Snips, Snails, & Pretty Pigtails: Atticus

My baby.......

is FOURTEEN (and a half) MONTHS OLD!!!! What???!! Where has the TIME gone??! He has been SO busy lately--just coming into himself and all--that I HAD to get some of these things written down.

Four to five weeks ago Atticus enjoyed being stood up to walk from one person to another, but now he CHOOSES to walk on his very own! He'll just be playing in his room alone and decide to walk from one part of the room to another. And we used to have to steady him a bit before we let go of him, but now he just HAS stability and often TAKES OFF immediately upon being set down! He's a go-getter, that boy!! He also figured out how to stand up from a seated position, which means even if he topples over, he's getting back up almost every time! Last week, Paul gave him a diaper to go put in the trash. He walked all the way from his bedroom to the kitchen holding that diaper, and then he pulled open the trash can cabinet and disposed of that diaper properly! Ha ha!!

Here he is having his first taste of peanut butter (spread on toast). Yummy in your tummy!

What else? Hmm...

Well, he's a little mockin' bird if there ever was one! I tell ya! He repeats CONSTANTLY!! Because of it, he already says "Noah" all the time...and knows exactly what he's talking about, too. Like Noah walks in, Atticus points at him, and then says "Noah!" (only it's more like "Whoa-uh!" but hey...) There's no denying he's got that one down.

Other things he readily SAYS: "Ah-lah" when pretending to talk on the phone, "ball," "nye nye" at bedtime, "mama," "dada," "bye bye," "muh" when also doing the sign for "more," "sssssss" for socks and snakes, "hah" (very breath-y) when he wants to say "hot" (like when I've just put something in the oven or when I'm cooking on the stove top), "no no," "oh, no," "whoa," "oh, boy," "no," "done," "now," and "hi." (I'm almost positive there's more, but that's all I can think of right now.)

And then there are the signs he uses. He gets such a kick out of communicating with us. He's really easy to teach because he's such a little eager beaver. Anyway, he consistently uses sign language for "nursing," "hat," "more," "cow," "eat," "hurt," "fan," "kangaroo," "gorilla," (those last two look exactly the same right now...my bad) "dog," "cat," and...again...that's all I can think of.

And then he can put his arms up when I tell him to and touch his nose and open his mouth wide and dance and pray and his newest thing? He "smiles" on command. Ha ha ha!!

You should see it in person. All scrunchy and cute. It's hilarious, frankly.

Another thing that gives me SUCH pleasure to just sit and watch is when he's just playing. I love seeing the activity choices he makes. Besides the age-typical "putting in and taking out" games he loves, he also really likes stacking toys--like the "rings on the post" type doomawhoppers you can get. You know the ones. Like this.

He'll sit for the LONGEST with something like that and just keep stacking and unstacking them. He's really good at it, too! Very diligent. Sticks with it until it gets done. See what I mean about determination?

He'll also sit and play on the couch for upwards of 30 minutes! Perfectly happily. He just goes back and forth from one end to the other. Looks behind the couch. Sits down. Stands up and holds the back cushions. Give him a toy and a book, and he's good to go for AT LEAST as long as it takes to throw a load of laundry in the dryer or get lunch made or hunt down the older toddler to see what awful trouble he's gotten himself into with a marker and a wall...that sort of thing. Only once or twice have I walked in to see him sitting with his back to the edge, teetering a bit too much for my peace of mind. (He didn't even KNOW he was in any danger!) Ha! Before you think I'm neglectful of my wee ones, let me explain that usually there are three other irresponsible crazies running around in the same room, so...you know...surely SOMEone would catch him if necessary, right?

I tried to post this video on the last "Snips" post, but I must have exceeded my memory limit (since there was another video on it) because it wouldn't upload. I definitely wanted to get it on here, though it was actually filmed in October, because it shows him playing on the couch like I was saying. AND it's him doing his very favorite thing right now: reading. Seriously! Give him a stack of books in his crib (or on the couch), and he will be engrossed for a wonderfully long time! That's our little professor.