At nearly fourteen months, Michael is growing like crazy in every way. He’s officially in 12-18 month clothing, and even the odd 24 month/2T item. He’s been teething a lot, and is cutting his upper molars.

Sleep continues to be the hardest part of all our lives. He takes one nap, usually around 10:30 am, anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes. Bedtime is a trial. Earlier this week, two days in a row, he gave us an unheard of 4.5 hour stretch of sleep. However, he’s now fighting a cold and is back to being up every 1.5 to 2 hours. Still, having that 4.5 hour stretch two days in a row gave us some hope. Maybe the end of this insane sleeplessness is close?

Michael has taken to hiding toys in shoes. Jake and I have found several balls, toy cars, blocks, Cheerios, and the tv remote hidden in the toes of our boots. We’re now in the habit of dumping our shoes out before putting them on.

He loves putting things inside containers, shutting the lids, and then opening them and removing their contents. Anything from Tupperware to kitchen cabinets — if it has a door, he will open it and put something inside.

He hates the car, still — any drive longer than 20 minutes is a gamble. We’ve tried everything, but what seems to distract him from screaming the best is Jake and I singing the jingle “Bumblebee Tuna” at the top of our lungs in harmony. We’ve tried hymns, Irish ballads, pop songs, nursery rhymes — none of them make him stop screaming like the Bumblebee Tuna jingle. Go figure.

His language has continued to explode: he now says “Cosmo” (one of the dogs’ names), “Grandpa”, “Grandma”, “Bubba” (pacifier), “keys”, “down”, “shoes”, “book”, and “Jesus”. His favorite word right now is “uh oh”: anytime anything drops or crashes or makes a loud noise, we hear an adorable “uh ohhhhh”.

He currently loves cars and making car sounds — he delights in “driving” the car with Jake or the tractor with my dad. He has some of my dad’s vintage matchbox cars that he carries around with him wherever he goes.

Currently, his favorite books are Moo Baa La La La, Hand Hand Fingers Thumb, and Organic Chemistry for Babies. He often points to the atoms on the page and brightly explains “ball”!

He loves making animal noises: he willingly obliges when you ask him what a cow says, or a sheep says, or a dog says. We credit Moo Baa La La La for this skill set.

We’ve all been fighting colds the past week so I’ve utilized screen time more than usual. He loves Ms Rachel’s Songs for Littles channel on YouTube. I love that she gives me a chance to make dinner or fold laundry without a screeching barnacle. He giggles and dances along to the music, and she’s helped him find several new words. She’s also helped us learn how to best teach Michael new words. Often in the mornings or late afternoons, Michael and I will snuggle on the couch and watch an episode together.

As always, he adores being outside. He prefers pushing the stroller to being pushed in the stroller, and loves playing with the rocks in my parents’ driveway and throwing the ball for the dogs. It’s been raining a lot lately, and the resulting mud is fascinating to Michael.

His favorite foods currently include grapes, mozzarella balls, applesauce, mashed potatoes, rice, and black bean soup. He loves having his own spoon and has started learning how to use it to move food to his mouth instead of the floor.

I love watching my bright-eyed, curious, kind little boy explore the world around him. In spite of all the difficulties and growing pains, being his mother is the greatest honor.