Leo has now spent as much time out in our world as he did cooking (can't forget those extra five days--at least he wasn't a 42+ weeker like a certain toddler I know). This age is just so stinking fun, and having a brother to interact with brings out a whole new set of quirks.
Leo has his games he initiates--playing peekaboo with the curtains or a blanket, crawling away and waiting for people to chase him, and this flop onto the carpet that he wants people to imitate. He knows to look under Peter's chair for crumbs of food and will slide onto his belly and put his head on the ground to look under furniture for little scraps to taste. He's a happy baby, often with a smirky grin. He makes a beeline to whatever Peter's playing with and knows that he can eat the tires off the Brio cars but none of the matchbox ones. He's a master of spreading small toys throughout the floor. If Peter's not around, he'll crawl around exploring without much interaction from me for quite awhile. He loves going under and around the Christmas tree. Most ornaments under the three foot mark have been removed by one of the boys or the cat but none of them have pulled the branches enough to scare us.
Just after Thanksgiving, Leo weighed 20 lbs 10 oz fully dressed to the shoes at the doctor's--I suspect he's just under the 20 lb mark. He got 12 month clothes for Christmas and everything fit fine--maybe he'll wear Peter's winter 12-18 month clothes next year at this rate. I moved him up to 12-18 month shoes when he got new Robeez for Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, his favorite toys are a set of whisks from my mom.
He wants to eat everything (so long as it's not too warm or cold) but his digestive system isn't quite keeping up. He's only been pooping every third day or so since he started eating a little solids most days around the beginning of December. He's still peeing all the time. He doesn't pee while nursing anymore so my catch rate went down, but we caught nearly every poop for weeks.
Mr. Flexible Sleeper he is not. He is rarely willing to nap anywhere but the car or our bed, and he won't transfer out of the car. I've been trying to work afternoons while family watches the boys at their homes, but Leo takes the shortest naps possible to function if we aren't home. If we are home and he doesn't take a mini-nap in the car in the morning but instead sleeps for an hour, than his afternoon nap is goofed up, too. While Dan was home on Christmas break, Leo never seemed to take a long nap and was constantly off-kilter. I'm not sure if it'll get better until I finish the consulting project in a few weeks. I've also been falling asleep nursing him to sleep at night because he won't let me unlatch until I've been lying down so long I conck out. If Dan tries to coax him to sleep, he just gets angrier until I come nurse him, although in a pinch, it does tire him out. He's still waking at least every three hours at night to nurse and pee.
He's been cruising for awhile, but he seems to spend more time upright than he used to. He's stood unassisted for as long as ten seconds, although one or two is more common. He's taken a falling step from one place to another. He has figured out how to turn around to get off beds and down stairs (yay!). His temper comes out when we blockade the stairs.
He signs for Dada and fan and says Dada and occasionally (mostly when angry) Mama.
