14 months old!

Dear Goose,
You are 14 months old! It's the height of summer and you have been loving all the summer activities: playground sprinkles, beach days, the pool, even putting sunblock on. You also have come around to bathtime play, though you much prefer rinse-offs to an actual bath. But you will happily play with the water and a couple cups in the tub and don't mind when I soap you up.

You are starting to sign for communication! You sign "more", "all done" "eat" "thank you" and "milk"  and are working on "water." Plus you wave enthusiastically when we ask "can you say hi?" You definitely communicate with your body! Most every question is answered with a shake of your head for "no" especially those that begin with "do you want..." You hardly ever want what we're offering. Though sometimes you shake your head when you mean yes and sometimes a lack of response means yes. We understand you perfectly almost all of the time.

You had your first pool experience this month and are a big fan. You loved splashing around and even put your face in the water! Though it surprised you to have a wet face, you weren't terribly upset by it. You just eyes the water warily and kept on splashing.

You also went to the zoo for the first time as a toddler and LOVED it. All the plants and animals fascinated you. You loved feeding the ducks and turtles, and were amazed by the peacocks wandering around. And you wanted to pull the leaves off all the shrubs. (The harvesting is a common these, you gravitate towards plants and like to rip off leaves as often as possible. A friend's herb garden left you particularly aromatic and happy).

You have very strong opinions about things, but are generally agreeable to what's going on. You still love to dump out puzzle pieces and containers of multiple products and you're often so quick that I can't clean up after you until you go to sleep. 

You are also a master climber these days, navigating the playground and all stairs with deftness. You are still not super fast, though, and still listen to me enough that when you get to the top of the slide, you wait for me to get back down on the ground to hold your hand and you slide down.

Climbed the steps all by yourself and you are NOT coming down