Naughty & Nice: the Dichotomous Life of a 15-month old

15 months old

22 pounds 7 ounces

31 inches

This little boy is growing and learning at rapid rates.  Unfortunately, with Emmett's developing personality, there is an increase in both the naughty and the nice things this boy does.
Naughty:
• Molars are evil.  Really truly, his first eight teeth really didn't bring us too much torment, but these molars have just been terrible.  I feel bad for the little thing--it looks terribly painful watching those molars sloooooowly work their way through.  It's been all sorts of drooling, chewing and tylenol doses around here.  Two bottom molars are in; the top 2 are starting to peak through.  
• We're officially down to one nap.  :(
•  He's getting taller and smarter, which means he can get into more cupboards and can reach things off the edge of the counter.
• Busy toddlers make church a looooong three hours.  We are counting down the weeks til nursery (11 to go).  Poor kid wants so badly to be with the big kids.  Instead we spend most of the time wandering through the halls.
• Knows how to whine, complain, completely lose it and fall to the floor in despair.  :)
• There are days where Emmett just won't let you get anything done.  I'm sure this is not an uncommon experience in the world of parenting, but it can be awfully annoying. 
• Emmett has nearly ruined one of his parents favorites pastimes--eating in restaurants.  After a less-than-successful trip to Asheville and an unpleasant dining experience this week, Emmett is no longer invited to eat in public with us. 

Nice:
• He says and waves "bye-bye."  For a few weeks he had an endearing habit at bed and nap time where he would stay on his back when I put him in his crib, let me put a blanket on him and then would look up and say "bye-bye" and go right to sleep.  It was so sweet.
• He eats with a fork--quite successfully!  Spoons are still a work in progress.
• He blows kisses, makes darling kiss/smack sounds and gives spontaneous hugs throughout the day.
• He can point to many of his body parts (nose, hair, ears, teeth, button, fingers, toes--sometimes eyes)
• He knows a bunch of animal sounds--at least he differentiates sounds for each.  My very favorite right now is his turkey gobble, but his attempted pig snort is pretty endearing too.  His complete list includes:  cow, dog, duck, rooster, donkey, bear, scary sheep, snake, bird, cuckoo, duck, dinosaur, pig, turkey, fish
• He is very good at his puzzles.  He plays with his animal puzzle daily and it's been neat to see him learn how to do it better and better over the last 3 months.  Sometimes he gets bored with putting them in the right spot, so lately he does this thing where he puts a piece in the wrong spot, shakes his head and then places it in the correct spot.  It is darn cute. 
• He loves other kids--particularly ones that are older than he is; he's rather indifferent to those his same age or younger.  His eyes light up when kids show up at the playground or when we're over at a friend's house.  He'll follow them all over.
• He's developing some pretty serious ball skills.  Making baskets in the hoop is no longer a sufficient challenge, so now you'll see him practicing shots from a squatting or sitting position and polishing one-handed dunks (he can palm his big rubber ball pretty impressively).  His sound effects are getting louder as well.
• He's starting to be helpful around the house.  He knows how to throw away his diaper, put clothes in his laundry basket and pick up some of his toys. 
• Emmett loves to be outside.  We try to take advantage of the pleasant NC winter weather and get to the playground 4-5 times a week.
• He's got an impressive ear for a toddler.  He often stops whatever he's doing to acknowledge a bird chirping, large truck passing or a door opening. 
• He goes to bed so well each night.  A bottle, a snuggle, a song and he's down for a good 12 hours. 
• Likes to sing songs and often helps lead the music at church. 

Sometimes naughty, sometimes nice depending on the moment:
• He knows how to navigate the ipad.  He can start movies, open his favorite apps, exit apps, etc.  Some of his favorites include Netflix (still loves The Red Balloon but has experimented with other age appropriate shows), animal sounds (he can identify and imitate a surprising number of animals), and Angry Birds (he knows how to shoot the birds, even though he does shoot them in the wrong direction)
• This kid gets in crazy, hyper, loud moods sometimes.  It's often pretty entertaining.  However, his craziness tends to lead to recklessness which sometimes leads to injuries.  Poor boy has experienced quite a few bumps and bruises over the past weeks. 
• Emmett loves to jump and bounce--especially on mom and dad's bed.  He lets himself fall backwards and forwards onto the pillows and blankets.  If he's in our room, he demands to be on the bed. 
• He's discovered the world of art.  He likes to draw/color, but he also likes to eat crayons and chew on pencils. 
• He has started to climb.  He figured out a way to climb onto the couch by using the inside bottom edge of the cushions.  It's quite fascinating to watch.  He has also been determined to learn how to walk down the stairs.  This has not been encouraged by his momma, but he uses almost all of his time at the playground going up and down the steps.  He is very cautious and thoughtful about the process and has started practicing on our home stairs.  Still makes me a little nervous but I have to admire his determination and the effort he's putting into it.
•  We play a game where we pretend to be asleep and he comes and wakes us up.  Recently we have traded roles and he has started pretending to be asleep with a darling little snore.  Unfortunately, this game means you never get to sit down and shut your eyes for long before he's over trying to scare you awake.
• Emmett will often pretend he's talking on the phone and usually the phone is propped between his ear and shoulders.  It's pretty cute, but his practice has come at the expense of our phones.  Clark's iphone screen has some pretty great cracks and Emmett broke my little flip phone right in two.  We have since upgraded our phones and made them off limit for Emmett.  He now has to make do with our old phones or toys or other random things lying around the house.  

We really enjoy watching Emmett become more of a little, individual person each day.  He is smart, handsome, and oh so fun and sweet ... much of the time.  :)

Here's a little video of some of his cute and craziness.  Some of it was taken quite early one morning when both of us were sick with colds, so pardon the uncomeliness. 

dance moves, a musician in the making, climbing, crazy, a few animal sounds, body parts, singing time