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| Rockin' the mohawk in her infant bathtub |
14 Month Stats:
Age: 14 months
Weight: 24 lbs, 4 oz. (78th %)
Height: ~ 32 inches (95th %)
Favorite toy: Balls and toy she pushes that has popping balls in it
Favorite toy that’s not a toy: Remote control
New foods: Black eyed peas, pizza, sausage, goldfish, graham crackers, oranges, grapes
Favorite food: Cheese, fruit
Least favorite food: Potatoes, meat
Number of teeth: 16
Makes her smile: Dixie, her daddy giving her silly looks
Makes her laugh: Buzzing her stomach with your lips, Charles biting her fingers
Makes her cry: Taking things away from her that she wants, falling and hurting herself, smashing her fingers in cabinets
Favorite place to be: Climbing around on the couch, any place she can run around and explore
Can say: “Ba” for bird, balloon, and bear, “Bu” for ball, “Ta” for cat, “Mama” sometimes for her mama, “Dada” sometimes for her dada, “Ma” for map, “Ga” for girl, “Ga-gr” for good girl, “Ma-mama” for banana.
Milestones: Walking, saying and understand more words
Clothing size: 18-24 months
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| Payton on Charles' b-day last year at less than a month old versus his b-day this year at 1 year old |
Charles’ Birthday
This past November was Charles’ 31st birthday, which you wouldn’t think would be one of those big birthdays, but for him it was because this year his birthday was on 11-11-11. I wanted to have a party for him, especially since we didn’t do anything for his 30th birthday last year since Payton was less than a month old at the time. But he insisted that he didn’t want a party or to do anything special for his birthday. We did go out to eat at Chili’s for dinner and had cookie cake for desert. Chili’s turned out to be a huge success because they had things out picky little eater (Payton) would eat like broccoli. She also actually liked the cheese quesadillas and chicken crispers too. We will definitely be going back! The following Saturday we met my parents in the parking lot near Reed Arena in College Station before the Aggie football game and had a little breakfast celebration with them for Charles’ birthday as well. Happy 31st birthday, Charles!
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| Charles' b-day- Payton showing us that she is 1, while her daddy is 31 |
November Days
The day after Charles’ birthday (2nd weekend in November) we took Payton to the beach in her red Radio Flyer wagon. She enjoyed riding in her wagon but halfway to the beach she wanted out and so she ended up pushing her wagon the rest of the way to the beach. Once on the beach she pushed her wagon but also would let go and start trying to walk into the water. We hadn’t come prepared to go swimming so we just kept redirecting her. She loved to see the Seagulls and point at them saying “Ba” (translated “Bird”). Unfortunately that evening we watched on TV as the Aggies lost to Kansas State in the 4th overtime.
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| Spaghetti with red sauce for the first time--- showing off her new silly smile |
The second week of November was nice and warm with temperatures in the 80’s. That Tuesday I took Payton to Castle Park in shorts and a t-shirt. She loves crawling around on the wooden playground there. She also had fun swinging.
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| In her wet suit ready to go swimming |
Wednesday I took Payton to the beach to go swimming. Though the air temperature was very warm, I thought the water might be cool so I put Payton in the little pink Roxy spring suit that our friends Joel and Crissy gave to her. I didn’t wear a wetsuit and it turned out the water was very comfortable without one. Payton had fun crawling around where the tide was coming in and finding live shells to push down under the wet sand. I think she was fascinated with how they would disappear under the sand and then reappear. And, as always, she enjoyed pointing at the “Ba” (“birds”). That evening I saw on a news website that up north they’d gotten snow…. I can’t express how much I love Texas and the fact that you can comfortably go swimming in mid-November!
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| Payton loves balloons! |
That Friday I took Payton to the park on 12th street. There was another little boy there, approximately 3 years old, who was playing on the playground equipment with his little “Cars” car. His mom let Payton see the car a couple of times, but it was clear the little boy didn’t want to share and Payton was so adamant about wanting to see the car that she kept fussing. I guess in the future I will be sure to bring some of her own toys to the playground to play with!
That Friday was also the 12th anniversary of the Aggie Bonfire accident so although I cherished every second of my time with Payton, that day as well as the previous day my heart felt heavy.
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| Reading with Lala before an Aggie football game. |
Thanksgiving Week
The Saturday before Thanksgiving I had to wake Payton up early so we could drive to College Station for the 11:00 a.m. football game. When I went in to get her up I found her asleep with her little bottom in the air. Unfortunately my camera was already packed in the car for our trip otherwise I would have taken a picture because it was the cutest thing! The weather for the football game was perfect. Cloudy, breezy, and felt great in a t-shirt. In keeping with tradition, Payton slept through halftime in Charles’ arms and then the rest of the game played and read books with her “Lala” (my mom).
After the game Payton and I went with my parents to their house in Central Texas while Charles went back to Galveston. Payton was very tired by the time we got to their house. She cried a little when we put her in the crib since she was in an unfamiliar place, but she soon fell asleep. Unfortunately she woke up at midnight and cried from 12- 2:30 a.m. I tried everything to get her to go back to sleep but it still took 2 ½ hours to get her back to sleep. I was really concerned that our entire trip might end up like this. Fortunately the following two nights she woke twice to nurse but then went back to sleep. That Wednesday night, however, she had another rough night and was awake every approximately 40 minutes from midnight to 5 a.m. Around 4 a.m. it finally occurred to me that she might be having teething pain so I gave her Tylenol and she then slept from about 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. (Good for her, bad for me since I was wide awake by 6:30 a.m.!)
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| Payton (13 months old) with cousin Hank (13 1/2 months old) |
Sunday, November 20th my brother Albert, his wife Erin, and my nephew Hank came to my parent’s house for the day to visit. Hank and Payton enjoyed playing together with toys. Payton still mostly plays while sitting and Hank mostly plays while standing so it was funny because he kept holding onto and examining the top of her head. Also he grabbed her foot but started fussing because he wanted it and didn’t like that it was attached to her body. Payton did at times play with Hank standing up but all it took was him touching her to put her off balance enough that she’d have to sit down again.
At LaLa and Grandfather’s house Payton enjoyed going out to eat at Tamale King and Burnet BBQ, she had fun playing with her grandparents, and learned to enjoy sink baths where she could spend 30 minutes or more playing in the water with toys.
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| Cute cousins playing with golf clubs. |
On Wednesday, November 23rd (Thanksgiving Eve), Erin and Hank came back to visit and spend the night. Hank was in the mood to take toys away from Payton. Payton would occasionally fuss but then could quickly be distracted by another toy. Hank is such a boy and Payton such a girl. They are adorable together!
Thanksgiving Day
On Thanksgiving my brothers Albert and Kyle joined us so that our family was together for the holiday (minus Charles). For lunch my mom prepared the big traditional Thanksgiving meal. It was delicious! Unfortunately Payton wouldn’t eat a thing except the green beans. We thought, “Well maybe she just isn’t hungry”, but knowing my picky eater I figured I’d make her half a grilled cheese sandwich just to be sure and she ate the entire thing!
After lunch we left for College Station to watch the Aggies play the Longhorns for possibly the last time (hopefully that will not be the case and in the future they can resurrect the rivalry game). Charles met us in College Station and we set up my parent’s RV in the RV lot so that we would have a place to spend the night. We then ate turkey sandwiches that my mom had packed (Payton chose to eat baby food instead) and then went to the game. The game started at 7:00 p.m. and was in the low 50s with a cold breeze. I had Payton in about 3 layers of clothes, her winter kitty hat, and then we wrapped her in a blanket. I think Payton was pretty warm and comfortable because for nearly the entire game she either slept or sat quietly in my mom’s lap all wrapped up where all you could see was her little face. With 1:30 or so left in the game the Aggies were up by 2 points. But then the Longhorns got within field goal range and won the game on a field goal. It was pretty heartbreaking.
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| Payton with her grandmother at the A&M/Texas football game. |
After the game Charles, Payton, and I went back to the RV to go to sleep. Unfortunately the heater wouldn’t work so at midnight on Black Friday Charles had to go to Walmart for a space heater. He said it was quite the experience! That it was super crowded and everyone had about 3 TVs in their shopping carts, all while he stood in line trying to buy a little space heater. Thankfully the space heater kept us nice and warm and surprisingly Payton slept all night (well, from 1 a.m. until 9 a.m. anyway) in her pack n’ play.
My parents ended up driving home after the game but just outside of College Station they hit a deer with their car. Thankfully they were okay and eventually made it home after getting stopped by cops twice because one of their headlights was broken in the accident. Their car did have extensive damage from the deer. I think this is the 3rd deer they have hit in the past year!
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| Payton reading- Nana, Nate, Danielle, and Ryan playing. |
After having McDonald’s for breakfast in the morning (Payton actually liked the breakfast sausage) we put the RV back into storage and headed to Dallas. Payton took a nap in her pack n’ play once we got there (she refuses to sleep in the car) and then we went to Charles’ Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Raul’s house for dinner. They had prepared an entire pig for dinner so the pork along with other Cuban foods were delicious. Payton, as usual, wouldn’t eat any of it, but she did enjoy playing with her cousin Nate, who is a month older than her. Payton kept handing Nate his blocks and also putting them in her mouth. Nate had one of Payton’s favorite books, Where the Wild Things Are, so Payton was able to point out the moon in the pictures and tell everyone that it’s a “Mmmm”. Nate also had tricks to show everyone like how if you ask him where his tongue is he sticks it out, how he gives everyone kisses, and can make animal sounds when asked what certain animals say.
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| Payton and her cousin Nate making music. |
The next day, Saturday, November 26, we went back over to Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Raul’s house after Payton’s morning nap. Nate ran around the house and we followed with Payton who is now walking on her own but not yet running. Both babies enjoyed playing the piano. Then we set them in a chair together and took some cute pictures. That evening Payton got to spend time with Nana (Charles’ mom), Grandma (Payton’s great-grandma), and Aunt Debbie. Aunt Debbie gave her a book that plays “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” and Payton smiled and danced each time she would press the button to play the song. We all laughed each time she would dance to the song.
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| Cousin Nate (14 1/2 months old) and Payton (13 1/2 months old) |
The following day it was finally time for us to go home from what, for Payton and I, had been a 9 day vacation. Before leaving Payton took a nearly 3 hour morning nap so after she woke up and we gave her lunch, it ended up being almost 2:00 p.m. by the time we left Bea’s house. Driving from Dallas to Galveston was a nightmare. Traffic was so backed up that for about 3 hours we were stuck in horrible stop and go traffic. It took almost 7 hours to make the drive. Payton got overly tired and cranky but thankfully around 6:30 p.m. she fell asleep. We were all very tired by the time we got home but it had been a wonderful visit with family.
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Aunt Debbie, Payton, and Charles
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Family picture taken at Nana's house
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A Mind of Her Own
Upon returning home from Thanksgiving we started noticing some changes in Payton’s behavior. Mainly that she knows what she likes and has started letting us know her wants. Tuesday, November 29, I took Payton to Castle Park. She had fun crawling in the play area but she also had fun trying to walk all around on the ground. When it was time to leave I held her hand to walk her back to the car. But she kept pulling and trying to go back to the playground. Eventually I picked her up to leave and she squealed and tried to get out of my arms. At dinner that night she kept pointing and crying. We couldn’t get her to touch her food and couldn’t figure out what she wanted. Finally we realized she was pointing at Charles’ spoon. So we gave her a spoon of her own and suddenly she was willing to eat whatever I popped into her mouth. She also has started throwing a fit if she sees something that she wants but can’t reach. This must be the beginning of the terrible 2s! I’m sure it’s very frustrated to know what you want (or don’t want) but to not have the words to express your desires.
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| Crawling on the playground equipment |
December Days/ Christmas Events
The first Friday in December (Dec. 2, 2011) we went out to eat at CiCi’s pizza (Payton refused to eat anything except sausage off the pizza) and from there we went to the Moody Gardens Festival of Lights. Charles and I went to the Festival of Lights years ago when it was one of the first years they had the Festival of Lights and we felt like it was pretty lame. It was very short and just had a few little Christmas light displays set up. We hadn’t been back since but figured even if it was unimpressive that Payton might still like it. Well, it was far from lame. It’s 10 times bigger and better than it was years ago. They have Christmas light displays everywhere, even up the side of the pyramids. And there are sound effects, Christmas music playing, Santa was there, they had a fire pit where you could make smores, large Christmas trees…… it was pretty cool. And Payton loved it! In a couple of different areas they had animal displays with animal sounds playing and Payton started imitating the monkey sounds. In fact, even the ride home she continued making the monkey sounds. It was pretty funny and we could tell she really loved the Festival of Lights.
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| Charles and Payton at the Moody Gardens Festival of Lights |
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| Payton walking through the Festival of Lights |
The following day (Saturday) was my mom’s birthday. Unfortunately we were in Galveston so we weren’t there to celebrate with her but Charles played a birthday song off the computer and video taped Payton dancing to it. I’m pretty sure my mom enjoyed seeing that. The weather was warm again so we took Payton to the park by the old Alamo Elementary for the second day in a row.
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| Payton smiling on Lala's birthday |
Monday, December 5, 2011 a cold front came through bringing some much needed rain (we have been in the worst drought for over a year now) and it dropped the temperatures into the 50’s. With the yucky weather I decided it was a good day to go to Rosenberg Library. Because of all the nice weather lately we hadn’t been to the library in awhile. Payton used to be scared of Rose, the lizard who lives in the children’s area, but now she loves to look at her and actually fussed when we had to leave Rose.
That Wednesday, Payton and I met Charles after work in League City at Portrait Innovations to get our family Christmas picture taken. I really wanted to have our family picture taken on the beach but it seems like all the private photographers are so expensive so we opted for Portrait Innovations again since we’ve been happy with their product and they’re inexpensive. Portrait Innovations was sooo crowded with everyone there getting their Christmas pictures taken. Our appointment was at 4:30 p.m. so that meant no afternoon nap for Payton. We had to wait about an hour so by the time they got to us not only was Payton tired but it was also dinner time. Although I’d been feeding her Cheerios while waiting, she was still hungry for dinner. As a result we allowed them to rush through taking our pictures, just getting a few family shots done and no individual shots. This was the first professional picture we’ve had taken of the three of us. Despite being hungry and tired, Payton did give a small smile for one of the pictures so our family picture turned out okay. We had the picture printed out as a Christmas photo card to send to some of our family and friends. Afterwards we went to Freebirds for dinner where Payton refused to eat anything except the baby cereal I had brought for her. Not cheese quesadillas, burritos, refried beans, rice….. just baby cereal. I guess the cereal was a little thick because while eating it she suddenly started to gag and out of her mouth came a ton of the cereal. It was pretty scary for me to see her choke like that but it didn’t seem to bother her at all.
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Payton and I at the Dickinson Festival of Lights
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| Payton and Charles waiting in line to see Santa |
Friday, December 9, 2011, we met Charles after work at Chili’s in League City. Payton ate lots of steamed broccoli at Chili’s and also ate the majority of a chicken crisper. From there we went to the Dickinson Festival of Lights. I’ve heard about this Festival of Lights for years but we’d never been until this year. It was very fun! It’s set up in a little park in Dickinson and you follow pathways through the lights. There are all kinds of light exhibits to see and tunnels of lights to walk through. Certain pathways bring you to certain things, like to Santa Claus or to Carolers or to a cookie hut where you can decorate a Christmas cookie. Payton seemed tired but did have fun running through the tunnels of lights. She also got to sit in Santa’s lap and to my surprise she didn’t cry.
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| Sitting in Santa's lap |
A cold front came through on Saturday so Sunday was pretty windy and chilly but we bundled Payton up and took her to Castle Park anyway. Payton spent much of the time in the swing and when we’d take her out of it she would walk right back over to the swing and point/scream for us to put her back in. We got home just in time to see the Houston Texan’s 3rd string rookie quarterback, TJ Yates, come from behind to win the game at the last minute. That win puts the Texans in the playoffs for the first time in the team’s history.
It was warm again that week so Wednesday I took Payton back to Castle Park. She did swing some but then really had fun chasing after birds. She also insisted on walking on the play equipment which is a big change because in the past she has insisted on crawling. I really had to watch her though because she doesn’t know how to walk down steps yet and so she is likely to fall if I don’t help her.
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| Payton's friend Abigail (15 months old) sharing a candy cane with Payton (14 months old). | | | |
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| Payton playing with new friend Skyleigh (also 14 months old) |
Friday, December 16 my friend Christel (who I taught with in Santa Fe) invited Payton and I to come to her house in League City to allow Payton and her daughter Abigail (who is one month older than Payton) to play. She also invited over a couple other friends of hers and their babies. One of those moms has a little girl named Skyleigh who was born just three days before Payton (October 12, 2010). Payton, Abigail, and Skyleigh had a blast playing with each other and they were so cute together! When we first arrived Payton noticed the beautiful full sized Christmas tree that Christel had set up in their dining room. Payton wanted to go see it so Abigail showed her how much fun it is to take the ornaments off the tree and to turn the lights to the tree on and off. Later all three girls played with Abigail’s toys. Abigail wasn’t too sure about sharing everything and was a little fussy but overall she was a fantastic host and even showed Payton and Skyleigh how she could stand up on top of her ride-on lion toy! Each girl is so different but so beautiful in her own way. Payton wanted to be right next to the other girls at all times. If one of them was playing with a toy she wanted to see what the toy was and play too; if they were sitting in a toddler chair, she wanted to sit in the chair. She loved playing with all of Abigail’s balls and telling everyone that it’s a “Bu” (“ball”). I’m surprised she is so friendly with other kids her age considering she is rarely around other kids besides the visits she has with her cousins Hank and Nate once every couple months. The other moms at the get together were talking about how they know so many stay-at-home moms and how it seems like most moms stay home with their kids now. That may be the case for moms in League City but in Galveston I know very few moms who stay home with their kids and none who have kids that are Payton’s age. I wish I did because it would be nice for Payton to be able to play with others. Eventually Payton will go to pre-school and have a chance to make lots of friends but right now I am still enjoying having her at home with me.
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| Abigail, Payton, and Skyleigh making a train |
That Friday evening I put Payton to bed at her usually 7:00 p.m. bedtime and then left her with Charles while I drove to Santa Fe to watch my friend Christina perform in a church musical called A Dickens of a Christmas. I was a little bit nervous leaving for fear that Payton would wake up and need me to help put her back to sleep. But thankfully she stayed asleep during the time I was gone and I was able to enjoy the musical.
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| Payton dressed in her cute Christmas outfit. |
Saturday, December 17, 2011 we took Payton to the Strand in Galveston to visit the Santa Clause that we saw there last year when Payton was just two months old. Unlike how calm she was for the Dickinson Santa, the second Charles handed her off to this Santa the screaming and tears started. So the picture I took of her with Santa has her mouth wide open screaming and tears on her cheeks. I think pictures like that with Santa are classic and very cute. As soon as Payton was back in Charles’ arms she was just fine and even started to smile at Santa as Santa talked to us about how his brother went to A&M and said several positive things about Aggies. Santa himself is a Texas Lutheran graduate.
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| Not so happy sitting in Santa's lap. |
Sunday we took Payton back to Castle Park. I think I’ll stop mentioning every time we visit a park since we go numerous times a week. If I don’t say anything just assume there have been several uneventful park visits each week. We don’t have a good yard for Payton to play in hence the need for so many park visits. We have a very small front yard and back yard. The front yard is covered in sticker burs and the backyard is where Haven lives and is covered in dog poop. The only outside area that we currently let Payton play at is our very small side yard (literally a strip of grass between our house and our neighbor’s house) where we have Payton’s toddler swing/slide set. Thankfully there’s not as great of a need for a large yard when you live within walking distance from the beach.
Walking
As mentioned above, Payton is finally walking! She’s been taking steps and cautiously letting go and walking on her own for a little while now but ever since Thanksgiving (at a little over 13 months old) she really has been walking on her own. Although at Thanksgiving she was still doing a lot of crawling as well as walking. On November 30th she learned to stand up on her own without holding onto anything. Really in the past two weeks (at almost 14 months old) she has been walking everywhere on her own, bending down to pick things up, and has given up crawling. She is now SO active! She loves to walk back and forth across rooms just for the fun of it. Also if you ask her, “Will you bring me the ball?” (or whatever it is you want her to bring you), she will go pick it up and bring it to you. She is so sweet and follows directions so well!
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| Using the doggie steps to climb up onto the couch. |
Teething
At 13 months old her first two molars had just come in, along with all four of her canines (the pointy vampire teeth). She seemed in some pain and very soon after that her second two molars came in. By Thanksgiving she had 16 teeth that had come in. I’m thinking this should be all of her teeth for awhile now since she has all 4 top and bottom middle teeth, all 4 canines, and all 4 molars. I think the only baby teeth left may be the 4 additional molars though I’m not sure when those come in. It’s amazing how early all her teeth came in and how they seemed to all come in at the same time. She still occasionally acts like they may be bothering her and she continues to chew on things and put everything into her mouth. I’m guessing that since they still aren’t all the way in yet that they may still be bothering her a bit.
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| Payton LOVES Dixie! |
Speaking
Ever since Payton got her tubes put in her ears we have seen a huge increase in both the words she says and her understanding of words in general. By 13 months, Payton could point to the wooden bears in our house, to birds she saw outside, and to balloons and for each she says, “Ba”. She now also points to our cats (and cats in books) and says “Ta”, which is as close as she can get to saying “cat” right now. She knows what a banana is but pronounces is “ma-mama”. We have a map of Galveston on our dining room wall that she points to and sometimes says “Ma”. She can say “Ga-Gr” which means, “Good girl” and also says “Ga” when she points to a girl in a book. It’s funny because she often says “Ga-Gr” without opening her mouth. If you ask her where her tongue is she will stick it out and if you ask her where your nose, eyes, mouth, or hair is she will point to them on you although she won’t point them out on herself yet. She can now say “Dada” and sometimes knows who her dada is but sometimes points to me instead. When asked where her “Mama” is she still either looks confused or points to her Daddy. On rare occasions she will get it right and point to me. If you ask her, “Where’s Payton?” she points to herself. She also will point to Dixie, her chair, the light, and our Christmas tree if you ask her where any of those things are. When we go out she loves to wave to people and say “Ha” (“Hi”) or if we are leaving she says “Bu-bu” (“bye-bye”). She seems to understand the difference between when you should say “Hi” and when you say, “Bye-bye” and even when her toy says, “See ya!” she responds with “Bu-bu”.
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| Payton enjoys riding in her wagon. |
Eating
Payton went from being a baby who gobbled up the food that we fed her to becoming very picky and refusing most of what we try to feed her. We have found that if we give her a spoon or fork of her own and encourage her to feed herself that she is more likely to eat. We especially find it difficult to get her to eat meat of any kind. She loved hard boiled eggs, then we couldn’t get her to eat them at all, and now she likes them again. She refuses to eat scrambled eggs. She will sometimes eat beans, pasta, grilled cheese, and Yo Baby yogurt. The most reliable things that she tends to eat are fresh fruit (banana, pear, steamed apple, and grapes), steamed vegetables (cauliflower, green beans, squash, and broccoli) and cheese (cheddar and provolone). She drinks a couple of ounces of cow’s milk out of a sippy cup and a couple ounces of water, but mostly she still just likes to breastfeed.
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| Lounging around on the couch |
Sleeping
Payton still wakes up once in the middle of the night to have her diaper changed and nurse back to sleep. We did have one night, the night of December 11th, where she slept through the night but she hasn’t done it since so I guess it was just a fluke. She seems to be in the process of dropping one of her naps. Currently she is napping from 11 a.m.- 1:30/2:00 p.m. and then not taking an afternoon nap. I am still able to get her to lay quietly in her crib for about 30- 40 minutes each afternoon around 4:00 p.m. which works good for me because that gives me a chance to start preparing dinner. Even if she hasn’t had her late morning nap she has been refusing an afternoon nap so I guess she’s not ready to move to just having an afternoon nap. For now this schedule seems to be working.
We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and enjoys time with family and friends while celebrating the birth of Jesus! Thank you all for your love and friendship. Merry Christmas!!!
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| Payton and Charles enjoying "Christmas on the Strand" activities |
