Wilder at Almost 15.5 Months

... because, again, that's a reasonable time to do an update, of course. But I just realized that I haven't posted in too long about what we've been up to, and the pictures were starting to pile up, and I knew if I didn't do it soon I'd never do it. So, get ready, I'm about to dump probably way too many pictures on you. 

We are having so much fun with our sweet, funny, chubby 15-month-old lately. He's doing new stuff every day and is so entertaining. My mom gets here next weekend and we cannot wait to see her. She is just going to eat him up!

He loves being chased around the house and runs squealing away from any remotely perceived pursuit. Especially from the dogs -- if they come into a room after him he turns and runs a few crazy steps away trying to entice them to chase him. They don't get the game, but it doesn't stop him from trying and it totally cracks us up. 

He's very interested in shoes and loves to try to put ours on or bring them to us and make us put them on. He loves to point things out that he knows the name for and will stare at you and say the word over and over and over like a broken record until you acknowledge it. It's really funny but I hope people will forgive me for a likely increase in mommy-brain episodes during this phase of Wilder's life. Having conversations like this: "Ba-h. Ba-h. Ba-h. Ba-h!" "Yes, I see the ball, Wilder!" 4,682 times a day will do that to a person. 

One of my favorite new things that he does is yell Dada! and run to the door as soon as he hears Paul's scooter pull in the driveway in the evening. It completely melts my heart every time. So, what else have we been up to lately...

Wilder is loving coloring these days. And I love that he loves it.

We went to the Children's Museum downtown with Rachel and Lexi last week.

Vroom vroom!

Rocking the heck out of that rocking horse. I was starting to fear he was about to propel himself off of it!

I love seeing them play together. They are such sweet little friends.

Vroom vroom! (again)

Having a meeting

Doing a little coloring

Playing dress-up (he's not going to appreciate this one when he gets older, haha) ;)

We went to a new park with Lien and Dean the next afternoon.

I love this new squatting thing he's doing. He looks like such a big boy.

Yoohoo!

The funnest toys are not toys at all, of course.

While I was cooking dinner one night, Wilder moved all of the Tupperware from one of the kitchen cabinets to the living room. I kept seeing him coming in and out of the kitchen and when I followed him I found the dishes neatly lined up on the couch. This kid cracks me up!

Saturday was one of the rare days that Paul didn't have to work at some point so we enjoyed spending all day with him. We strolled down to Urban Solace for lunch. Wilder carried his flower and struck a nonchalant pose in case he saw any cute girls along the way.

 EBLT sandwich and the most delicious fries ever anywhere -- we had set out to have a light lunch but I can't resist this sandwich.

Chilling on the patio with Dada

This child has the craziest hair

Dog park

My two loves

He adores his doggies

At Kellogg Beach with Holly and Reagan on a beautiful afternoon this week.

My little sweetie and me. Notice the lady paddle-surfing with her dog in the background. Before we got there Holly said there was a lady sitting next to her on the beach whose dog's ears were pierced. People in this town are crazy about their dogs, I tell ya!

He was thoroughly entertained by a dog playing fetch in the water.

He's always so fascinated when he sees kids on these razor scooters. Luckily for him Reagan rode hers to the beach and didn't mind him playing on it. He was in heaven. We're still enjoying his trike but I can see one of these in our near future.

Wilder has become quite a handful at the dog park. He insists on going down the entire line of cars and touching on/inspecting them.

Did I mention how crazy this child's hair is? It's really time for his first haircut but Paul and I have decided we aren't ready for that yet. 

We went to Liberty Station playground with Holly and Reagan Monday afternoon. Wilder saw Holly lift Reagan up to hang on this bar and insisted she lift him up too, although he wasn't exactly sure what to do after he got up there.

Then he and some little girl stood over there checking out the hedge for like 15 minutes. I love it when he randomly makes little friends. Makes a mama proud :)

Holly sent us home with a box of books passed down from Reagan and we had to immediately read every single one upon arrival. I have to say though, I'm beginning to question the sincerity of Holly's friendship because she snuck in a certain Winnie-the-Pooh piano book with no on/off switch or volume control that I suspect she just wanted out of her house. Just kidding, Holly! Seriously, thank you for all the great books (except the piano one, haha) ;)

We had a lunch date at Panera with Rachel and Lexi the other day. Isn't Wilder looking extra manly in his yogurt mustache? 

We've been enjoying so many grins like these lately. This would never get old in a million years.

We had Wilder's 15-month doctor's appointment yesterday. Before the appointment I sat down and made a list of his words because I knew they would ask about his speech. Including sound effects like woof, vroom, etc. I came up with just over 20. When we got there the nurse asked if he was saying at least 3-6 words and I was so proud to know that he was doing so well in that area! He's recently gotten SIX new teeth (so that has been really fun and has not at all affected our sleep, ha!) for a total of 12. He was in the 90th percentile for weight at 28 lbs. 9 oz. and in the 70th for height at 31.5 inches. He was so good while the doctor checked his heartbeat, etc. He was so fascinated by what she was doing and she commented on what a calm, laid-back baby he is. I'm just so proud of this little guy and love being his mama!

Today we met Rachel and Lexi at the park and had a big time. And I just realized I have no pictures of them together. But these days, with both of them running all over the place constantly, it's next to impossible to get them in the same frame. 

Like I said, Wilder's naps have been totally thrown off by those darn new teeth so he hadn't napped since 10:45 this morning. That resulted in a rare Wilder meltdown when it was time to leave the park. In an attempt to buck him up and depart with minimal tears I lifted him to put him on my shoulders but he would not sit down on them. Oh no, instead he sat on top of my head kicking me repeatedly in the face with the thick rubber heels of his shoes while I tried to get him onto my shoulders. I would have given up sooner than I did but I was in such shock from the blows. Also, it would have been a lot funnier if I wasn't fairly sure my nose was broken at the time. But it was pretty freaking funny anyway. 

Contemplating the slide

I have so much fun with this little man every day, even when I'm getting kicked in the face doing it. ;) I'll leave you with a few videos. This first is probably my favorite video ever of him. I wish I could bottle him up and keep him like that forever. 

The next two are me purposely trying to get some of his sounds on video. I think he senses this with the airplane and only gives me a half-hearted little "scheeeww". But I managed to get a pretty good bird sound in the last video, because well he's just so naturally emphatic about his bird sounds, which, by the way, can get really embarrassing say in line at the grocery store.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'm hoping for another beach day (or two)!