I think I’ve told everyone about how busy our boy is.
We love how he is our 100%, spirited child. He is definitely not a boring kid.
Something we have realized about him is that he is a social kid. So much so that he thrives on being around people. He will cling to you when you are in the house alone with him (so damn clingy) but if you put him down at the grocery store, he will run around greeting everyone and race for the doors.
He is also ingenuitive. I would love to brag about how incredibly brilliant our kid is, but his talents are amazingly frustrating.
Here are some more tidbits about our little 13 month old boy.
1. He has broken the lock on the lazy susan in the kitchen and knows that he can now open it any time he wants.
2. We have not put child locks on all of the kitchen drawers because we are trying to move and I don’t want to drill any more holes in things. So, there is one drawer he can reach and we have put all plastic, dull, non-life-threatening items in there. He loves opening this drawer and throwing everything in it over his shoulder onto the floor without even pausing to see what he’s throwing. He never seems to tire of this game.
3. He has learned to flush the toilet and wants to do it over and over again.
4. He has learned that he can take the child lock off the toilet. On the same note, we have now had our “aw shit, he threw [something] in the toilet” incident.
5. He likes throwing things away in the garbage. It is a very good thing that he cannot open the garbage without a supervising adult.
6. He doesn’t like playing with “approved” toys, only “off limit” toys. Example: the carbon monoxide detector. He does not like it when you give him a dead cell phone or a useless remote control, only the working ones will do. And, I took some toys out of his room THAT HE HADN’T TOUCHED IN OVER 6 MONTHS and put them in his closet. He now only wants the toys in the closet.
7. If we like that he has made some improvement on something, he then decides to stop doing it. (He said “car” several times, used to clap hands, etc. but refuses to do so now)
8. He will not let you enter or leave the garage unless he gets to hit the opener button.
9. He’s a climber. (No shit, like we didn’t see that coming)
10. Any toy that has a bucket or hole, he will find another toy to shove in there.
11. He has this toy and learned on day one that you don’t need to put the ball through the hoop to make noise, you can just keep pressing the button inside the hoop. It’s must easier that way.
12. He still doesn’t not know that the word “no” has any meaning whatsoever and he is always shocked when he gets his fingers caught in things.
13. He gets very mad when he cannot open a door. And he can pretty much open ANYTHING, if not with his hands, then with his teeth.
14. He can now reach the counters and the kitchen table and we must be 100% aware of all objects we place within grabbing distance of the edge (Momma Loey learned her lesson after leaving a roast beef sandwich on the edge of the table)
15. He decides when and what he will retain, when and if he decides to retain it. i.e. “where’s your nose” or peek-a-boo cannot be retained but he has room in that head of his to mimic blowing raspberries.
16. We have made no progress at all on the speaking thing. However, he communicates very well. He points to you, says “eh”, points to the thing he wants you to do, says “eh” and you get the point (Mommy, push me on my truck. Mommy, take me on the stairs. Mommy, give me that remote, not the lame one. Etc.)
17. He knows what person will get him what he wants. If Mema (Lois’ mother) is around, he knows he can get her to do anything. If she’s not around and Lois and I aren’t working for him, he will then try Aunt Laura. She’s usually a sucker. 
18. Playing with toys does not mean actually playing with toys. It means you take every item out of your toy bag and put it somewhere in the living room. When you have removed all toys from the bag, you don’t play with any of them, you step over them and go into the kitchen to pull everything out of that drawer.
19. He has pretty much mastered walking – standing, squatting, pivoting, not using walls to stand up, walking backwards (he started the backwards thing this weekend) – however, one concept of walking he has a big problem with is that walking on top of your toys may throw your balance off.
20. He loves wooden puzzles, but only the taking the pieces out part. Putting them back in is so lame and time consuming, mommy.
21. He loves brushing his teeth, but it becomes a battle. We sit him on the counter and let him brush his own teeth with water. This involves turning on the faucet 20-30 times to rewet the brush and when you are tired of this game and declare it over, a back arching fit will ensue.
22. Banging is tons of fun. The louder the item the better. He can’t understand why he can’t bang metal on the hardwood floors.
23. The entire purpose of the ball pit is to get as many balls outside the pit as possible.
24. He loves chaos and noise. Even when he’s not playing with this annoying toy, he just likes hitting the button for the background noise.
I’m sure there are 100 other things I could list, but I am supposed to be working. (Just keep billing, just keep billing)
All in all, he keeps us on our toes. But he is a charming, amazing little boy. I wouldn’t trade him in for a wallflower-type child in a million years.
