Evan the toddler

13 1/2 months
Evan is becoming an active, opinionated, but still very sweet toddler.
Evidence:
* I offered him fresh raspberries today, but he was more interested in opening and closing the plastic container they came in.
* When we go to the park, he doesn't want to ride the swings anymore. He wants to practice going up and down the stairs.
* We go to a cafe almost every day (http://www.suckramento.com/place.asp?search=naked), and he walks up the step onto a platform (the cafe has a platform) and then contorts his body to squeeze through the metal slats, which he fits nicely through. Then he pushes open the door and lets it slam. Then he takes the pounds of coffee and throws them on the floor. Then he goes to other patrons, and stands before them, smiling. I'm sure the management loves us.
* When he wants something, he points and grunts. I'm finding it much easier to know what he wants, even though he's not talking.
* We've caught him looking at books, all by himself, intrigued.
* When he gets excited, he stomps his feet up and down and then sort of loses his balance, sometimes falling over. He dances when he hears music. He staggers like a little drunken man.

Words
He's not really talking. Every now and then, he says a word/words, but then we don't hear them again. For the record: A few weeks ago, I let the cat out, saying, "bye-bye kitty," and he said, "bah bah kieee."

Things he loves:
* His Baby Einstein DVD (Neighborhood Animals), which has shots of cats, dogs, ducks, and frogs doing cute things. His favorite parts involve puppets.
* Balloons
* Stairs (see above)
* Tomatoes
* His "house" (which is a cheap tent with windows in it that we set up in the living room)
* Getting "got" by his daddy (tickled).
* Cuddling.

Sleeping
He slept through the night for a few weeks. First, I weaned him from nighttime breastfeeding. I started by making him wait an extra hour before each feeding (so he went from eating every 3 hours one night to eating every 4 hours the next). One night there'd be progress, and the next night he'd really fight it. Finally I decided to just go cold turkey. I consistently said No all night for one very long night, and the next night he was weaned. He didn't even ask for it once. I think he was too tired, and only feeding out of habit, anyway. We offered him bottles if he wanted them, but now he doesn't eat/drink anything at night. Shortly after weaning him, he started sleeping through the night. Occasionally he'd wake up at 3:00 for just a few seconds and fall back asleep, but I think that's still normal for his age.
Now he's teething again and back to sleeping restlessly. He woke up a few times last night. Oh well.