Joy!

We didn't do anything exciting tonight. The little booger played with his ball-popper. That thing drives me up the wall, but the little guy loves it.

 His clasped-hands 'oh joy!' expression in this one killed me:

It's not my favorite toy, but that's not the point.

How Not to Talk to Your 16-Month Old

I was going to write about the little dude's new silverware (riveting, I know), but then he did this:

What isn't in the video is the conversation that followed him ignoring my initial request. In the dialog below, he is LS (for Little Stinker), and I'm Me.

Me: Hey, can you close that please?

LS: (completely ignores me)

Me: Hey, can you close the door please?

LS: (continues to ignore me, turns some knobs)

Me: LS, can you please close that door?

LS: (pushes a button, giggles to himself)
 
Me: Hey, LS, can you please close the door?

LS: (looks at door, smiles at me) Door!

Me: Yes, door! Can you please close the door and play with something else, like your car?

LS: (points to window, smiles at me) Car!

Me: No, no. Your toy car. It's right there (points) at your feet.

LS: (points to and stamps his feet-- grinning like he's trying to say 'Feet! These are my feet!')

This is where I got up and closed the door. It's nice that he understands so many words, but this was one of the least productive conversations I've ever had. Happy 16 months!

Eating with Gusto!

Today was a successful food day for the little stinker. He had yogurt with lunch, which he and Sadie thoroughly enjoyed.

We spent the afternoon at the emergency vet. Beau hurt his back again, so he's on bed rest and some serious pain medication (poor little beagle). After an exhausting afternoon running around the parking lot at the vet's, the little booger took a second nap. He woke up in time to enjoy his dinner, starting with his corn muffin.

After eating one and a half muffins, he polished off a bowl of chili.

It's fun to cook for such an appreciative audience.

He's a maniac!

This is how he goes down the stairs:

Thankfully we've been there every time he's started down them like that. We were thinking about crawling backwards down the stairs with hopes of influencing him to do the same. He's going to break a bone if he keeps this mess up.

What a Mooch!

The little stinker's favorite breakfast is whatever other people are eating. Here he is sponging off his dad.

When he wants our food, he'll stare at us, drool, whine, and make the signs "more" and "please." Sometimes having him around is like having a third dog, except the dogs don't know sign language.

Security Blanket

We had a tired little boy at the table tonight.

 He loves that blanket so much we should've named him Linus.

He likes to chew on the blanket, too, so it's constantly covered with partially-chewed cracker bits and yogurt. Yum!

He can do it!

The little dude likes to do things the grown-up way, thankyouverymuch. He won't be fed from his rubber-tipped baby spoons because his dad and I use different ones. Here's a video of him eating his yogurt out of a big spoon at dinner tonight.

It's pretty fun to see him do things himself even though he can make a huge mess. For example, he was helping himself to Cheerios (yay!)...

... when he dumped the entire box out onto the floor (boo).

I guess only first-time parents are surprised by that turn of events.