O, How he's growing: 15 Months!

At 15 months Oscar is still at that age that has one just dying inside at the cuteness as he tries to be a big person in his little person ways. 

I mean, seriously.  Look at that precious face and imagine it trying to hold a full adult length conversation in baby gibberish (peppered with an occasional "Hi!"), complete with conversational intonation and changing facial expression.  The cutest.  He adores having phone conversations with his grandmas, and yells at me and swipes at my hand when I try to end the conversation (after 15 min or so).

At 12 months, Oscar had a number of  words under his belt (Mama, Baba/ Papa, Ah-ma/ Grandma, Bye, Hi, Nana/ Banana) and then it seemed that he took a few weeks off of adding to his vocabulary. The past few weeks he has been dropping new words fairly regularly.  He now also says:

• Dada (for Doggie)
• Buh, buh, buh (for bus--sing songy, because I sing "Wheels on the bus when they drive by)
• Dut (for truck)
• Teessss (for cheese)
• Uh-oh!
• Nana (for his Nana vs just a banana)
• A-ou! (for thank you, as he is handing me something)
• Shakes his head "yes" and "no"
• duh (for jump)
• Cow says, "mmmmmm"
• Nat (for snack)

Cute.

We were surprised at how quickly Oscar picked up on walking, and once again I credit this to the satisfaction he gets from doing big person things.  Once he was taking steps he sort of refused to crawl anymore, no matter how many falls he took.  He was up to 20 steps within 10 days or so. It is just so clear that he wants to be a big boy like Finn.  As of a few weeks ago he has been full on running!  The cuteness of that little body running...I tell you.  Although he yearns to be big, he's a slighter child, fairly lean and having a narrow little frame. A week after he turned 15 months he was 22 lbs 4 oz, which is 18% on the CDC growth chart, 41% on the WHO growth chart.  

Check out the splayed little toe. Haha!



This kid acts like his older brother did at this age in his eagerness to get out of the house and go on adventures. Often he'll bring me his shoes or jacket and make his little " I want" noise.  Other times he tries to open the front door then and stamps his feet, bellows and stares me down, calling me into action.

He's been practicing his tantrum skills here and there lately! He scrunches his face, arches his back, pelvis forward and then rounds it out with foot stomping in place.  So funny.

It really pleases Oscar to put on sunglasses like he sees me do whenever we leave the house. In fact, he has identified that as a sign that I am going to leave and he gets really anxious about whether he gets to come with me. I'm actually not sure that it is separation from me that he's worrying over-- I think it is more that he also wants to go on whatever adventure I'm off to!

He loves outings to the playground, especially anything to climb.  He often makes a beeline for the slide, where he sits at the top then swiftly swivels to belly and sends himself down.

His enthusiasm at the playground recently led to the biggest goose egg I've seen!

At least he's still overwhelmingly handsome, even with a goose egg!

He's still such a little climber. His war wounds don't seem to deter him one bit. He just keeps going for it.

Oscar finds a lot of joy in the water, just like his older brother. Our visit to a local splash park had him running and laughing out loud. When it comes to the beach, until recently he would want to play in the water and start to go for it, but then a spot of terror would flash accross his face when the waves came rushing towards him, and he would reverse direction in a split second.  Our last trip to the beach that all changed and he thought he could play in the water just like any other kid. He also spends time exploring rocks, wedging himself in holes/ ditches, or sprawling his entire body accross piles of sand. After getting chilly and wet he loves laying in warm sand.

Lately one of Oscar's favorite pastimes is emptying and filling any kind of container.

Oscar, a typically content and mellower kid, has been fussier than usual with some insanely swollen gums from molars coming in. He's always been one who likes to be held, but sometimes he acts like it is pure torture to be put down. And the ratio of smiling/squealing in joy to whining/crying has been reversed somewhat. He's had a more somber affect and lower tolerance. Understandable-- you should've seen the balloons of inflammation inside his mouth.  That skin kept stretching and bulging with nothing breaking through.  For a couple months he lived with the constant pain and pressure. So I still say he's a good sport. Some of the molars have now started to break through so he's had some relief.

 Oscar is eating a lot of different foods now--almost anything! But with his molars coming in there has been a lot of spitting out of food and grumpiness/ frustration at meals.  He's hungry but uncomfortable eating. His favorite food is still cheese, probably followed by steamed broccoli of all things!  He also loves black olives and instant oatmeal. He just went through a couple weeks of an anti-banana phase whereas he used to love these. Other fruit is hit or miss depending on how his mouth feels.  He typically really enjoys frozen pineapple pieces, which must feel good on his gums. He bellows away standing at the freezer when he sees a container of ice cream in there, and will climb up and accross a table for a bite.  Loves it.

 

He is such a messy little eater because he plays with his food more than he eats it.  It gets EVERYWHERE, especially those hard-to-clean places. The time I spend detailing that high chair...

For some reason one of the things that cracks me up the most watching Oscar is how he loves to walk around with a straw cup or water bottle and sip away as he goes along.  Something about his swagger when he does this makes him seem like such a big person in a little body. He just feels super cool to be walking around with his own drink.

Oscar really feels big when he gets to go ride on his bike.  I suppose since he spent months watching Finn do it from the stroller.  When he catches sight of his bike in the garage, he makes a beeline for it and tries to get it out.  A couple weeks ago on a hot day, Finn was at preschool and I had a couple hours to kill with just Oz, before his next nap. I had to drop off a package for UPS and I also wanted to try a boba drink at the shop down the street.  I planned to let Oscar ride his bike on the sidewalk afterwards. I pulled both his bike and helmet out, along with a stroller.  Oscar was pumped that his bike was coming out!  And boy was he mad when I put him in the stroller instead of setting him up with his bike. There was significant back arching and screaming going on for a second.  I hooked his bike and helmet onto the stroller handles and off we went. He accepted his fate after a few seconds. Well, when we were in line for the boba drink he started getting impatient sitting in the stroller, so I decided to let him roll around a bit in the open space next to us. He got out of the stroller and I got his bike down but he would NOT get on it without that helmet too.  He was so mad that he didn't have the helmet on, bellowing and grabbing for it!  It's almost like he didn't realize that he could ride his bike without the helmet and thought that I still wasn't letting him.  Which is really the whole point of us having him wear a helmet--it's not so dangerous riding from his height.  We just want to get him in the habit.  And apparently he is!

Oscar loves the thrill he gets from going down hills.  Oy.  I'm finding that he really doesn't have much of a cautious streak between his climbing and hill bombing feats.

Oscar hates when he has to go to bed.  He does his darndest to escape it every single time.  He runs away and hides behind furniture (or papa's leg). He wrestles away from me during changes into his jammies or when I'm trying to get him into his sleep sack.  I have to chase him around the house or his room as soon as he realizes that bedtime is coming. One recent escape attempt was by vehicle, when after I changed his diaper he darted off, hopped on his car and reversed outta there as quick as he could.  He's really becoming such a little character.

Luckily for him he is in a transition period right now, going from 2 naps per day down to 1 nap per day. He only takes 1 nap about 3-4 days a week now. 

His mischievous streak had him slipping little toys through the cracked window to watch them fall the 3 stories to the sidewalk. When I finally realized what was going on there was quite a collection to gather up. He's been trying to repeat that game ever since.

He's still so very affectionate and snuggly. He loves to hug his stuffed animal or baby doll and says, "awwww." (He also likes to pull things out of my dresser as seen below--he often drapes the items on himself).  He is so good at greeting me excitedly when I get home from work, but will also run over to our nanny to give her a hug when he sees her getting ready to leave.  He really loves her.

He is getting so excited to actually play and interact with Finn more.  Loves pushing him in the "running stroller" and having family wrestling sessions (which are family cuddle sessions at the outset but we're learning to accept that we have 2 boys).  Finn will also hide, then jump out and scare him to make him giggle, and repeat.  

Jeremy was really excited to get the tiniest flip flops you've ever seen for Oscar. It's pretty hilarious to watch him try to go about his business in them.

He is loving books and will pull out his favorites, and bring them to us to be read.  He likes to be nestled into our lap, head laid back, and help turn the pages (we have to read each one fast!)  Current favorites are a picture book of animals, Pat the Bunny, Hidden Animals, Airplanes, Little Hands Love, and Colors (has little boxes to open).

(Hair clips are not a regular occurrence)

Oscar so far seems to be another friendly, social little chap.  He's never really had any stranger anxiety and feels comfortable approaching really anyone with a big smile. 

This boy is such a delight and I love him with all my heart.  He's so very entertaining and he gets us laughing out loud with his facial expressions. He still has his darling dimpled smile, one dimple on his upper cheek just below his eye, and a double dimple on the opposite cheek right next to his smile. I find myself overwhelmed by his cute, and the poor bloke gets covered in kisses all day long.

Time goes so fast.  Oscar is my toddler now, and a baby no more!!