Alexander at 14 months

Today is my dad's birthday as well as the day Alexander turns 14 months old! 

At fourteen months, Alexander...

• can stand on his own
• downright refuses to take a step
• still insists on being swaddled before going to bed
• has yet to sleep through the night
• has eight teeth and is busy cutting his top one-year molars
• knows he needs a coat to go outside
• constantly pulls off his socks and shoes
• likes to identify body parts 
• has some pretty funny dance moves
• likes cars and animals
• likes to be in charge of turning pages
• enjoys interrupting the children when they're practicing the piano
• will crawl as fast as he can to either Momma or Grandpa whenever they have the nerve to pick up another child and will then push and pull on the other child until he gets his chosen grownup all to himself
• loves climbing, sliding, and even sledding
• gives high fives but finds fist bumps confusing (he will either try to open your fist to make it flat and then give you a high five or he will just poke it with his finger)
• loves giving hugs and kisses and snuggles and loves (until he doesn't anymore)
• is interested in colouring
• usually will sit on the potty nicely every morning (but has much less patience for that sort of thing later in the day)

At fourteen months, Alexander says...

• "Ba!" which sometimes means Benjamin, sometimes means bye-bye, and sometimes means what a sheep says
• "Ampa" which means Grandpa (who is one of his favourite people)
• "Ma" which sometimes means Miriam
• "Ra" which sometimes means Rachel
• "Na!" which usually means snack
• "Da!" which sometimes means dog
• "Mo!" which sometimes means more
• "Roar!" which is what many animals say
• Momma
• Dada
• Ball

He said, "quack, quack" today, but he was mimicking Zoë when he said that. He's also said, "Right here!" as clear as a bell, but again he was parroting what I'd just said and hasn't said it since. 

He also signs for "milk," "all done," and, occasionally, "more."

He's a sweet boy but I'm a little nervous for nursery next year. I know we have four more months to prepare him but he is so particular about who he will go to. I simply don't picture him entering that room willingly (ever). He has surprised me a few times lately about how far he'll crawl away from me, however. For example, at the ward Christmas party a few weeks ago he crawled right out of the gym and into the hallway! He was happily exploring without worrying about his mom-radius (which is very rare for him because he likes to keep a close eye on me).