15 Months of Baby Steps

I still need to do an Arizona Christmas post, but today Grant turned 15 months and I had to get this cute video posted. Here are two of Grant's favorite things:

1) Stairs. I think Grant spent 90% of his time at our parents' homes climbing up and down the stairs. Although the animals at the zoo were interesting and deserved some intense pointing and "oo-ee-oo"s, nothing at the zoo quite compared to the stairs leading up to the lookout deck. Nat refuses to take Grant to Elder's Quorum lessons because Grant only wants to climb up and down the dangerous stage stairs. Really, Grant just loves climbing in general, as can be seen in the I Looked at the Window post and the Still Enjoying Thanksgiving Leftovers post.
2) Oranges. Grant loves eating oranges. If he happens to be near an open refridgerator, he will find an orange and hand it to me, indicating that he wants me to peel the orange for eating. Once he was too impatient for me to peel the orange and decided to try eating the unpeeled orange. The face he made was one of our favorites. His love of oranges was further confirmed in Arizona when he discovered the orange trees in his grandparent's backyard. Unfortunately, we never got a picture of Grant and his orange trees, but we did get about 40 different pictures of cacti we saw on our hike to the Wind Caves. Words Grant can say: ball, book, "ba" meaning food, up, more (sometimes), hi (sometimes)
Animal sounds Grant knows: dinosaurs (and most other animals) - roar; cows - moo; sheep - baah; dogs - woof; pigs - oink (sometimes they roar)

Commands Grant will follow: Up/down, turn around, walk, eat, say "aah" (very useful when he refuses to swallow the food he doesn't like), "so big", tickle-tickle (he tickles his tummy), give hugs, give kisses, blow (mouth), blow your nose, change diaper (runs away), clap, throw, wave "bye-bye", go night-night, and so much more
He still doesn't follow the "no" or "stop" command . . . I'm not sure if he doesn't understand "no" or if he chooses to ignore me. Given that he tells me "no" when he doesn't want to do something, I think he is probably choosing to ignore me.

Body parts Grant can identify (on himself and others): bellybutton, toes, nose, mouth, ears, head, hair, hands, and teeth

Grant may be a late walker and talker, but I am so impressed with his problem solving and fine motor skills. We have been playing with his pet puzzle for the past few days. I recorded this video this morning. Prepare to be amazed.



He definitely knows where each piece belongs. Sometimes I have to help him turn or slide the puzzle piece, but each day he gets better at figuring out how to move the piece so it will fit. He also organizes stacking toys by color, and he is very close to figuring out how to put the rings on the peg in order from biggests to smallest. He can put three rings in order, but he is still working on ordering four rings. His strategy seems to contain a lot of trial and error, but some more advanced strategies are beginning to emerge. And for those of us unfamiliar with development milestones (I include myself in this group), my book listed "sorts toys by color, shape, or size" under the advanced skills of a 17-month-old, and "does simple puzzles" was listed as an emerging skill amoung 22-month-olds.