Night time popcorn snacks. We use the popcorn maker (no microwave for us) with real butter and salt.

Doc's second drawing by himself; the first was on my computer trackpad and keyboard.

When given the option, Doc will choose to eat the corn off the cobb (even raw) over a bowl full of kernels.

He likes to sit right at the counter in cousin Mylo's old seat that attaches directly to the table.

With G having been at work most of the summer, these past few months have just disappeared. Doc is 14 months; he runs, climbs, tantrums, and communicates in consonants and grunts. At his one year appointment he weighed 25 lbs so I'm guessing he's close to 30 now. Today we went to Yeager's to buy rocks then found some rubber boots at Little Bugs. Uncle Matt also delivered a slide this morning, which Doc mastered quite quickly. It is amazing how quickly he catches on to things. He'll try something once or twice or watch someone else do it and he's suddenly an expert. It might be nice if things could slow down a little but it is exciting to see such progress.

Tough guy

Doc likes to crawl into the shower to play when I'm getting ready in the morning. I bought his first pair of jeans the other day and we cuff them tall so he looks extra tough. Reminds me of when the boys would get ready to go to a concert; cuffed jeans, white t-shirts, pack of smokes, mean face.

Big tough kid

Doc loves Legos. He doesn't know how to put them together yet, but he likes to take them apart. His favorites are the people and the windows.

We stopped at the Thomas Moser store in Freeport, ME last week on our way to the airport. This rocker was spectacular but probably cost $500 (a full size dining chair was at least $1,000). Greg would not normally go into a store with things that expensive, but furniture (especially wood) he has a special appreciation for.

Super Hero

Doc's new jammies have a tool belt around the waist and a badge on his chest that says Super Hero's Union. They're nice and tight and show off his curves (the curve of his diaper bum). The other day I was doing dishes and turned around to find that he had climbed into his drawer without me noticing. The bottom drawer in the kitchen is reserved for his toys and cups so he plays in it all the time. Climbing onto and into things is usually not so quiet. He looked up at me and smiled as if to say, "What? I'm just sitting in my drawer."

Car ride

Doc has a tendency to get rowdy with his books. He likes to pull off a stack from the bottom shelf then will pick one to give a good working over. He can open and close and bend and sit on a book for as long as I'll let him. His favorite is still Oliver Finds His Way, which we've had memorized for months.

Big kid

Each night before bed Doc and I brush our teeth. As soon as we walk into the bathroom he starts getting ready to spit. He likes to rinse his toothbrush and lean over the sink to spit. I sing him the song that Star sings on the Sprout Goodnight Show.

He's getting too heavy for me to hold all of the time now, which is sad since he is more snuggly than ever. He enjoys being held and relaxing while watching an evening show with nighttime snacks. Even more sad and frustrating, though, is that he seems to have weened himself. I'm actually embarrassed to admit this because I feel at fault for it. While getting his last tooth, he refused to nurse and now is just not interested. He's almost ten months but is still my baby and I now have to deal with getting middle of the night bottles instead of being able to nurse him back to sleep while I am still half asleep. I was hoping it was a nursing strike (something I didn't know even existed), but it seems that he has just quit. I'm trying to be ok with this but it seems that no mom can go without feeling some guilt every day of their life. The alternate side of this is that he eats like a big kid. He feeds himself little bits of fruits and vegetables, mac & cheese, grilled turkey sandwiches... Isn't that kind of unusual for a ten month old baby?

Doc is talking all the time now. He regularly repeats mamama, rarara, eeeeee, and will often scream dadada in the middle of the night. He understands most everything we (Doc and I) talk about: what not to play with, when it's time for lunch, when it's time to brush our teeth, bounce, tap, open, close, on, off, up. Every day is so exciting.

P.S. Dada has a new job and we're all excited. We get to see him every night before bed now.

9 month check-up

Doc was 21 lbs 12 oz and 29 inches today. He's walking everywhere with support of the furniture. I was pretty excited last week when he started babbling "mamamamamama" over and over and sometimes at quite appropriate times (early in the morning when he wants out of his crib). He likes to play games and will often instigate. He likes to be chased so will start crawling away and screaming then stop to look over his shoulder to make sure I'm following. Greg showed him how to use a stool to get up onto our ottoman. Now Doc will push his car (diaper box with blankets and pillow) up to something he wants to be taller against and use the fluff for extra height. He crawled all the way up our huge stairs without help (my heart was still racing).

He is quite the chow hound when given foods he enjoys. Lately he's been eating cheesy eggs, grapefruit, large curd cottage cheese, and any kind of yogurt (he really likes Fage). Most baby food he completely rejects unless bribed with baby cheetos. He will still eat the tart fruits, like mango and apricot, mixed with cereal once I sneak in the first bite and he realizes that he likes it.

Everyday there are so many changes. You can see him learning; pondering new things, debating new actions. He understands so much now. You can speak an entire string of words to him and see that he is thinking about how to respond. He's growing so fast. I always try to take full advantage of the baby he is right now because I know it won't last much longer.

Better late than never?

We finally shipped out Doc's birth announcements yesterday. I'm trying to be better about delegating and accepting offers for help. If you don't get one in the mail, you're probably in our pile of lost addresses. Email me your address if you get a minute: meaganmwheeler(at)gmail(dot)com

Sweet boys

G did Doc's bath for the first time the other night then we went upstairs and Doc did super speed laps across the room. He only took a time out to check out the string of lights in his tipi. Last night for Valentine's G brought home a tap-a-tune piano for Doc, a Bota Box (=4 bottles of wine), and two Cadbury bars (one fruit and nut and an almond). I thought that was a pretty sweet husband/dada thing to do. Then after Doc went to bed, G watched Gossip Girl with me (=even sweeter).

A few to share

Doctor Rabbit by Jan Wahl illustrated by Peter Parnall

Grover Sleeps Over by Elizabeth Winthrop illustrated by Maggie Swanson

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

In life people tend to stick to what they know. Growing up I knew books. My family makes fun of me for it. I used to read a lot. Now we've got a book shelf that's become too small to accommodate the reading material that the three of us have accumulated (even after several thinning out sessions). Last weekend Grandma and Jampa emptied the walk in closet in the north chamber and I was able to rediscover several old books that I haven't seen for years. One of these was Grover Sleeps Over, which for some reason left quite an impression on me. The illustrations really stuck in my memory. Somewhere between Grover trying to pack his begonia in a flowerpot and Betty Lou sharing her Blueberry Chew cereal I fell into a Sesame trance. (Doc and I watch Play with Me Sesame every morning during breakfast.)

Doctor Rabbit is a book I have no recollection of but am now a little smitten with. I've developed a real fondness for Peter Parnall. Line drawings using minimal color are one of my favorite styles so seeing kid's books illustrated like this is absolutely captivating (I really like books). I've also always really liked rabbits for some reason.

The Snowy Day is one that Doc and I picked out at Barnes and Noble one day. We've been slowly using the giftcard he got for Christmas by picking out one book and sharing a rice krispy treat in the cafe each time we go. This book is an award winner but I hadn't ever given it any notice until I saw it as a board book. The story is really sweet and entertaining and the illustrations are wonderful. Doc had one corner of the binding sucked off before we had even paid for it.

These days Doc is not really into sitting still for story time, but I'm sure he'll be there again soon. He's always so sweet and attentive but right now he just wants to chew everything.

P.S. After what seems like the whole month of a runny nose, sleepless nights, and a fever, there is a sliver of tooth number two showing through his gums now.

Baby Doc is still working on tooth number two; working too hard I think. He's got a runny nose and fever and is generally mad. He smacks his lips to let us know when he needs something to soothe his pain. We've been up for at least a couple of hours each night for about a week. Doc will wake up and start smacking his lips letting me know its time for more acetaminophen. He'll nurse for a while then want to play. Once the medicine kicks in he lets me know that he wants to nurse again and he eventually falls asleep in my arms. He has a hard time getting comfortable in his crib. Even if he's tired, I can't just lay him down like I normally do because he'll just toss and turn. The doctor's office is not much help so I think I'll just ask Dr. Google now until we really need to go in.

Baby safety is more of an issue now. Doc is really all over the place. He can make it all the way across our upstairs room in about thirty seconds and he stands up on anything that will bare his weight. After tubbies we go upstairs to get dressed and he does super speed laps around the room (sans clothes and diaper). In the bottom photo he's standing at his new/old school chair from Goodwill. I found a slab of walnut to make him a play table so G and I have some work to do.

Space jammies and window discovery

Baby Doc is 7 months now. His second tooth is on the way and he's started eating junk food already (baby junk food like rice puffs and yogurt melts). He does really well with bigger chunks of food already and really prefers table food and fruit to his baby food (let me know if you know someone who would like to partake in our baby food stockpile). He pulls himself to standing on anything stationary now and discovered the window early this morning. He stood propping himself on the windowsill watching the morning for about 10 minutes today. Tonight before bed we sat with the window open and listened to the cars and the rain falling. Then we read The Night Before Christmas illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa (yes I know its like a week after Christmas) and Margaret Wise Brown's Wait Till the Moon is Full (my favorite for bedtime). When I laid him down he rolled over into Bunny Bun Bun and pulled his Little Giraffe up close to his face before falling asleep.

Hoo-rahh for fancy highchairs