Belton: Sixteen Months

At sixteen months, Belton LOVES his Daddy! He has always loved him, of course. But right now, he is super duper attached! He wakes up in the morning and says "Dada" and looks around for him. He says "Dada" every time that he sees a picture of Matt (that's pretty frequently in our apartment!). He is so excited when Matt gets home from work every day! 

 Belton often mimics us with whatever we are doing. Sometimes when we wash our hands, he  rubs his together the same way. When I put on my shoes he finds his and pretends to put them on. When Matt or I are typing on our computers, he wants to be right with us, "typing" away on the keyboard.

He also repeats most words that we say. He's whispering a lot, and it's often not understandable, but he's trying to talk! He does a very good job of saying "paaah" (please) when he wants something and "eh ooooo" (thank you) when we give it to him.

And he HATES it when Daddy has to leave. This doesn't happen often, but on Wednesday Matt needed to go help someone, so he left. Belton just cried and cried when he went out the door, as you can see be below.

 But he still generally comes to Mama for comfort. When he is hurt or sad, he will either come to me, or Matt will put him in my lap and he'll just lay on me until he calms down.

Belton loves sitting in his baseball chair, playing with his tractor and trucks, watching Curious George, drinking milk or juice (although he is offered his fair share of water, too!), reading books with Mama or Dada, singing, dancing, playing with his little friends, playing at the gym, watching videos (of himself) on Matt's phone, sitting in wagons, trucks, laundry baskets, anything he can fit in!

 Belton LOVES going outside. He would be outside all day long, if we would let him! He's a little explorer and just wants to know more about what's going on around him. As a friend said to me today, "he's curious!".

He got to be like a big boy and eat popcorn on our couch during the super bowl.

 Belton gives us sweet kisses and hugs. He always lays his head down on my shoulder when I ask him for a hug. It's my favorite!

He frequently acts shy when we are meeting new people. But he loves flirting with them too! So he'll grab my leg and peek out at new friends from behind me. He's so sweet and silly!

 He LOVES rolling around in his crib once I go to get him up for the day or from a nap. He shows me his blankets and other things in his crib. He points to things on his pajamas, frequently these snowmen!

 Sometimes he even stands up and jumps a little bit. He thinks that is super fun and totally silly!

Every single time that I sit down at the table with him while he's having a meal or a snack, he immediately folds his arms for the prayer. Sweet kid! And he knows that as soon as we are doing reading our scripture story for the night, it's time to fold his arms for the prayer.

We love watching Belton grow and develop into a little person with such a big personality! We are so blessed to have you in our family, sweet Belton! We love you!!

Lately...

 Belton has really developed a LOVE for coloring! All. The. Time. Ususally, he spends more time playing with the crayon box that actually coloring. But that's okay!

 We got Belton a toy chest. We love it! I'm so excited that he finally has a good place to keep his toys!

  Belton has really started using a fork. Not that he's great at it, but he enjoys it!

And it motivates him to actually eat! Yay!

 We went to a first birthday party for Belton's friend Ava!

Every morning, every night, and many other times during the day, Belton goes over to these pictures of Jesus and says "Jessusss". It is so sweet. Matt and I hope and pray that Belton always loves Christ as much as he does right now!

He also began folding his arms for prayers. And he folds his arms when he gets in his highchair. I think that it's so sweet that he knows it's time for a blessing on the food!

We sure do love this little guy!

Trucks!

 Belton really enjoys playing with cars and trucks.

 Almost any time that I need for him to be distracted, I can say "where is your truck? Go play with your truck!" and he will go looking for one. It's great!

 Lately, he likes sitting in this dump truck and scooting himself backwards.

 What a cutie!

Cabela's

 For our mom's group activity this week, we went to Cabela's!

 Belton enjoyed looking at all of the animals and fish. We even got to watch the big fish be fed little fish! That was interesting! :)

 These cute boys and the big moose!

 Belton loved playing in the tents and then he and Cole did some target practice! ;-)

Bubble Bath!

Belton had his first bubble bath this week!

 He had fun playing in the bubbles!

 

Baseball Fun with Papaw

 Belton loves playing and exploring outside, and Papaw loves to take him!

 Some of these pictures just melt my heart!

Belton: Fifteen Months

I can't believe this boy is already 15 months old!

Right now, Belton:

Loves outside!

Loves picking up leaves and carrying them to the car every time we leave our apartment.

Says "vroom!" when I tell him we are going to get in the car or when he hears a loud truck/motorcycle go by.

Runs to the front door whenever I start turning the lights off or putting on my shoes, because he knows this means we are going somewhere.

Loves climbing in and out of chairs that are just his size.

Calms down in the car when we sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or If You're Happy and You Know It!

LOVES Jesus. He sees pictures of Him in our apartment or at church and always points Him out, saying "Jessus". He loves looking at the pictures when we read Bible and Book of Mormon stories to him and pointing out the pictures of Jesus in those books, too.

LOVES going up stairs, but still hasn't figured out the right way to go down them! 

Puts his head on my shoulder when I ask him to give me a hug. <3

Loves running around and being chased. He giggles nonstop when we do this! Every night we play a game of "I'm gonna get you!" right before bath time. We all have so much fun!

Enjoys listening to music and dancing. He even dances along to the "beat" of the dishwasher running. He dances all the time! 
Hates having his teeth brushed. 

Plays peek-a-boo all the time. He covers his eyes (or just part of his head) with his hands and pulls them away suddenly with a grin. He's thrilled when we say, "there he is!!".

Holds his arms up to you and opens and closes his hands when he wants to be picked up.

Is terrified of the vacuum cleaner- even when it's off.

 Isn't really into eating. He eats a few bites usually, and that's it. 

Doesn't like being touched by anyone, except Mom or Dad. But he'll eventually warm up to you!

Brings us books to read to him all the time. He loves reading!

Plays well by himself for a little while, most days.

Knows lots of animal sounds: cow, dog, cat, bird, fish (goes swish swish), bee, horse and lamb.

Lays down on soft blankets (or sometimes just the floor) all the time. He loves soft things and cuddling! 

Belton is a very effective communicator. He says several words, but most often communicates by getting our attention and then pointing while going "eh eh eh" until we go follow him so he can show us what he wants. 

Words he says: hi, bye bye, mama, dada, highchair, apple, pear, tree, leaf, teeth, cheese, ice, please, water, up, toes, shoes, toys, eyes, jacket, chicken, Pooh-bear and keys.

 He LOVES his milk, too!

Belton's fifteen month appointment was a rough one. He had to have blood taken to check to see if he has a nut allergy because he broke out in hives once, when he had eaten peanut butter. The nurse had to strap him down in this papoose so that he would stay still enough for the blood draw. It was definitely the saddest parenting experience I've had so far! He just cried and cried and cried and cried while he was strapped down. It wasn't so much about the blood draw, just the being strapped down! Poor, sad baby. We haven't gotten the results yet and are crossing our fingers that the hives were just a fluke!!

  Fifteen Month Stats

Weight: 23 pounds, 15 ounces, 45th percentile

Length: 31.25 inches, 50th percentile

Head: 19 inches, 80th percentile

  11 teeth!!

 Belton is our sweet, precious baby and we just feel so very blessed to have him in our family. We sure do love our little guy!!