Andrew is 14 months old!

Andrew is growing up so fast and I think it's more fun as he is getting older. Bring on the independence - I love it!!! And he does, too. One of the biggest blessings about Andrew is how well he plays by himself. He likes to walk around and pick things up, then swing over to his room and play quietly with his toys for a little bit, before coming back and touching base, maybe then reading some books, etc. He hardly ever wants me to play with him. Of course, it's a challenge, because I have to remember that he still need me to spend lots and lots of time with him.

Andrew loves walking and walks so independently and everywhere. This month, he started being a little climber. And I swear he is practically running. He likes to get into everything. And anything that he can use as a step, he does. He climbs into cabinets and up stairs and onto everything. He still loves this the most, but he is starting to spend a little more time playing and looking through books. His favorite is to play with cars by himself, just running them back and forth. It's so cute.

No progress really on speaking. He can say cat and dog. But mostly he just grunts or says "That. That" And then has a little tantrum if you can't figure out what it is that he wants.

Speaking of tantrums, I swear these started as soon as his birthday did. They are not full out tantrums, but he definitely arches his back and screams and cries for several minutes. Mostly when we leave the park. Or anywhere that has fun toys. They don't bother me at all yet, but I am sure they will just get worse.

Andrew is also sneaky and always doing things he isn't supposed to - especially after looking right at you first. Mostly this involves playing with cat food, the toilet, or running away from you. The best course of action, of course, is to remove him from the situation, but I have the world's worst backache now from picking him up and carrying him. Hopefully, that goes away soon.

Andrew has been teething a lot the past month. His molars broke through in the last week or so (on the top) and I know those incisors are right behind. This has made Andrew VERY cranky and very tearful and always chewing on pacifiers (I knew these would come in handy someday!) or wet washcloths. Poor thing. This might also explain his sudden lack of interest in food. He only wants to eat rice balls, seaweed, frozen vegetables, and strawberries. Oh, yes, and goldfish crackers. We are also very gradually trying to wean him, but I just know this will take a long time. Especially as he won't drink milk. He drinks a bit and spits it out. Still. After two months .... I guess we are going to have to try something else.

Andrew's sleep ... well, we're trying to do sleep training, which is only sort of working. The whole teething thing is a compounding factor and even when he falls asleep on his own well, he is still waking at night some. Well, mostly in the early morning. Hopefully, those teeth will all break through soon.

This was overall a very exciting month for Andrew. The trip to Great Britain was surely the highlight, but camping was fun, too. Time away from Daddy was not so fun, but he's around the rest of the year!!!