Macario is 15 Months Old!

Dear Son,

Here we are again! Another month has flown by and I'm sad thinking I haven't spent enough time savoring the days. There's been a lot going on the past few weeks which has kept me somewhat distracted. I hope that I will never allow anything to distract me from you that way again!

Yesterday afternoon, I made the comment to Daddy that your features have changed a lot in the last few weeks. You've started looking more like a little boy than a baby.

 

Your hair is so long now and you're becoming very tall and slender. I can see you transforming into a boy and it makes me miss the days when you were round and squishy, but every now and then I'm reminded that you're still my baby (as we can see below). *smile*

Aside from the changes in your appearance, you've also experienced a lot of changes in your physical capabilities.  You're definitely getting the hang of feeding yourself off a spoon or spork. For quite a while now, you've rejected most food unless you could feed it yourself. You would feed yourself with your fingers, but in the last several days you've taken a real interest in using a utensil.

Also, you're running a lot. It's rare that you walk anywhere because you're always in dash! Its so funny, but I think it's to be expected of the son of a track star!

On the move!

In all honesty, I think you're going to excel in sports. You seem to be naturally athletic. Your coordination is great and as I said you have speed in those little feet. Also, you have a great throwing arm and a few weeks ago someone pointed out that you tap the ball in your hand the way a pitcher does before throwing a baseball. That is something you picked up all on your own as no one has ever demonstrated it to you. I'll be excited when we finally get to put you in sports. It's something I never did as a child, so it will not only be a new experience for you, but for me too!

You hold the football so naturally!

You've even got your opposing hand up like Mr. Montana!

Oh yes! You also demonstrated a lot of natural athleticism when we got in the pool for the first time this Summer. We started out just dipping our feet in, but you quickly made your way all into the pool and started moving your arms as if you were really swimming. This again is something we have never demonstrated to you. I guess it just felt right to you!

(We enticed you to move by showing you the football!)

You have picked up a new habit of hitting. It has changed our dynamic a little because I have to be really stern with you which I haven't had to be up to this point. Of course, I've had to correct you and discipline in the way you discipline an infant (more just correcting and redirecting), but now I have to get stern and I've even put you on time out!

Daddy and I know you're not trying to be mean. This is a natural stage for you and it's motivated more by your curiosity to see what response you'll get by acting out that way, but we do have to guide you through it and not let it get out of hand. So, I have to be the stern Mommy sometimes and it makes me sad because most times I just want to have fun with you and snuggle like before.

You're still sweet as pie though, so I think this phase will pass quickly if we handle it right.

I love when you get that look on your face. You say "Awww" when you hug. It's so cute!

We've started to notice that you're having a bit more complex thought processes as well. For instance you have been able to pat your knee and call Bella to you for a month or more. You have even said "'mere" or come here. The only thing is she never comes to you. Not sure why, but one of us adults will always come next to you and pat our knees to call Bella over, so she'll finally come to you. The more complex though process though is that now you realize that she won't come to you if you pat your knee so you'll stand near someone and pat their knee as you yell "Bella?"

Another example of this comes with regard to your hitting. One afternoon while we were having lunch you were hitting my arm. Of course I said, "We do not hit" which you followed with another slap on my arm. To that I said, "If you hit me again, you will go on time out." After a moment you raised your arm to slap mine and when I turned to look at you, your face went from "I'm about to hit you!" to a big eyed pause. Then you smiled at me and said "Ha By!" which means "Hi five!" and you acted as if your intention was to high five me! Grandma Yolly and I burst into laughter. You're a real stinker sometimes.

It's really fun to watch you figure things out.

They're easier to get to when you pour them out!

That looks right to me!

These trains hook together!

You caught a couple of bugs this past month and I even ended up taking you to the ER for the second time. When I called to request a Saturday appointment the pediatric doctor in the ER requested I bring you in that night instead. You had been screaming hysterically at various times of the day for no apparent reason and I guess when the doctor considered that and the fact that you had a stomach bug he figured it was better to see you sooner than later. Fortunately nothing was wrong, but it was still a few more days before the screaming stopped.

During that time while you were sick we took you to the doctors twice as well. You just didn't seem like yourself and we didn't feel like we were getting the attention we needed. It was especially hard since your regular pediatrician is out until August 1st! We'll be glad when he comes back.

Between all those appointments you had your weight checked and you're teetering right around 23 lbs, so you're steadily gaining weight which is a good thing considering your weight gain was slow at your 12 month well-check!

Grandma Yolly and I took you to your first parade this month and despite being sick you really seemed to enjoy it. I love introducing you to new experiences!

 

Some new words (phrases) you're saying include: come here ('mere), me, remote (mo-rote), that's a ball (thaya ba!)

That last phrase could have been missed except that I realized what you were saying when you were throwing your food and I said, "Son, we don't throw food. It's not a ball." and you responded by throwing more food and saying "Thaya ba!" I thought it was so funny that I kept saying "No! It's not a ball!" and you would react by throwing more food and saying "Thaya ba!"

The morning after that you were playing wall ball with a tennis ball against your auntie's bedroom door (at 7:00 a.m.) and screaming "Thaya ba!" so I'm pretty sure that you're saying "That's a ball!" Obviously they are still your favorite toys.

A few last things worth mentioning are that you still have only 4 teeth! I thought for sure that you would have cut a few more this month since your gums were bulging before, but things seem to have calmed down and I'm not so sure you're going to get any teeth in the next few weeks.

Also, I've slacked a lot on the potty training thing. I started you on cloth diapers this past month and figuring that out and the whole laundry cycle has been more distracting than I'd like. Plus I don't like to change too many things at once so, once I get this down I'll probably be more consistent with potty training like before.

You are so fun and so interactive. I realize how intelligent you are and am proud of how much you've developed so far, but I'm still always surprised and almost in disbelief when you do something new. I just think to myself, "how can this kid get any cuter or any more awesome?" but you always do.

Happy 15 months, son. You make us all so happy and I'm very proud to be your Mommy!

Love, 

Mommy