Dominic - 15 Months

Gotta love that beer gut hanging over his diaper.

One day he'll have hair! He's sooo blonde. It's there, just basically translucent.

Maybe doing photos RIGHT before getting ready for bed is a good idea. He was posing and hamming it up so well! <3
CHEEEEESE!

I may or may not have photoshopped two nice cuts off his forehead in all these pictures. He was carrying a big board book, and then fell as it opened and the front and back cover knocked him right in the forehead leaving two cuts. Poor thing! 

Weight: 30lb (100+ percentile). He didn't gain in the last month! Maybe this is the beginning of his plateau!
Length: 31.5 inches (65th percentile)

Full disclosure. I totally forgot Dom was 15 months already. Someone asked how old he was and I looked at the calendar and said OH SHOOT! HE'S 15 MONTHS!

Likes:

• Bathtime and bedtime. If I ask if it's bedtime/naptime, for example, he will stop whatever he is doing and run to the gate by the stairs and shake at it to be let through to run upstairs. I LOVE how much he loves bed and sleep. We plan to move him to his new toddler room this month, so hopefully it carries over!
• Daddy. Dad-deeeeee is is favorite person. Oh and Sherlock (Buppa). When I pick him up from Daycare, it's no "Hi Mama!", it's, "Dad-deeeeeeee! BUPPA!" Haha like yes... we will go home and see Dad & Puppy... I only gave birth to you and dedicate my waking hours to providing for you... haha! Oh Motherhood... Thankless! ;)
• Books. He LOVES to read books. All day long he will go grab a book (or tell us which one he wants with whatever noise he's associated with that book - car noise for his cars book, woof for his dog book, bunny sign for his peekaboo book with the bunnt on the front, etc). He will excitedly bring it up to me and ask to come up on the couch for a cuddle and a read. DON'T MIND IF I DO! That is my kind of activity right now! 
• I find we've been watching less and less TV because of how much he loves to read books. He never watched much Paw Patrol to begin with, but if I needed a physical break it was my go-to. Now he gives me all the breaks I need! (Most of the time...)
• Looking out the window or standing on the balcony pointing out the cars, "OOOOOooooo!!!!"
• When we do a fishy kissy face (really suck your cheeks in). It is the only way he'll let me kiss him haha!
• Cuddling Sherlock. He will go up to Sherlock and make this noise like, "Da da da da da da da" or something, and nuzzle his head into Sherlock's face/neck. Sherlock doesn't seem to mind either. I can always tell Dom's intentions here by the sound he makes. 
• Music and dancing. He especially seems fond of music that sounds like a rave in Amsterdam (house music). He will dance like nobody's watching, except he insists that people be watching. He has about as much coordination as I do with dancing, so it's not always pretty. It's mostly just extremely awkward haha!

Dislikes:

• I'm sure he has dislikes, but I can't think of anything right now! He is a typical toddler. He will throw himself to the floor if you take something away from him, but his tantrums usually only last a couple seconds. He might fight getting into the car seat, but again is happy once he settles. He may try to run away during a diaper change and dislikes being held down, but who wouldn't?! He's such an easy-going boy 99% of the time. We're incredibly lucky.
• Being left in church nursery. He is okay in there if there is someone he's really familiar with, but most of the time David or I will have to hang out in the nursery.  

Notes:

• D now has 7.5 teeth. He has 4 top front teeth, one top left molar, two bottom front teeth, and ALMOST his bottom left molar as well. Molars are not fun. I actually thought he was getting sick because of how runny his nose was and how grumpy he was, and then he was crying during a diaper change and I saw a little molar poking through! Oops... sorry bud!
• He consistently signs for help (which is the same as "more" and "please"...) if he needs help with something or can't reach something. If he starts getting frustrated he will often step back, make eye contact, and sign for help. Super handy in avoiding those annoying tantrums!
• If he sees a water bottle or a glass, or takes a sip of water, he'll sigh, "ahhhhhhhh." Pretty cute!
• He's not overly verbal, but he does have 20-25 words. He communicates more through signing, pointing, and other noises we've decoded. 
• Words (there are probably more I'm forgetting...): Puppy (buppa), Daddy, Mama, Mama (for phone... it's a different mama though), banana (nana), Bye, Up, Boom, Boo, Blue, Uhoh, Opa, Oma, Ball, Yay, Tractor, Baby, Toes, Po, No no no no no, Shoes (Deeeees), Cheese (also Deeees!), Tickle (Tik tik tik). He does lots of other yammering and gibberish, but these are the ones we've figured out so far. 
• If he sees the nail clippers he will grab them and pretend to clip his toenails (tktktktk). Super adorable. 
• When he hears the garage door open he looks at me with excitement and says, DADDY!!! 
• For animals he uses more actions and sounds combined. Examples: Walrus is clapping while I go, "Arf Arf!", skunk is waving his hand in front of his face and trying to say, "Stinky stinky!", and Bunny is putting hands up and making little buck-teeth kissy noises. He puts his hands up like antlers, I do two fingers behind my head like bunny ears. We now have to say goodnight to all the animals around his room before bed, so we have lots of practice with his bunny piggy bank. 
• Lifts my shirt (or pulls it down, which is awkward in public) to see the "ba ba" 
• He has suddenly become a picky eater. His usual go-to quick and easy lunches are now being turned down. It will be easier when I'm home and can just make him whatever, but it makes it tough when packing daycare lunches! The picky eating may be his tastes developing, but it could also be due to the teething. 
• He signs "Thank you" now! for real! Not just another version of "more"! It's really adorable because it looks like he's blowing a kiss. 
• Dom is wearing 2T clothing now. Even things that are 18-24 months, or 24 months don't fit him. I find 2T a bit longer than 24 months. He could still fit into slightly smaller pants, but tops can't be smaller than 2T anymore. Such a big boy!
• We cannot go anywhere without people commenting on his cheeks. They are pretty amazing, I suppose. 
• He is more and more independent when we're out and about. If I put him down outside, he is GONE! Takes off like the wind! It's awkward though because he has no understanding yet of cars/streets/boundaries, and he doesn't want to hold hands. It's a lot of watching him go, chasing him, and re-directing him. 

By the time he is 16 months he could be a big brother! Or he'll be very close to it! Are you ready, D? Am I ready? NOPE! I suppose I'm as ready as I could be. Nothing can really prepare you for what's coming other than the knowledge and experience you've gained having one newborn. Now you just get to do it with the added work of a Toddler! Toddlers are WAY more work. Well a different kind of work, I suppose. More/better sleep, but also more work. 

I leave you with this hilariously cute picture of Opa and Dom in their matching Hawaii shirts from Maui.