15 Months

 I lied. To Pierscen's Doctor.

Okay, okay. That's a little dramatic. But I'm kind of feeling that way. I didn't set out to do so. And it wasn't a full front lie. Just... more of an omission. Kind of.

AND... it wasn't the doctor. It was the nurse.

Basically, she asked me if he was eating a good variety of foods. I said yes. Cause I thought he was. But then I thought about it and the answer is totally no. He is old enough and has enough teeth that I figure he should be able to eat just about whatever we are eating. But he doesn't. I swear, if it has flavor, he wants nothing to do with it. He is pretty good to at least try new things, but the only thing I am mostly guaranteed he will eat is the stupid Gerber baby food. I am so sick of buying it! Things he will eat:

Banana, peaches, pears - anything fruit. Toast. Chicken nuggets. String cheese. Crackers. Anything bread. Sometimes ground beef, depending on his mood and if it is seasoned. Mac 'n' cheese. Granola bars. Pretty much anything of nutritional worthlessness. Yup. Pretty much. We bought some Nutella the other day for a youth activity and Pierscen LOVES it. Still not a fan of peanut butter. I know Nutella should not be a staple in anyone's diet, but I am grateful to know that I have a way to get some calories into this boy. 


I have been feeling incredibly guilty about this. I do try. I just don't know what to give him. Especially in the veggie category. Please parents of the world. Help me!

So the good news... Pierscen has finally hit 20 lbs! He is now 20 lbs 3.5 oz. Woot! Woot! Hahaha. He is so tiny!!! But, this did bring him up from the 2nd percentile to the 4th. Ooooo! Ahhhhh! 

That being said, he dropped from the 12th percentile in length, to the 4th percentile. Huh. Admittedly, the doc said this is the most inaccurate measurement they do. Supposedly he has only grown a half inch in the last 3 months. I don't believe that. Things he couldn't reach are now well beyond reachable. And places he could cruise under before are now in head-smacking range. So no, I don't believe that. 
 
The answer was the same. Doc isn't worried. He asked if dad was tall and I said no, so doc says P may just be short.

His head is still normal. 45th percentile. Average head for a little body. What can you do? 


This trip was particularly traumatizing. Poor little man had to have his pee pee pulled back AGAIN. It is horrible guys. It's hard to explain, and I am sure no one really wants the details, but it breaks my heart! The skin is getting stuck on the shaft. Pulling it back and freeing the skin is like pulling apart a cut that is trying to heal. Very painful. Last night P started crawling with his bum in the air, his knees off the ground, crying because it hurt to pee. We just have to keep it lubed up as best we can. :( Poor little guy.

So as if that wasn't enough, then he got his three routine vaccines. It was not a fun trip. He was crying really hard, understandably, so once the nurse left the room, I took him over to the chair, sat down and started rocking him. Rayola, P's "other grandma" had sent him a little stuffed dog for Easter that had arrived that day. P hadn't seen it yet, so I pulled it out of his diaper bag and extended it to him. He didn't even hesitate. He pulled it in, wrapped his arms around it, and rocked with it. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. The crying stopped almost instantly. The dog was a life saver. It meant the world to the little guy. He has other stuffed animals, but I have never seen him like this with one. Even last night he kept holding it, hugging it, kissing it, laying on it, and playing with it. He fell asleep with it in his arms and has taken both of his naps with it today. We have named it Snuggles and I think that dog is going to be his sidekick for a very long time. :) 

 Thank you Rayola! Pierscen is a lucky little man to have you looking after him!

So other than Pierscen being beat up and me feeling like a failure for not feeding him better, I guess things were fine. ;)

Now that I have that off my chest, here are some updates on our little man.

I recognize this is awkward, but I think it's hilarious at the same time. P has recently discovered that there is something "down there." He made this discovery in the bath tub a couple weeks ago. However, with that Buddha belly in the way he can't see anything, so it has made for some very funny bath time. He tries to look under his belly, but the more he bends forward, the bigger his tummy he gets. Quite the dilemma. ;)

P had his first real injury a couple Sundays ago. We had just returned from church and Dodger was expressing his crazy joy that we had not forgotten him. Pierscen thinks it's hilarious when Dodger gets all crazy like this. However, when P gets excited, he crawls as fast as he can to the stairs. Dodger rushed after him and pounced on him which unfortunately sent P flying down the stairs. :( P has rolled down a couple of stairs in the past, but honestly, the kid is a master at the stairs. He has never tumbled from the top. Thank goodness this was only the 6 stair flight. He landed with a very solid thwack at the bottom. He had a goose egg, huge fat lip which was bleeding, and a cut on his eye. There was actually blood in his tears which really freaked me out. Thankfully it was just a tiny cut on the inside of his lower eye lid.

Oh it was heart breaking. We couldn't really get mad at Dodger as he wasn't trying to hurt P. Pierscen was already tired to begin with, and he was utterly exhausted after. Ryan had to leave to go home teaching, but he was nervous about him hitting his head, so I sat in the rocking chair in P's room while he slept and made sure that he was okay.

He sure looked beat up, but he was his normal happy self when he woke up. Thank goodness!

The following day you could barely tell anything had happened. Just a small black spot on his lip from the cut.

The rest of these details are more fun. Sorry for all the sadness to begin with. Geez, Diana!

He now has 9 teeth. Four on top. Four on bottom. And he just sprouted his first molar on the top right side. I have heard the molars can be a doozy, but I didn't even know it was there until I was prying something out of his mouth and spotted it. He's such a good natured kid I didn't even know he was working on one of those mean guys. :)

 He has finally mastered the sippy cup. Let me explain. He has been able to drink out of one for a long time. He has been able to hold it on his own for a long time. However, if the level was low enough that he needed to tip it back, he wouldn't do it. Just keep sucking and getting nothing. If you held it for him, now that wasn't a problem. But he has finally started doing it on his own - just like he has done it all his life. With this little cups pictures above, I think it is particularly adorable. He flattens his hands out like he has a serving platter and lifts it up that way. If it is a bigger cup, he holds it like normal and will tip his head all the way back. I don't know why he was so silly about it before. He acts like he has been doing it all along!

No, he isn't walking yet. No, I don't think he is terribly close. He is just perfectly content with speed crawling everywhere.

He has three distinct crawls. 1. Regular crawl 2. Peg leg crawl (one leg regular, the other up on his foot) If he were upright in this position, it would look like is proposing to someone. This crawl makes me laugh quite a bit because when he uses it, it often takes him sideways. For that reason, I also call it the Crab crawl because it reminds me of crabs on a beach scooting along sideways. 3. Monkey crawl. This is where his knees aren't on the ground at all. Just his hands and feet. This one is also funny because for some reason, when he uses this one, he often just turns himself in circles. He is silly.

The big progression here is that he is finally standing on his own with confidence. We have caught him doing this before, but it is only when he is distracted and didn't realize he was standing without support. Now he does it all the time. Most notably in the tub. Thank goodness we have a mat so it isn't very slick, but still! That's scary! But he loves to stand up and I will cheer for him. Then he starts clapping along or dancing. So I have to take that as sign that he will walk. Someday. :) 

He is now big enough to sir forward in his stroller. Though by my opinion, not by much. He looks so little! I think he really likes sitting forward, but I miss being able to pull faces at him. :) In that same right, the straps in his car seat have been moved to the highest position. So there Mr. Dr. Man. He has grown.

He is now a master at feeding himself. I know a lot of parenting websites say to start giving them utensils pretty early, but I have been selfish and haven't wanted to simply for the mess of it. But Ryan handed him a fork the other day and he acted like he has been feeding himself for months. Last week we did a picnic in the park and ate some KFC. It came with mac 'n' cheese. Their version is far more thick and creamy than the out of the box stuff, and Pierscen gobbled it down. He ate probably a good third of the container and it was a big bucket of the stuff! He struggles a bit with the spoon, but he'll get it.

He is a crazy climber. If there are boxes or buckets around, he will find his way to the top. I had a bucket of laundry detergent in the kitchen and looked over and he had climbed up and seated himself on it and was busy teasing Dodger with his leash from his heightened position. Silly guy. I also have a huge bucket of honey in the kitchen that Pierscen will climb up on, then stand on to reach the counter. YIKES!

He is quite the talker. He catches on really quickly. Some of the things he says: Mama, Daddy, doggy, Dodger, Bo (neighbors dog), cock (clock), nana (banana), each (peach), nanen (amen), ank oo (thank you), go, ello (hello or yellow), mow (meow), oof (woof), moo, sssssss (snake sound, or this is also his buzz like a bee sound), uh oh (probably his personal favorite), and one I am particularly proud of... Wooo Wooo! (said in a high voice while pumping his arm and fist like he is pulling the train whistle.) I was working with him yesterday to say "love you" and he was getting pretty close with "uv." I am sure there are more. He will sometimes say ma, which is his attempt to say "Oma" which means grandma. He has also started to try and say "peekaboo". It comes out something like 'eeooo'. He jabbers a lot!

He loves to dance. He was some great dance moves. He loves to blow on his food and knows that if anything comes out of the microwave, it requires being blown on. He lives to torture Dodger. He is boy through and through and will do just about anything to get a rise out of Dodger. This is not behavior we want to endorse in either canine or child, but it's so hard when Pierscen is in fits of laughter. He catches on super fast to pretty much anything and everything we do. I gave him a basting brush the other day and let him "help" me paint the doors (without paint of course.) He loves to unload the fridge and the dishwasher. He loves the outdoors! He does great and the park and has really enjoyed the backyard time in the last few days. I just can't wait until the backyard is much MUCH less gravel, and much more grass. :) It's coming along nicely though. 

He loves butterfly and Eskimo kisses. He will touch my eyelashes until I bat them really fast and then he will turn his head so I can give him butterfly kisses on his cheek or ear. Pretty cute. And if I give him and Eskimo kiss, when I pull away, he will start shaking his head back and forth so that I will do it again. I love it!

We love this little guy. He is so smart and so much fun. He loves to make people laugh and smile and is always waving to people we see. He is crazy active. Is it bad I am already counting down until nursery? Three more months!

We are very lucky to have this little champ in our lives. Sure love him!