Soren Update: 15 Months

Soren has completely abandoned crawling and is officially a bonafide walker.  It's hard to believe that just a month ago we were cheering for him as he took a couple of steps across the room.  Now he only crawls if he's already sitting on the floor and sees something he wants that's only a step or two away.  Or apparently if he's imitating another baby.  Our friends' eight-month-old is just learning to crawl.  He gets up on this hands and knees and belly-flops forward and then flails around a bit on his stomach.  When I set Soren down on his feet now, he usually stays upright, but when I put him down on the floor to play with the baby, he flopped down on his stomach and started moving around the same way the baby was moving. 

Soren is also a dancer.  He's always liked music, but now that he can walk, if we put on the radio, he bounces up and down or spins in circles.  Sometimes he'll pump his arms.  He just recently added a new move to his repertoire - a foot stomp.  He doesn't necessarily even need music.  If we ask him if he wants to dance, he starts bouncing up and down.  Now Chris can't wait for Uncle Scott's wedding when he can get the kids on the dance floor to show off their moves. 

This must be the month for gross motor skills, because Soren can also climb stairs. Actually, he races up stairs and is even learning how to go down them backwards on his hands and knees. 

Although Soren can't talk, he surprises us with how much he can comprehend at such a young age.  He responds to his name, can hand you things if you ask for them and when he was whining at the dinner table and I asked him if he wanted more cheese or some water, (and pointed at each one) he motioned towards the water.  He even understood how to play hide and seek with his Uncle Andy, although his giggles always gave away his location. 

Soren is still afraid of dogs, but at least he's not afraid of stuffed animals anymore.  In fact, he gives them kisses - loud, lip-smacking kisses.  He suddenly started showing interest in Oliver's brown bear, so we got him a polar bear, also an Eric Carle favorite, and he instantly wanted to snuggle with it at bedtime. 

One of the most enduring things he does of late is give me a big hug and kiss.  When I come home from work, I crouch down on the floor, call out Soren's name and ask if I can have a kiss and he toddles towards me and give me a gentle hug and kiss before going back to playing.  He also insists on waving goodbye to me when I leave by climbing on top a floor-level shelf that holds the kids' toy baskets so that he can get a good view of me as I get into my car.  

He's in size 4 diapers and is just moving into size 18 month shirts and size 12 month pants.  He has six teeth, two on top and four on bottom, and is working on a seventh.  He's still drools tons and he may go a few days with relatively un-chapped skin, but we pretty much have to be unrelenting with applying Vaseline around his mouth. 

This kid loves tofu!  He remains a good eater and like most kinds of foods, including all types of fruits and the typical snack foods, but at dinner, he plows through any dish with tofu in it.