Update on my little MAN

Since I don't do monthly updates for Elliot, at least once in a while I like to keep track of his milestones and developments. A few weeks ago, he must have hit another physical as well as mental growth spurt because he seems to have grown up overnight. His language skills improved a lot and his behavior is that of a two-year old and so is his size.

When we went to the pediatrician three weeks ago, at 14 months of age he was 33 inches tall and weighted 23 lbs. With those measurements he's definitely above average (an average 15-month old boy is 31 inches and 23 lbs) and the pediatrician predicts that he'll be taller than 6.1 ft. when he's grown. Elliot already reaches all the doorknobs, but luckily hasn't found out yet how to turn them properly to open the doors. We will be in trouble so once he does. He also loves riding Amelia's bike and he can almost reach the pedals too.

Elliot is quite verbal lately. I guess to keep up with his big sister, he needs to make himself being heard. He uses less baby talk and more two-word sentences for the past month. His favorites are: "I SEE"; "HELP ME"; "DO THIS", and "ME, ME, ME". And my favorite: "I DID IT".  And then there is the typical male grunting and "UHH" if he wants something. When he eats, often he only opens the mouth and says "AHH". Lazy, but cute. And when someone mentions number 1, like in 1 more minute, he holds up one finger and says "EINS" (German for one) or "ON".

I also noticed that he fluently understands German and English and reacts to commands in either language. This makes me very happy because being able to be bilingual from the beginning is much easier than learning a second language later on in life.

His preferred method of movement is running. Especially when Amelia and Elliot are playing chase through the entire the house. He also started dancing, which looks more like he is doing squats but it is so cute.  Here is a little video of him dancing last week during a clown show:

But he also became more stubborn and very cheeky. He now runs from you when he doesn't want to do something. And when you catch him doing something, he just puts both hands behind his back and pretends he didn't do it. It looks adorable, but also so cheeky. Here he is having a tantrum because Amelia took something from him. The other picture is me as a toddler in 1984 having a similar tantrum because some other kid pulled on my skirt. I guess I can see where he gets his temper from...

Oh, the tantrums....usually his tantrums are short-lived and you can easily distract him by redirecting his attention to something else. But the other day at the playground he had a major meltdown. I never saw something like that before. It lasted about 10 minutes and even me holding him or trying to distract him didn't work at all.

Other than those temper tantrums, he is a very easy going, loving and friendly child. We call him "Easy E". Despite his size. he doesn't mind being pushed around by his sister and rather sits down and waits for his turn then fight back. I have the feeling though that soon that will change and it will be a rude awaking for Amelia. He adores his sister and wants to do everything she does. Especially playing in her room with her toys. 

This boy loves the remote control, reading books, brushing his teeth and waving hi or bye to people. He also loves bath time and undresses himself (mostly taking of his pants, socks and diapers)  every night so that he can be the first one in the tub.

Elliot is such a boy - he loves water, dirt and getting into things he isn't supposed to- and his behavior differs a lot from his sister's behavior. He is curious, adventurous and not afraid of anything, which often scares me and I'm nervous how many more dangerous situations I will have to endure in the near future. But he also loves being cuddled and kissed and he definitely loves his "Mama". I'm so proud and happy to see him grow up and become his own little person (just don't grow up too fast, buddy!). But in my heart, he'll always be my little baby boy. We love you so much!