Ian at Fourteen Months Old!

Hey, I am fourteen months!

Ian's biggest achievements for this month would be "talking" and his improved mobility.

He has finally found his "voice". Instead of just mindless baby talk, his babbles now have a distinct sound to it. He loves hearing himself babble too. Recognizable babbles include "Eeeyoooo" (hello), "Aiiii" (bye) and "Eeeyyyy" (yeay).

Similar to Aiden at the same age, he understands that when I hold my arms out wide, it's his cue to run up (okay fine, walk quickly) to me and throws himself into my arms for a huge hug. So adorable and manja!

Cheeky grin.

He knows that shoes are meant for his feet. Sometimes he would balance himself and try to put one foot into the shoe. If successful (especially with daddy's shoes or indoor slippers), he would drag one shoed foot all around the house! He also knows that when we take his shoes off, it means it's time to come inside/go home. On a bad day, he would get so angry when we take his shoes off!

Unlike Aiden at the same age, Ian is much more steady at his feet. He's mastered walking and has even graduated to climbing! Just a week after turning 14 months, after many many frustrated attempts, he was finally able to climb onto the sofa in the living hall. The good thing is, he instinctively knows to turn himself over and then put his feet down when trying to get off the sofa. At the end of his 14th month, he also managed to conquer the bed! We even caught him climbing the TV panel once! Hence, Ian cannot be left playing unsupervised in the living hall anymore *sigh*.

You want to leave me unsupervised, Mummy?

Ian also understands the word give! If he's holding something and you put your hand out and say "give", there is a slight chance that he will hand it over to you. Unless it's the Astro remote - with that you have an absolute zero chance of getting that from him!

He has also mastered the bye wave, the hand clapping and returning a high five! (Not yet a high ten though!) And he knows how to use it correctly too - just last week we were at a hotel and he walked into the hotel room wardrobe, waved bye to us and closed the wardrobe door. If someone says "yeay" (for instance when we compliment Aiden for a job well done), Ian would clap his hands.

Contented with sitting beside his brother, his idol.

Ian can also play hide and seek with his brother. (Well, we are inclined to believe it's hide and seek!) His favourite hiding place would be behind the sheer curtain in the living hall. And when Aiden comes looking for him, instead of being absolutely quiet, he would squeal in delight then walk out with the curtain in front of his face, until the curtain exits the top of his head and trails behind him. And they would both play this over and over again! I hope they stay this close even when they become older...

Sibling love.

Technologically savvy - he knows the difference between the fan, aircon and TV remote; he can actually point the remote to the correct device! Loves to turn the light switch on and off, smiling widely when he sees the room go bright and dark. He also knows that the phone is for the ear. Previously whenever he gets access to the phone, he prefers pressing the home button to talk to Siri. But now when he gets the phone, occasionally he would put it at his ear (or sometimes even behind his ear) and blabber baby talk. He would also demand for his own share or air time - if I am on the phone with Hubby and Aiden gets to talk to Hubby after I am done, he would demand for the phone to be passed to him too. And he would chatter baby talk to Hubby and when he's done, he would push the phone away. He also insists on pushing the elevator buttons. Whenever we take the elevator, he would say "Ehhh, ehhhh" (currently his universal way of telling us he wants something) to indicate that he wants to press the button up/down.

Since he figured out how to pull away the adhesive tape from the handle-less kitchen cabinets (our poor excuse for baby proofing), he enjoys taking things out of the larder and the fridge. His favourite things to take out are his milk tin, tupperware, Mummy's baking supplies and chili sauce bottles!

Making a mess in the kitchen.

Loves "driving" my car. Usually he's asleep when I leave for work. But if he's awake, he would insist on going into the car and pushing my steering wheel left and right, like driving. He would refuse to leave the car until he gets to "drive" at least one round around the neighbourhood.

Absolutely loves the water. Whenever we bring out the inflatable pool, he would have such a fun time splashing about. He is also very courageous - he can climb in and out of the pool all by himself!

Having a whale of a time in the pool.

He also knows that a brush/comb is used to comb the hair. We went to a birthday party just last week and caught him picking up a brush and using it to comb his hair (albeit the wrong way)! Super cute!!

Ian at the beauty salon.

Despite his manja-ness (loves to cuddle up to me on the bed), he has his stubborn and angry streaks too. If he does something naughty (like smack his brother's face, or put his finger into our nose - among his favourite things to do) and we tell him off, he would actually retaliate by wailing in anger. If we continue reprimanding him, he would screech in anger until his body shakes! Same thing if Aiden berates him - he would yelp angrily, body shaking and all. Sometimes it gets so funny that we laugh our heads off watching him!

Last but not least, this month only one teeth sprouted on the top, making a grand total of 7 teeth!

And that brings us to the close of Ian's fourteenth month. Happy 15 months old, baby!