15 months!

Here is Dek (pre-stomach virus). Like his outfit? Its actually my brothers. True Vintage 70s romper. I feel since he turned 1 that he left babyhood behind without so much as a second glance back. By 13 months he was walking around and interested in pushing all the buttons (literally) in me and the house. His favorites to turn on/off: cable box, stereo, drum machine and keyboards.

Around, 14 months, he's started calling me by mama more regularly.  Mike is dada and everyone else is "Ba" (grandma in Viet). Mike tried to teach him to say "check" into the microphone, but now it sounds like he is saying "six". He'll just say six six six, which worries Mike since many horror movies with possessed babies start in similar eerie fashions.

We are still working on identifying a milk alternative for Derek since my freezer stash is all but gone and he's only nursing 2x a day. We reluctantly started sleep training and stuck to it this time which resulted in 1.5 weeks of crib sleeping before he got sick. Daaaag. But at least we know he can do it and everyone does sleep better in their own space. Though I'm a huge proponent of sleep sharing, he was just getting so disruptive (e.g. kicking us in the head, nursing for 1.5 hours, demanding to sleep perpendicular), it was finally time for us to move out of that phase. He probably outgrew it around 7-8 months but I was procrastinating on making changes due to sheer evening exhaustion. I didn't think I would love having him in our bed so much, but with so many things with toddlerdom, he has graduated to needing his own space, even if he doesn't recognize it in his own right.

His most notable accomplishment -which I must credit 1) the nanny 2) Mike for is- infant potty training! By 13 months, he almost always poo-ed on the toilet, except when we're out and about. He even enjoys reading materials.  Before we used to shhhhh! him into peeing but now he's figured out that if he's sitting there its a good time to relieve himself. Some good photos of that to come.

I can barely remember him not walking anymore because he's always running off and causing a huge mess. We tried to go to story time at the library and what a nonstarter that was. He's just too interested in exploring, opening things, pulling books of shelf, knocking on the windows, etc.

Some of the cuter things he's doing now: dancing (on command), pointing to body parts when asked in Viet and English (only head, nose and stomach, can't seem to get past that), clapping (on command, sometimes), signaling "up", giving hugs when asked, blowing kisses (halfway), enjoying peekaboo on his own.  I didn't get organized to teach him too much sign language - but he does know the sign for nurse, though he still opts to pull my shirt down in public. 

We've had to delay his wellness appointment for this month since he's been sick, but I think he's lost weight since 12 months with all the activity and the 3 bouts of norovirus. Its been tough seeing him shrink down in size, but I hope he'll regain his appetite and champion eat his way back to 22 lbs. Favorite foods as of late: pho, teddy grahams, banana, chicken, rice, soups, carrots.

I'm also starting to see a much more defiant and demanding little individual arise. He will more often point to foods he'd rather eat (especially when they are hidden in the pantry) or knock on the basement door to go downstairs. He's mastered going down stairs on his belly but I'm still freaked out that if I don't stand right next to him he might tumble all the way down.

OK, this is a long enough update. Sorry for the disappearance (again). Things are busy at work and my interest in updating waxes and wanes. I really realize how precious my free time is these days and am more guarded with how I spend my time and what I share about it. But realizing this is the only "baby book" I'm keeping for Dek, I'll try to be better about updating. More soon!