It was all I could do not to type "Ferg: 15 months" because, really, that is what we call him most of the time. But, I am assuming one day that business will stop. Or will it?
This precious, giant headed, blonde, blue eyed, intense, giggling, stubborn, hilarious, snuggly little Love Monkey, Ferg is 15 months old. And, we definitely, without a doubt are keeping him forever.
So, I mostly look crazy here, but normally he roars every time we put a fun towel on him. I was impatient & took the pic too soon, but this is one of my favorite things. He can make most animal sounds like roaring with lions/tigers, ssssing with snakes, mooing, boo/bok, barking, etc. and I love listening to his little sounds.
Speaking of sounds, he knows so many words....bulldozer, cement mixer, digger, tractor, glasses, eyepatch, Mama, Daddy, Noni, Bop, Anderson, GG, Jpa, Chloe, Gabbi, most common animals, cookie, outside, almost all vehicles/boats/transportation related things, book, milk, bath, ball, bat, etc. His most frantically said words are, without a doubt, MAMA and MONKEY (his lovey.)
The boy is totally spoiled.
Loving these little magnets from Aunt Manda. He really does know all of the major construction names and hearing him say "digger" and "mement mi-er" is beyond adorable.
He can climb into the bathtub and turn the water on by himself, so that is fun.
I think he looks like Brandon here. (and most other places, too)
He LOVES Anderson* so much and there is nothing sweeter than him trying to jump out of my arms to get to his brother when we go pick him up at school.
*Nowhere near as much as Anderson loves him. Literally, Anderson is OBSESSED with him. He just annoys him from the first second they are awake to try and get attention and Max is just trying to chill and drink his milk with his monkey. If anyone related to me is trying to chill PLEASE LET THEM! I do love the obsession, of course, but sometimes it is exhausting.
Max is incredibly lucky to be the second born because he gets to have so many adventures due to the constant entertaining of Anderson & he has so much cool stuff!! Anderson did not have all of the cars/construction stuff/trains/etc that Max does at this age, so this is totally a perk for the younger one.
He LOVES all things transportation:construction, cars, monster trucks, trains, Emergency vehicles, etc. He makes all of the correct sounds, prefers the real looking ones over the fake ones and will find furniture that is his eye level to roll them on so he can stare at the wheels. They don't look alike, but his personality and interests are to a tee Anderson at 15 months.
He is really just so cute.
The white wall makes us blend in with the background and that is kind of weirding me out.
In the greatest twist ever, I managed to snag a 4pm pediatrician visit for his check up!! This never happens. They always want to give me an 11am or something random and I am so confused about the fact that people can actually make appts at that time. I NEVER get something as wonderful as 4 and end up taking half days/rearranging everything/exploiting my mom/etc, so this was AMAZING.
I realize I just spent more time celebrating that time than documenting his vocabulary.
Also, I realize that my child literally looks nothing like me. Not even a tiny little gene of mine in there.
Earlier in the month, I went to pick him up from the crib and he stood up suddenly and his giant head hit my cheek bone and gave me black eye. I, as evidenced by how I look most days, rarely actually look at my reflection because, honestly, it is not like you can change anything anyway. I had no idea my entire face was swollen until someone asked me about it later that day and I went to check. And...it was picture day, so my id for the year is going to look extra nice.
Point is, I felt redeemed when I saw his head %.
Anderson was in the 15th% for weight, so this is a striking difference. Max is picky, but normal picky, not Anderson picky. He loves all fruit, no vegetables, some meat, pasta, yogurt, milk, cookies, cereal and a few other things.
He has literally eaten more meat in his life than Anderson has in almost 5 years. Every meal with Anderson is a war, while with Max meals are just a normal battle. Max doesn't venture into the "lunch meat or bread or casserole or most other things" route, but he has on occasion eaten ground beef, hot dogs and chicken!!!! And, he will drink plain milk!!! Anderson was so tiny and such a non eater that we had to mix Carnation in his milk to get him to drink/fatten him up. We are still working on a few things, but I realize that I cannot make a kid that likes mashed potatoes or macaroni & cheese to save my life.
He is not an amazing day time sleeper (maybe a 30 minute nap/I feel like I hit the jackpot if we get 45 minutes), but he does go to sleep by 8 and will sleep very close to 6am, so this is pretty amazing. I grieved the loss of Anderson's nap for so long that I am at a much better place with Max.
Numerous times a day I think something like this:
I have a 15 month old who ate a piece of chicken!!! This is awesome
...who doesn't climb out of his crib yet!!!! Awesome.
...who doesn't have eczema so terrible that his skin bleeds and he has to wear special diapers and have numerous prescriptions! Awesome.
...who took a 30 minute nap today!! Awesome.
...who doesn't wear an eyepatch for 16 hours a day! Awesome.
I am not entirely sure my sanity would have survived if Anderson was our 2nd born because having him first gave me some amazing perspective.
Back to the Ferg, how pitiful is he here? If you are trying to go back in time and get him, don't worry, I snuggled him immediately. I honestly have no idea why I took this picture, but clearly my documenting gene beat out the sympathetic mom gene.
He is obsessed with this monkey. (There are actually 3 monkeys-one at home, one at Noni's and one at school.) It is borderline unhealthy, but it makes him so happy that we always give it to him. If he sees it in his crib he will freak out until he is holding him/eating with him/bathing with him/etc. You can imagine how amazing the monkey smells.
His real name is Truman Monkey because he replaced the FDR lovey of Anderson's that Chloe ate. Hearing Max try to say Truman might be the greatest thing ever.
Max loves both of his sisters equally, but I think he might like Chloe a little bit more. Chloe is getting a bit lazy in her old age and has decided that being sat on/shot at by a Nerf gun/a parking lot for Monster trucks/a launchpad for helicopters, etc requires much less effort than moving.
I love when he acts like a little person, like trying to fill up a water bottle on the fridge. He always tries to put everyone's shoes on, puts trash in the garbage can* and tries to sit in the real chairs and use the real silverware.
*He is clearly not so conscientious about trash when he is eating because he just throws his food all over the tray, the floor, the walls, etc. This might be why Chloe tolerates him sitting on her.
Truly, he is so perfect and so darn adorable that I just cannot resist snuggling his chubby little thighs at all opportunities. I say this every update, but he truly makes our family complete and I am so grateful that is ours.
