New things

14 months

Obsessed with bath products
* During his bath tonight, he really wanted to squirt the shampoo out of the shampoo bottle. I helped him push with one hand, and catch it with his other hand. He then took both his hands and rubbed them on his head. Then he wanted to get more soap, so he grunted and I helped him get more, and he rubbed more suds on his head. This went on for quite awhile until I took away the soap and hid it. I think he has the idea.

* The other day I took a shower with him, and after I washed his head, he started grunting (we're working on the grunting) and reaching for the bar of soap. I moved him toward the soap, and he stuck his thumb on top of the soap, moving it all around, making his thumb nice and sudsy. Then he put his thumb on my cheek and moved it all around. Then stuck his thumb in the soap again, then on my face (dangerously close to my eye). That side of my face was quite dried out later.

* Anytime he sees me brushing my teeth, he goes crazy because he wants to join in. We keep a small baby-sized toothbrush in a mug next to the sink. I usually hand him his toothbrush, and he puts it in his mouth, imitating me. I'll help him brush his front teeth, and he looks very serious about the whole thing, like he's memorizing how to do it.

* Sometimes in the morning, Jerry jumps in the shower right about the time that I'm doing my makeup. So Evan will see me painting my face. (I sit on the floor in front of a mirror.) Evan's latest thing is to put his thumb in my blush, and then wipe it on my cheek. Then he takes the powder puff, rubs it in the powder, and puts it on my cheek. It gives him glee if I let him put his thumb in the moisturizer or foundation. He’s really into using his thumb for everything.

Cat lover
* The other day, Kramer was in the kitchen meowing, and Evan was about to lose his mind with excitement. I was telling him to pet the kitty gently, but he seemed to be sensing that the cat wanted something else, because he walked over to the cabinet where the cat food is kept, pulled out the orange bag of cat food, and dropped the bag on the floor in front of Kramer. I didn't even know Evan knew the food was kept there! I then poured the cat food into a bowl on the floor, and Evan picked up the bowl (which was half full), and carried it to the other room where Kramer usually eats! He knows the drill.

Body parts
* We've been trying to teach Evan his body parts. Tonight I was reading to him, and he desperately wanted his sock off, so I pulled off his sock, and his feet where in between my two big feet. So I pointed out his feet and my feet. Then I counted our feet, "one foot, two feet, three feet, four feet," with great excitement like it was the best thing ever. I did this over and over since it seemed to interest him. Then I went back to reading the book, and there were three monkeys on the page, so I said, "one monkey, two monkeys, three monkeys," and he immediately pushed the book down, looked at our feet, touched my right foot and said, "uhg!" and then touched my other foot and said, "ugh!" He doesn't have the words down yet, but he's gettin it.

Following commands
This morning, Jerry said, “Come give daddy a hug,” and he did! All day today, I’ve been asking him to give me hugs, and he does it, even if I don’t put my arms out for him.

Words
* Today he said dog after seeing the dog puppet on Baby Einstein. He said, "Do! Do! Do! Do!" Pronounced exactly like dog, without the "g."
* I'm pretty sure he said, "hot" today. I gave him hot eggs, and he said, "ot!" after taking a bite. I cooled them down, and he again said, "ot!" I touched them, and they weren't really hot anymore, so I'm not sure if he was telling me that they were warm, or if he just wanted to practice his new word, or if he thinks the word for "egg" is actually "hot." I often blow on his eggs while saying, "hot," so maybe I confused him.
* He's been saying, "Nine!" a lot lately, and we're not really sure what it means. He says it with great passion. I think it means "no." Maybe it's the German coming out in him.
* He says "dadadada" pretty consistently. He also says "mamamama," but not as often. Sometimes I think he calls me "nananana."

Food
* We were eating at nana and papa's last week, and he enjoyed hotdogs, which was his first time eating meat without spitting it out in disgust. Jerry then gave him a bite of sauerkraut mixed with mashed potatoes, and not only did he spit it out, but he cried bitterly.

Sleeping
He slept through the night a couple more times since the last posting, but then last night was bad again. I guess the change won't just happen overnight, so to speak. Over time though, we're seeing progress.

One other thing
He can walk backwards. I think that's important, for some reason.