Snuggling in Daddy's robe

He still loves to take showers and he just loves snuggling in Daddy's robe. Right after I took this picture he told me, "bye-bye" and laid his head on Gene's chest. Then, when I went in to try and get video of all his "mmmmmms" in the shower; he looked at me and again said, "bye-bye." As soon as I left, he laid his head back down and started again, "mmmmmm, ahhhhh." He LOVES the warm water on his back.

Big Boy Jammies

Grandma Cozy must have been tired of seeing his Filbert gowns because she sent him his first pair of big boy jammies. They have wild animals all over them and he loves trying to bend over and look at them. She also sent a really cute elephant shirt to support his elephant habit. It's so soft, he goes around rubbing his chest and I think he's constantly saying please but I don't know for what!

16 Months- Random videos

My mom requested "More videos!" So click here to see some random videos from the last month. It's a long one, but this is only a fraction of what we have recorded. Hopefully all this taping isn't damaging; we don't want him turning into an exhibitionist or something! You'll see him dancing, making mommy tea, helping in the kitchen, sweeping, doing a little shopping, trying out his new Sit-N-Spin, swinging and some general silliness.

Roman's penguin

Can you waddle like a penguin while you poop? Roman can!

Obsessed with books!

Gene said, "He is obsessed with reading lately, I wonder who he got that from." : ) He does see me read , A LOT, so maybe that is why he loves to read so much. In addition to his morning reading time in the bathroom, we read at least 10-15 books a day and often 3-4 times each. He is constantly bringing us books; he'll hand it to us then make the sign for book and then turn around and sit in our lap. He also likes to read to himself, "uh...duh....mmm....ughhhh....errrr" etc... And he tries to count with us now, "uh, do, ee."

Today, I saw him playing with my book while I was getting dressed, but then about 20 minutes later, I couldn't find it. I said, "Roman, where is Mommy's book?" And, he went over to the laundry hamper and signed book and said, "bu!" while pointing into the hamper. We counted yesterday, with "bu" that makes about 25 words that he says, and 30 signs. It's so great that he can tell us precisely what he wants, and he is generally very polite about it to. : )

His reading glasses:

Roman picks out his clothes

At one point, this was the sweetest hug, but then it kind of turned into a little bit of choking. Don't worry, Parker was fine, but she definitely preferred to hug. I also wanted you to see what he was wearing. I asked him to get his shoes and socks and he did. I put on his left sock and and then when I tried to put the right sock on, he said, "no-no." So, I put his left shoe on and then he handed me his right shoe and again refused my attempt to put the right sock on. Then, with one sock and two shoes, he went and got one of his babylegs and stuck out his left leg. I put it on and then I grabbed the other babyleg and tried to put it on the right leg, but again, he said, "no-no." He also picked out the underwear with the fire trucks, b/c he really likes those now. He did have pants on but they were off for a moment after he peed in the potty. Oh, and he picked out the Cylon shirt too, Daddy was proud. Only Aunt Nancy will know what a Cylon is, but don't worry, you're not missing out on anything. (Oh, I'm going to be in trouble for saying that!)

Still making his "pretty face"

Baby Signs

I have been attempting to film some of Roman's many signs, which is proving to be difficult since anytime he sees the camera he just stares blankly at me. It is amazing how many signs he knows; after seeing a new sign just once or twice, he will often use it that day or the next on his own without prompting. And he will pick out the tiniest things from books or magazines, such as the tiny giraffe on the bookshelf in "Goodnight Moon," or a tiny helicopter in on of Gene's manuals. It's so helpful that he can let us know what he wants without throwing a fit. But, he also likes to use "finished" which sounds like, "di-di" for anything he doesn't want to do, like being in his car seat or being held or for example, in court today (for mommy's unfair speeding ticket which she beat) as I was talking to the judge, he said, "di-di, bye-bye" to the judge. Maybe his cuteness is what helped me. : )

You'll see chicken, chimpanzee, snake, more, please, help, water, duck, no-bite, blueberry and us looking at the tree. Daddy and Grandma took him around the tree a hundred times. He can find the duck, bird, gorilla, bell, Superman, Spiderman and can even distinguish between the red and yellow balls.

His favorite signs this week are giraffe, tree, crocodile, rooster and again, which he uses over and over to hear the same story 5-10 times in one sitting.

16 Months!

Can you believe it? Isn't he adorable in the outfit Aunt Ginny got for him? He gained a few ounces this last month, he's been eating like crazy. The other day, he ate almost an entire papaya, the big ones! Well, I helped, but still... he ate a lot. He LOVES his fruit and if you don't make him a smoothie he will point at the blender and grunt (like the motor sounds) or he will find a cup and signal "please" over and over. He has learned even more signs, too many to keep track of... giraffe, cow, clean up, again, car, zebra, tiger, ball, blueberry, strawberry.

He's been talking a little more, saying things like: Roman, ball, thank you, nose, digger (back hoe), tiger, good job, sun, tree, poop and no. Many of them don't quite sound right, but we know what he means. He also says, "mmmm...mmmm....mmmm" and "yum yum" while he eats, it's pretty funny.

Another tooth came in and he is pottying and sleeping better now then he did last month. He very much enjoys standing up to pee now, and he will sit on the pot in the morning for up to 15 minutes, reading his books and then he'll poop and hold his little hands way up in the air and sign, "finished" and he says, "di di" which is what finished sounds like.

He is getting better at throwing balls and kicking. And he insists on using his fork for everything he eats now. He loves to tickle us and say, "tickle tickle!" Oh, and I'm very excited that he is a little more independent now. I can be in the kitchen and he will go off to his room to retrieve something; or I can walk out of the room and he doesn't even bat an eye.

This is a picture of him playing with his puzzles. He was able to do the brightly colored one (at the bottom of the pic) a couple of months ago; it's edges are very smooth and easy to fit. Recently, he's starting doing his barnyard and jungle animal puzzles as well as the one with trucks and cars. The letters and numbers puzzles on the other hand, he just dumps and leaves. Obviously, he is VERY interested in animals and trucks.

He likes to carry around the word elephant too. After he started doing his "elephant" incessantly, I wrote the word down for him and now if you show him the card, he will do an elephant for you. Pretty cool that he can remember words like that, or "read" but I'm still on the fence about whether to bother him with too much "whole language" as oppose to phonetic learning, or picking it up as we read together and sounding things out. I'm sure a little of each won't hurt. : )

Daddy got him!

In case you can't tell, they're under the table here. This is one of Roman's favorite games with Daddy, playing chase under the dining room table. It's a tall gathering table so it's easier, but lately little man has been hitting his head on it, so I guess he's gotten taller.

Rockin out in his underwear!

Sippy cups need to potty too

I look over this morning, and he has put his sippy cup in the potty and is making the sign for potty and says, "ssssss." I couldn't believe it, I laughed so hard. So many things have sat on that potty: Mom, Dad, T-Rex, Jagger, his truck, his elephant, Sophie...

but his favorite is letting his horse go potty with him!

Ok, this is actually a mid-poop face, too funny!

He loves his morning reading time!

Merry Christmas!

Click HERE for a slideshow of Christmas pics!

Roman had a wonderful Christmas, or should I say December. His Christmas started the first week of December with Grandma Cozy and continued into the next week with Grandma Jan and then we had real Christmas with Mom and Dad. I was surprised that he was such a pro at unwrapping his gifts when just 3 months ago he was kind of clueless at his Birthday party.

He received so many wonderful gifts from his friends and family and he loved it all! We still haven't taken the tree down because he loves it so much. Every morning, we come downstairs and he goes over and points at the plugs for the lights; he knows that he is not allowed to touch so he asks, "Mom, help, please." (I just this moment realized that if he signs three words in a row, that's kind of like a sentence, isn't it? Neat...) Anyway, we plug in the tree and pick him up so he can go around pointing to all his favorite things: Daddy's Star Trek toys that talk, King Kong, Superman, Santa's Helicopter and the red and yellow balls. He asks to do this about 20 times per day, maybe 30. But it comes down next week, my arms are tired!

Below is a collection of videos of Roman's Christmas:

Everything Daddy

Roman loves to help his Daddy. He helps him put away tools, and sweep, and organize the TV console,

and he makes sure his shoes are up to standard,

and his head lamp.