14 months

Last week Parker turned 14 months. I know this is no real big deal, but I like to document what he does at what age, because I have a bad memory when it comes to these kinds of things.
Some of our favorite pastimes together:

• We still love playing at the little toy house in the living room. it is so much fun.
  
• He loves to sit on our laps at the computer and type and then reach over grab the mouse with his right hand and click the buttons. He is so good at it too. It is so funny to watch him. if either of us are sitting here he pretty much demands his turn.
• He has mastered sliding down the stairs. he was very good at crawling up ever since he turned 1 or before and it just took about 2 weeks after his birthday before he really got the hang of it. He is so fast. He just turns around at the top and goes feet first on his belly and slides. It is nice that he feels comfortable on them now, I am not quite as scared, I still freak out all the time with it, but Dan tries to teach me to relax about him on there. He is very good it is true. As long as I am by his side, I am fine.
• He LOVES to talk on the phone. Every morning we talk to Grandma Linda on the phone together. So whenever I pick up the phone he thinks it is for him. He doesn't understand that everyone is not quite as anxious to talk to his as his grandma is. But he will grab the phone and hold it to his ear and walk all around the house jabbering into it. Sometimes he even uses his shoulder to hold the phone up there. I wonder where his fascination with talking on the phone came from...? These are two of my favorite phone pictures
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• ps. I do not store my Tupperware on my kitchen floor. that is still a favorite activity in emptying out the drawer, but now it has turned into take one put and bring it to me on the other side of the room, I thank him for the gift and then he goes to get another one, we repeat until drawer is empty!
• He actually plays that game with most anything now. He loves to do it with laundry. I will fold one pile then he picks it up piece by piece and brings it to me, he is so proud of himself too!
• He is actually getting so smart. or at least I am realizing his smartness. He understands me for the most part. I first realized this the other day when he woke up from his nap and he had a pacifier in his mouth and I asked him to spit it out and put it in his crib (we do not use it when we are not sleeping) and before I could reach up to do it he had done it. I made such a big deal telling him how smart he was now he does it automatically when I pick him up and then claps and gets so excited all on his own. So funny!
• Then later that day I decided to test how much else he understood so I asked him to go and pickup the block on the other side of the kitchen and bring it back and put it with the other blocks and he walked right there and picked it up and brought it right back and put it away. I was amazed. he keeps surprising me, but it also made me realize he does understand me telling him not to do something and he just blatantly disobeys and refuses to stop, ahh the joys of parenting!
• One of my favorite new things he does is fold his arms for prayers. right before we are about to pray like at dinner I say fold your arms and I do it and he will too, it doesn't always stay in place through out the prayer, but he does it nonetheless. Dan and I always kiss after we pray and so after we say amen he puckers up and waits. It is the funniest thing. I can not believe what a wonderful little boy we have. He constantly amazes me. Being a mother is so challenging yet so rewarding all at the same time. When I look back at when he was just born I have a hard time remembering how difficult things were, with all the crying and no sleeping. Good thing I have dan here to remind me, but I do not remember it as so bad at all. I think that is a special thing for mothers so we are willing to do it again. I am so thankful for my opportunity to be a mother. It is the most special calling I could ever be given. Thank you to my mom for teaching me how. I love you so much!