Dean Does Lately...14 Months Old

The little guy is now 14 months old - we have officially blown past his first year and more than halfway through summer.  I can't believe how time flies, especially when you have 2 kiddos running around.  Since May, we have kept Faith and Dean busy between friends & family events on the weekends, opening up our swimming pool, and heading to the beach on occasion.

DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES

WALKING

I would still call Dean's walking as toddling around, but crawling is a thing of the past and running will soon be on the horizon.  I already feel like Dean is hell on wheels - I'm thinking once his feet get wings, I'm in even bigger trouble and more baby proofing will ensue.

TALKING & HAND GESTURES 

Dean now has a repertoire of 9 words that includes new words "Nona", "Papa", "Lena" (my niece), "Bubba" and "Ball", and three phrases "Oh yeah", "What's that", and "Uh oh".  He waves bye and squeezes his fingers into his palms when he wants something or to be picked up.  In addition to this progress, Dean plays peek a boo, makes surprised faces, and gives great big cuddles (which I LOVE!).  

EATING

We have moved passed the heating stage of Dean's milk and he now drinks it cold.  My favorite sippy cups are by Nuby and Nuk.  Dean will still pretty much eat everything, including spicy foods and his new favorite food is blueberries.  His favorite snack is veggie sticks and his new accessory that he carries around everywhere is his Munchkin snack catcher.

SAFETY MEASURES

1. We bought Safety 1st cabinet slide locks (buy here) and put them on kitchen sink cabinet & bathroom sink cabinets.

2. We bought Safety 1st bamboo gate for the bottom of the stairs (buy here).  

The next thing we need to buy is a fancier metal gate for the top of the stairs since Dean likes to make a break for it.  I really like this gate by Summer Infant.

NIGHTTIME ROUTINE

We have a great bedtime routine locked down.  After dinner and tubby time, I take Dean into my room to read a few books.  Right now his favorite book is My Very First Book of Colors by Eric Carle (buy here).  Once we're done reading, I sing (horribly and off key) "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and then put him down in his crib.  He usually falls asleep within the first few minutes, which is a nice change of pace when he'd take 20, 30 minutes to settle down.

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