What does a 15-month old Temu
do?
Temu is a great walker and
loves to explore as much on his own 2 feet as he did on his hands and
knees. Now that he’s been walking for a
bit, it’s been fun to see even more of his personality (wait, there’s more?)
come alive. For example, he often walks
past me, waving bye-bye, and walks into another room– all the while, smirking
as he walks back to see me as if saying, “See mom, I was just pretending to go
bye-bye.” Funny. It’s also fun to just let him wander at the park
or in the yard and see where he chooses to go.
Temu waves hello and good-bye, will offer a hug or kiss, and blows
kisses, too. He does this for people –
those known and random folks we see at grocery stores or at the park - as well
as to non-human things like swings, slides, puddles, and trees.
Speaking of going “bye-bye,”
Temu likes to travel – he’s been to Utah and Wisconsin this summer, adding more
members to his fan club and soaking in all the new faces, places, and
adventures he’s been exposed to. So far,
he’s done really well on airplanes, too.
Temu remains a really happy
guy – as he was from the day we got him and also from what his nanny had said
about him while in care. When he gets mad, it’s often for a fairly reasonable complaint. Temu’s receptive language has grown
tremendously – we really do believe he understands most of what we’re
saying. He follows 1 and sometimes
2-step directions, points at named objects in books, knows parts of the body
(belly button being the favorite), and has a few words of his own….dada (now
turning into daddy), mama (alleluia!), uh-oh, wow, daw! (for dog), dune (for down),
toe, and he signs “more,” “please,” and “all done.” He’s also been babbling in long streams – no
idea what he’s saying but it’s pretty entertaining for us. It’s exciting to see
his language develop – much of the typical toddler frustration eases when they
can actually tell you what they want.
Not that toddlers always get what they want.
Temu loves to be
outside! We’re excited to get him a
little rake and have him experience all the good fun that fall and crunchy leaves bring.
He’s going to love jumping in leaf piles and throwing the leaves all
over the place. Thankfully, outside is
one place mama doesn’t have to sweep.
Temu is also fond of transportation
(i.e.: things that have wheels and go). He loves his little cars, his school
bus, airplane, anything he can push around on the floor while making
“Vrroooom-ish” type noises. He rings the
bell on his bike and likes to beep the horn on the cars at the parent
center. If he’s holding one of his
little airplanes and you ask him what a plane does he will hold it up and “fly”
it in the air while making some sort of “whoosh” sound. Who needs t.v. when you have this kind of
entertainment at home?
Temu is still a good eater;
willing to try just about anything especially if it’s on someone else’s plate. When asked if he’s hungry/wants some num-num/lunch/snack,
he will respond with a smile and a smack of his lips if the answer is yes; pretty
cute. He still does not like bananas or
oatmeal, but likes almost everything else.
He prefers whole fruit – a whole peach or a whole apple vs. cut up
pieces. His newest favorites are steamed
edamame, chick peas, and mama’s new mushroom-barley concoction. Go figure. He usually eats off a plate and is
beginning to use a small spoon and fork.
He drinks water out of a real cup pretty well; we’re not ready to move
to milk in the cup but with a little more practice he’ll be there soon. Meal
time is usually a happy time, though rarely a mess-free time.
Temu is a busy boy – he goes
to the local parent centers (which are really places for kids to play while grown-ups
get a chance to speak to someone over 3 feet tall), we are frequent visitors at
the Y (so grateful for this place when the weather is bad) for swimming and
Tumble-and-Play, HooteNanny music class, and many of the local parks and hiking
areas. Temu seems to like variety in his
day, although also likes to play with his favorite toys at home and chill out
with mama and dada. He’s still a good
sleeper (thankfully) and takes one long (2-3 hour) nap in the middle of the
day.
Is Temu perfect all the
time? Of course….not. He is 100% little boy who likes to get dirty,
make messes, has endless amounts of energy, and likes to have things his way. He is especially attached to mama right now
and doesn’t like it when she leaves his side (even if daddy is there), but
we’re told that a bit of separation anxiety is extremely normal at this age and
is actually a good-sign of attachment. It hasn't been too extreme, just more noticeable lately. He will holler when he gets mad/wants
something and can’t tell us or pull mama’s hair (boy does she love that). We’re working on setting good patterns – like
not giving in to his every want/scream and giving him options, choices, and
responsibilities when appropriate. In
other words, we’re trying not to let him run the show ALL the time, just some
of the time.
We love our boy!