15 months

Berkeley is 15 months and finally started walking; he just needed to get out of the house and it all came together for him. He took his first steps at a local bike shop when I was purchasing my bike and now he's a pro. That is, when he chooses to walk. This kid has a mind of his own and most of the time enjoys doing his "knee walk" where he literally walks around the entire house on his knees. It is pretty cute! Everyday his walking gets a little better.

We have almost weaned this little guy off of baby food, but it has not been easy. This guy is a picky eater!!! It has been quite a task to find solid food that he will actually consume on his own. So far he likes, faux dogs (veggie hot dogs), yogurt, applesauce, bananas (LOVES these), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, any type of cracker, caramel flavored rice cakes, risotto with asparagus, gnocchi, and smoothies. He refuses to eat any vegetables in solid form, so we have resorted to making green smoothies which has worked like a charm.

Berke still has a small vocabulary in the English language saying mainly Dadda, doggie, duck (see a theme), and hi. He is very proficient in jibberish however and talks nonstop to us all.

This month he has become much more obsessed with McDuff and likes to jump on him when he is laying down; I imagine he thinks the dog will react the same way his teddy bear will, but this is NEVER the case. McDuff has gone on extra high security when it comes to this kid as he is not fond of this new behavior. We have been working on soft touch a lot when petting the dog, but it only takes seconds for Berke to have a handful of hair and be pulling it. McDuff has been very patient with Berke during this time of learning.

This month, Berke is all about climbing. He learned to climb onto the couch, which has been quite dangerous as he likes to fall backwards on the couch once he is up and laugh. This is all fun and games except this behavior has caused a few falls off the couch onto the hardwood floor. Not so fun. I call Berke my "little monkey" lately as he loves to climb in and out of things, over things, under things, through things. We got a box the other day and he climbed in and out of 30 times in a 15 minute period. He has found new joy in the kitchen chairs and climbs in and over them and onto the next like it is some sort of playground. He also tried to climb from the couch to the bookshelves this week. I am learning my house needs a serious round of baby proofing, but I have no idea how to make it safe for him.

At Berkeley's 15 month appointment we found that he was 21.9 lbs (15%) and in the 7% for height; looks like he got his mommies genes, sorry dude. Perhaps he will have a growth spurt one of these days, you never know. He may be wearing his 12 months pants for a year as most of them are still way to long for him.

That is about it for this little monkey. He is so much fun and keeps us on our toes constantly. Wherever we go, everyone loves to say hi to Berke and he always greets them with a big smile which melts there hearts. He is so social and loves to be around people. We decided we are keeping him around for sure.