16 months

I didn't think it was possible, but the last month has been even more fun developmentally for Mason than last month. Except for the nightmarish teething that sucks for all involved, he seems to be enjoying his new-found skills. Every once in a while I get the painful twinge of sadness that I wish he'd slow down and still be a baby, but mostly I just enjoy the fun that we're having right now.

***He has finally made some great progress with walking. He can walk quite a bit by himself, but only when he's motivated. He is gaining confidence and I've spotted him walking a few times when he didn't  think I was looking and he seems so proud of himself. He loves to walk in public holding someone's hand so we try to let him do that a lot to get him moving.
***However, he refuses to wear shoes, so walking outside or in public is a challenge. I can't say I blame him because I hate wearing shoes myself, but he screams from the second you put shoes on until you take them off.
***Both of his upper 1st molars broke through on April 27. He is still working on more teeth and has bitten me more times than I care to remember. He is chewing on everything and we go through ibuprofen like its going out of style. Luckily, we are halfway through with teething and so the end is near.
***His language is about the same as last month. He hasn't really added anymore new words, but will imitate a lot when we use words with him. He is using the words he knows a lot and is thrilled that we understand him. He's also become obsessed with pointing and grunting and will get highly frustrated if you don't understand or don't give him what he wants.
***He's gotten very good at getting up and down from chairs, getting down from the couch, and crawling off and on his riding toys.
***He started protesting when we cut his food up too small so we've been giving him bigger pieces and that seems to make him happy. He eats his bananas cut into about 4-5 chunks and is able to take reasonable-sized bites.
***He is making progress with feeding himself with a spoon. He will still pick up the bite he wants and put it on the spoon, but the rate of the food actually making into his mouth is increasing.
***He did another dairy challenge with him this month and it was a fail. I didn't have high hopes it would be a success, but part of me hoped for the best. We'll try again at 18 months.
***He is interacting more appropriately with his toys, like pushing cars and trucks around on the floor or holding the phone up to hear ear and talking. It melts my heart to see him pushing cars around outside because he looks like such a big boy playing with his toys.

Spring/15-month pictures

He is obsessed with the oven drawer and loves to crawl in it while I am in the kitchen.