14-month old Strider

 Some glimpses of Strider as a 14-month old...

Today, in all of our activities, (we played around the house, went to the nursery at church, went to school with Daddy, went shopping, etc.) some things today have made Strider sad – like when we told him he couldn’t have any more milk, or like when we told him he couldn’t get out of his stroller.  But he’s only thrown 2 major tantrums today.  Know what they were for?  One was when Pete didn’t unload the dishwasher like he often does in the morning, and the other was when we put the vacuum cleaner away after using it!  For some reason, he gets a MAJOR kick out of housework activities, and, obviously, gets very disappointed when he can’t do them more often.

 Two of his other favorite activities:  having Pete brush his teeth (using a little toothbrush with no toothpaste), and getting his hair brushed (stands in the doorway of the bathroom and points at the brush until we brush his hair).

Hmmm…. cleanliness and personal hygiene are his favorite things….  Could this be Pete Frank’s son????

Doing his famous "sniff" face

Tonight Strider was driving me crazy with his eating patterns.  He keeps refusing to eat foods that I KNOW he likes… it gets pretty old real fast.  So Pete came up after awhile and was trying to feed him.  Sometimes he would push his peas away, and sometimes he would strain for them.  So I started ranting in a very whiny voice,  “No, I don’t LIKE peas!  Now I WANT my peas! Give me peas!  Now I don’t want them!” etc.  Then I looked at Strider and said “Now who does that remind you of?” – and he raised his hand!

The other day when I was feeding Strider, I turned my head to look out the window towards the playground behind our house.  Even though his BACK was to this window and he couldn’t see out it, he started making his sign for “swing” – because he knew I could see it!  Another day when I was changing his diaper, again he couldn’t see out the window.  But when he saw me turn my head so I could see out the window, he said “Woof woof” – because we always see dogs on that side of the house!

When he was sitting on my lap a few days ago he pointed at my neck and said “mama.”  I said, “Can you say ‘I love you Mama?”  He thought for a few seconds then put his head down on my shoulder!!!

Strider at 12-months old -- with his friend Sloane.