signs. You liked pointing out anything wearing a hat in your books, on people at restaurants, and even on posters at the grocery store. You would find a hat and try to plop in on your head, then you'd try to share it with daddy. Your teachers were very impressed by how many signs you've soaked up and that you intently want to communicate with them by stringing them together. They were so excited that they even started writing on your highlights section which "sign sentences" you used that day.
Along with your signs, we have been using lots of noises. When you do the sign for drink you will also go "gug, gug, gug" and giggle when we ask if you want a drink. You will make noises for cars, airplanes and trains when you are pushing them around. You will smack your lips when you are eating and go "aaah" when you had a refreshing drink (or you have cold ice on your lips - which is your favorite restaurant distraction). When you're not sprinkling the floor with your cereal from your new snack trap, you are chomping with a num, num, num. If you drop your cup and bend down to grab it, you will sometimes groan like an old man (I think you now think that is funny since we giggle at you).
We packed up all of your baby toys and you patted them goodbye and took one last bop in your bumbo. Then you unwedged your chubby legs and went right back to peeking at us from between your legs when you are in your downward facing dog yoga position. J thinks that they should have olympic trampoline jumping for men by the time you are old enough. His prediction is that you will be a dentist, trampoline jumper, and ceiling fan lighting designer. As we start this new year, I know there are many things you "will be" and I won't even try to predict. I'll just enjoy those upside down giggles for now.

Love, Mommy (aka. signing with your thumb to your chin)