So I haven't written in a while :/ But it hasn't been for lack of things to write about! As of today, Wessy is four days shy of 14 months. He walks, he talks(ish) and he is full of opinions. Our house is constantly messy. Wessy is constantly messy.
I would say that living with an almost 14 month old is like living with a magical, adorable elf with a bad temper and a short attention span. When you are in the elf's good graces, he is lovely and kind and so so sweet. When the elf has taken offense, he is loud and indignant and sometimes bites. He smells like a freshly washed sheep and looks like (according to my sister) like a blond Ewok.
Some bits and pieces about Wessy lately:
-He's never met anything he doesn't want to lick or put in his mouth. Today I watched him lick and chew on a wrought iron park gate. He cried dejectedly when I gently tried to pull him away. Likewise, when he finds any little leaf, pebble or stray piece of trash, the first thing he wants to do is pop it in his mouth. I am always running to him asking him to say "AHHHHH" so I can see what he has put in his mouth and try to grab it out before he aspirates. In fact, sometimes when Wessy sees me coming he will preemptively open his mouth wide to show me it's empty so I don't panic.
-He is racking up new words daily.
-Even though he knows more and more words, he also seems to be really into babbling. He discovered a few weeks ago how to make a constant low pitched ululation with his teeth and tongue. Now when he doesn't have a word for what he is seeking, he just makes his background noise and then modulates his tone to get his point across. For example, if he is contentedly reading the cah buh (see below) to himself, he will make his little noises at a gentle cadence. If he desperately wants what MAHMA is eating, he will raise the tone and insistency of his babbling.
-Despite the fact that I have actively encouraged Wessy to be interested in cycling and public transport, he is really, really into cars and trucks. He got a book for his birthday (Thanks Aunt Robyn!) called My First 100 Trucks. He refers to it excitedly as the "cah buh" (car book) and likes to page through it a few hundred times a day. Today he napped with it in his crib. He also found a small matchbox-like bulldozer toy at a park a few days ago and since then has loved it like it was a treasured jewel. Every time he picks it up he shoves it in my face and yells CAH CAH CAH with a look of utter joy on his face.
-Potty training: We decided to try to get an early start on potty training. Maybe that's a bad idea. But kids around the world, especially in places where they don't use disposable diapers, potty train much younger than in the US, so it is possible. So far we have gotten a little potty and had Wessy sit on it for 3-5 minutes after each meal. We encourage/bribe him to stay put by letting him watch Peppa Pig cartoons on my phone while he sits there. After he does that, I will keep him in the bathroom for another 5-10 minutes without a diaper and try to catch the early signs that he is about to go so that I can seat him back on the potty if it is imminent. So far this has not led to any actual potties in the potty. I has led, however, to a few turds on the bathroom floor and to Wessy going to sit on his potty and saying PA PA PA (Peppa) at random times.
-Classes: I use the word loosely here, as any class for a 14 month old is a glorified crowd containment system. Wessy has been going to Music Together for about a month now. It's a fun class allegedly based on teaching even very young children the fundamentals of music but Wessy sees it as OMG A MILLION INSTRUMENTS TO SHAKE AND PUT IN MY MOUTH. He does seem to know some of the regular songs at this point, and he is getting to be more social with the other littles in his group. He also goes to another class through the San Francisco Parks and Rec department called Simply Fun. This is simply a large auditorium with a bunch of toys in it and a bunch of babies wandering around. Wessy is unequivocally enthusiastic about the collection of plastic cars there (the kind that you can sit in) mostly meh about the other babies.
There are a million little things he does and says every day that are too numerous to write down, but I am very much enjoying parenting this mercurial little elf!
