14th month

Okay, this should have happened at a year old, but Isaac is now officially bottle and pacifier free. Both seem like big accomplishments to us (especially the pacifier). His teacher, Kristen really helped him break the paci-habit at daycare. He hasn't been using it at home, but seemed to need it at daycare to comfort him. As it turned out, he has started to do better at daycare since the pacifier has not been in sight. He is interacting more and not as fussy; although, he still does not seem to really enjoy daycare yet. Dropping him off is still difficult. I am hoping he adjust soon, because it is so hard to leave him, knowing that he is crying. I do think the amount of time he cries when I leave is much less compared to what it used to be, so I guess he's making progress.

Isaac just had 2 top molars cut through, which I'm sure makes eating a little easier. He now has 6 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth, for a total of 8. He is also using a fork (at least the best he can) sometimes with eating. He is pretty good with using a spoon, but still tends to flip the spoon upside down. We just discovered that he really likes Mexican rice and beans. Yummy! Some other favorite foods are: yogurt, chicken sticks, Gerber breakfast bars, Pediasure, eggs, potatoes, grilled cheese, strawberries, bananas (likes to eat them like a big boy now), apples, prunes, oatmeal, applesauce, crackers, toast, bagels, and chicken nuggets. He's still not a big vegetable fan, with the exception of potatoes. He actually goes to the refrigerator when he is hungry, and tries to open it. He is not a big eater, but seems to be some better.

He seems to be feeling much better now. He's finally over his virus!!! This is odd, but I actually pulled out one white hair in the back of his head. Hopefully I didn't make 2 grow in it's place. The Coats side of the family is known for having some white hair in the front. Isaac's was in a different location, and only one hair, but definitely white.

He is becoming more and more vocal every day. It almost sounds like he's speaking Chinese at times, because I can't understand much of what he says. Some specific new words he's said are: itty (for kitty cat) and more. He uses sign language for more when he wants more to eat. It also sounds like he's tried to say Grampie and Grandad, but it wasn't clear. Even though he still doesn't say a lot of understandable words, it's amazing to me how much he really understands. I'll tell him that it's time to put on socks/shoes, and he sits down and raises up his feet for me (trying to help out). When he cannot reach something, he will grab my hand and take me to the object he wants to grab, so he definitely is communicating. In story hour at the library, the librarian was reading a truck book. Each page followed a storyline with one specific truck. Near the end of the book, there was a page with numerous cars and trucks. Laura (the teacher) asked where THE truck was, and Isaac went right up to the big book and pointed to it. It was cool to see that he was listening, retaining information, recognizing objects, and following directions. He really likes pointing (using his pointer finger), especially at people.

Other new things he has started to do include opening doors (by actually pulling the handle down on our apartment doors) and hiding behind the high chair. For some reason, he thinks he is invisible if he squats behind the high chair. He is does something he knows is wrong or if he is trying to get away from me when I'm making him do something (like brush his teeth), he runs as fast as he possibly can and gets behind the high chair. It is so funny! He really likes to throw things too. The daycare teacher told me that he stands at the baby gate and throws balls over the gate. He also likes to throw his toy duckies out of the bath tub, and he just giggles while doing it.

He attended his first football game this month...a Western Kentucky University game. He just had sensory overload. He loved it. He wanted so badly to just be turned loose so he could run around on the bleachers. I have to admit, I don't think he even realized the football game was going on. What was really funny, was his response to the halftime show. He was moving nonstop during the actual game and had to be passed from person to person to keep him entertained. However, when the marching band started to perform, he was as still as he could be. He loved the band. He was just concentrating and staring in amazement during each song, and would clap appropriately afterwards. It was so cute!

We are still occasionally trying the potty chair. He still squats (and usually tries to hide when doing so) when he poops. When he does, I'll put in on the chair, but he doesn't have much interest in it. He just stands up and tries to put his feet in the bowl of the potty chair. Now, moving onto sleeping. He is sleeping very good. I even have to wake him up sometimes on daycare mornings because he is not quite ready to get out of bed. If he wakes up before he is ready to get up, he hits the button on his Baby Einstein crib music toy (that is a turtle) so it will play music and help him go back to sleep. It's almost like the turtle is his snooze button.

We went to Memphis this month, and Isaac met some new friends. He had lots of fun playing with them, or should I say next to them. He is still not exactly sure how to play with other kids yet. We were a little nervous about the long drive, but he seemed to be pretty entertained with watching Baby Einstein on his portable DVD player. We were definitely glad to have that for our trip.

Isaac loves playing with all his toys. He really has discovered that he enjoys playing with his Megablocks. He likes to stack them and then tear down his tower. His tower is never very sturdy though, because he does not get them lined up perfectly (just good enough to stay on top of the previous block). He also likes coloring with crayons. He does pretty good with coloring, but does occasionally want to eat the crayons. We did have one incident where he tried to color his toys, the coffee table, and the door...I'm sure this won't be the last time this happens.

My favorite thing he has started doing this month is shuffling his feet to dance. When music is on in the car, he kicks his feet. When he is standing, he no longer bounces to dance, but shuffles and stomps his feet.

I know there is so much I am probably leaving out. It is just such a joy to watch his grow and develop. Little ones truly are miracles from God. We are so thankful for our little man!!!