Dominick - 14 Months

+We had to take you to the doctors on the 4th. You had a cold for nearly two weeks and even after doing your inhalers (you have two), zyrtec at night and benadryl in the morning and nasal saline you just weren't getting better. You had bronchitis and they gave you a liquid steroid, zythromax, more zyrtec and we were on our way. At that appointment you weighed 22 lbs 11.5 oz. so you had gained over 1 lb.

+I got to spend almost 2 weeks with you at home due to the government shutdown. We had the best time getting to spend all day together. You were SO good and it really makes momma realize how much fun we would have if I didn't have to work.

my friend made this hat for him .She has a shop and is super talented.

+We spent many afternoons at the park. You just love going and it's always something that you look forward to considering you LOVE to be outside.

+When you get excited you do this shuffle with your feet and it's quite possibly the cutest thing EVER.

+You love to chase after the cars in the hall. We spend a LOT of time doing that during the day.

+We took you camping for the first time to Pt. Mugu over Columbus Day weekend. You had the best time being outside and did so good in the tent. You loved the water, playing in the sand and being with friends. After our camping trip we went to Santa Monica and you LOVED walking down by the beach. You had such a big time and you are definitely a beach lover...just like your momma.

+You love to run to us and give us hugs. It's super cute, you run with your arms out and then wrap your little arms around our necks. We love them too.

+You are a very loving and affectionate little guy. You don't necessarily love to cuddle, but you do like to give kisses and hugs and they're the best darn kisses and hugs around. You will cuddle us after you wake up from a nap or in the mornings (on the weekends we do this). You like to get up at your own pace and not be rushed. Unfortunately we don't have that kind of time during the week.

+You love to look at animal books and we do lots of sounds and talking about animals. Along with the other animal sounds you know you also learned meow, baa and will moo (boo). You also recognize animals in books/shirts. There was a dog on one of my animal shelter 5k shirts from back in the day and you pointed to it and said, "dog, dog!" If I ask you where an animal is in a book you will point to it.

This may be my favorite picture of him ever...and the funniest one I have ever taken.

+You love to look at books and interactive books, but you don't like when I try reading to you. I think you get too bored since you're such a busy little bee. I hope this will change soon because I think it's important for you to read.

+We did lots of cloth diapering with you this month. It is okay...I'm not a lover or a hater.

+When you do something that you're not supposed to do you'll say no and then do it or continue doing something all while saying "no, no". Some examples are feeding the dogs or playing in the dogs bowls.

+You say momma constantly and then when I respond you tell me something and although I have no idea what you're saying you continue telling me your story. Sometimes when you have something that you're not sure if you can drink or eat you will say momma, show it to me and I will either say yes or no. You picked up a rock outside and showed me and I said no no and you gave it back to me. You do this with your snack or drinks too.

+You call everyone momma. Daddy, Ms. Katie, pretty much anyone...you know you'll get a response.

+You love to be silly and you love to make us laugh. You're very easy at it. Early in the month you would do this loud fake laugh and now you do this silent laugh and both are seriously the funniest things ever. We can't help but laugh every time you do them.

+You love to blow raspberries on my legs and always catch me off guard. It's super funny and it always "scares" me so I laugh really hard and then you chase me so you can keep doing it and making me laugh. This will go on for at least 15 minutes.

+You learned to "jump" this month and it's so, so funny.

+Anytime you hear music you dance. They're thinking of starting a zumbini class on base and if they offer it at a time we can go we will definitely be signed up.

+We watched a lot of the Tigers this month (post season is always momma's favorite since it's actually on TV on the west coast). I felt my job as a parent was complete when I turned the TV on (to the game) and you ran in and started clapping. You would cheer and get excited every time momma did. You would clap lots and it was so fun. I have a Tigers shirt that has a baseball player hitting the ball...kind of dealio (it's really small), but you will point to that little guy and say baseball or ball whenever I wear it.

+Speaking of TV you don't watch much unless it is sports and even then you don't pay much attention. You will watch maybe 5 minutes on your iPhone of Bubble Guppies or Elmo, but that's about it.

+You still love to play with cars, trucks, airplanes, balls and some of your little people toys. One of your favorites is the little people airplane. You love to take the people in and out.

+When I was furloughed you were starting to sleep in until 7:30 and then when I went back to work I would have to wake you up at 5:30 again. When I would go in to get you some mornings you would see me and say, "no, no" or you'd grab your bear and say "ni-ni". I think your teenage years will be rough. :)

+We took you to the pumpkin patch on the 20th. We went with the Espinosa's and Stowes. You loved picking up the little pumpkins and you got to pick which one you wanted. You also loved climbing on the hay bales.

+Your first full week back to daycare there was a Fall Festival for the FCC daycare's. You had SO much fun and were on a sugar high (you got to eat a cookie, a cupcake and animal crackers...just to name a few of the goodies you got)...you only live once, right? On the way home you fell asleep (5 minutes or less) and went to bed around 5 that night and woke up at 5:30. You missed dinner and bath time.

+It's really been hit or miss with your eating habits. Some days you do really good and others you pick at your food. We've had to start putting the dogs in the laundry room while you eat because you always thought it was more fun to give them your food than eat it yourself. We've started giving you a fork/spoon with your meals. You recognize what to do with it, but don't really have that coordination or patience yet. Eating with your hands is WAY faster. And you are definitely our child as you LOVE condiments. Ranch, BBQ, Ketchup and you liked the little taste of  sriracha too, but we didn't want to give you too much in case it upset your belly.You really love yogurt covered raisins, peanut butter, strawberries and sausage (random, I know). If he enjoys something then we definitely know it. He will say "mmmmm" really dramatically after EVERY bite.

+You still take swim class, but only went a handful of times this month. The pool was shut down for the furlough and then I think we only went one other time all week. Ms. Sandy was sick the last week so it wasn't a big swim month. The one time you did go we were really impressed with you since you picked up as if you hadn't taken any time off.

+Your daddy has had some trouble with his back and so he does a lot of stretching. One night he was stretching (think yoga poses)and you were trying to copy him. He started doing push ups and you were trying too. It was so cute!

+You're always so excited to see your daddy and I and you love us and need us for different things. It's so sweet to see you get so excited after work or when we get home.

+If something hurts you, you will say "ow" and then rub the spot that hurts.

+We carved and painted pumpkins on the 28th. You hated the paint. HATED! You did like helping your daddy carve the pumpkins however and you loved to play with the scoop.

+You were a lion for Halloween and the cutest dang lion I ever did see.

+It seems like as the month came to an end it became more difficult for you. You started hitting, throwing tantrums (throwing yourself on the floor and scooting yourself around), hitting your head on the wall, ground or your toys, pulling hair and other "fun" things. I think part of it is that you're so tired at night and another part is just the stage you're in. It's frustrating, but I know it won't last forever...right?

+You like to play peek a boo. You will hide and then pop out and say "boo". It's super cute.

+You are going to be a talker for sure. You always have lots to say and if you jabber to us then we talk back and you talk more. You say SO many words now that I really don't think I could list them all. I will try....momma, dadda, dog, truck, gigi, papa, hello, hi, bye, boo, ball (another favorite), baseball, stinky, what's that, see it, woot woot, eye, nose, no (you say this all the time; you also say no mmm (which sometimes sounds like nope, but instead I'm trying to teach you no ma'am instead...not sure that it's actually working), uh oh, ya, ni-ni (night night), book, bubble, thank you (still assisted), me (meow), stop, wow, ooooo (for something that you think is pretty cool)

his face is all sorts of dirty and he has two bumps on his forehead and cheek. He fell down at the play area and again down the gazebo steps. He never cried and is super tough. I try not to make a big deal out of things because I know it only gets him worked up. The dirty face was due to him trying to lick water off the ground. GROSS

+When you play with airplanes, cars, trucks or motorcycles you make the correct sounds.

+You learned how to climb onto the couch. You have only one specific way that you finagle your way up there...but you can do it!

+Bath time is still your favorite. Sometimes you will go into the bathroom on your own, climb into the tub and start playing with your toys. You LOVE bath time.

+We were in San Diego for your 14 month birthday. We went down the 1st and stayed until the 3rd. You did awesome in the hotel and wasn't too affected the daylight savings time. We took you to your first trip Sea World. I have a love hate relationship with aquariums, zoos and places like Sea World. I think they can be very fun and educational, but it's also kind of sad that that's how those animals are living their lives. With that said you LOVED it. You had the best time looking at everything and you loved how you could see everything so closely through the glass. It really wasn't very busy and it was such a good time for you. The whale show was your favorite. You kept clapping, dancing, jumping and ooo'ing and wowing through the whole show. It kept your interest and you LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. Sea World supports the military and you can get in one time a year for free. I'm glad we opted to do this that morning because it was such a good time. It started to get hot, but you didn't mind.

+You are still rear facing. All of your friends are forward facing, but I'm just not ready to make that transition yet. You don't love the car seat and I think it may be part of the reason why. I doubt we will make it until 2 like everyone says we should, but at least for a few months longer. :)