14 Months: A little, willful person with an attitude

This is what Kaiden has been lately. Willful. Filled with 'tude. Gosh...I wonder where he gets it from! This has been a challenge, if only because you can't really explain to a one year old what he is doing wrong, so disciplining him has little purpose. It is so hard to explain to him that we don't scream when we want things, and we don't pinch when we are mad, and you don't throw yourself down on the floor when you aren't getting your way.

I read a Dr. Sears article (which I might have mentioned before), that said the earlier babies throw tantrums, the more intelligent they are because it shows they are desperately trying to communicate their wants and needs, but are frustrated because they can't. Kaiden's pediatrician told me the same thing when I told her at his one year checkup that he is getting really angry over things, and it is hard to calm him down.

I signed us up for a little sign language class at one of the nearby baby stores. I am hoping it gives me more insight on how to teach him to communicate better. He knows how to sign "eat" and "more" but he has slowly been dropping them and not using them as much anymore.

Aside from the tantrums, Kaiden has learned to walk backwards, and he thinks it is hilarious. He also likes to tell "stories" and change his voice for different parts, even if we have no clue what he is saying. He sits down and "reads" books out loud now, which is really cute. He gets frustrated when he plays with his puzzles, and I have to sit next to him and cheer him on so he doesn't give up. He loves to climb the stairs, and sometimes he tries to climb other things too, but he doesn't go too overboard with it. He's just started to get curious enough to try and open up cabinets, so we put the child locks on them, finally.

He has two more teeth, so eight total. His teeth are really slow coming in, and that sort of sucks. They don't seem to bother him too much, though.

Sleeping has been on and off. He usually wakes up around 3 am. I describe it as him "checking in" or wanting to know we are still around. We just go in and hug him and put him back to bed and he sleeps until I wake him up for milkies in the morning. But, most nights, he wakes up a couple more times, and we don't know why. He's not hungry. I suspect he has bad dreams. It gets frustrating some nights, and we get really exhausted, but I am hoping it might just be his teeth, and this will pass.

As far as breastfeeding goes, I was worried he was somehow weaning early, but it turns out it is normal that he sometimes only nurses once a day, and sometimes he wants milkies all the time. It is scary and frustrating when he only nurses in the morning and not again until the next morning, but Kaiden is a busy toddler, and most of the time, he rather run around and play than get milkies. Sometimes, all he wants to do is snuggle with a boobie and suck on his thumb. Such a little snuggle bug. <3

I love this guy, and I love watching him grow. :)

Loving his waffles and nutella!