All about Rhett: 12-15 months

So, I have completely dropped the ball on Rhett's monthly stats and "what he's been up to" posts.  Like, I never even did his 12 month post!  It has seriously been on my mental "to do" list since his birthday, but time has just slipped away.  Since there's no way to distinguish then from now, I'm just going to do a big one that encompasses the past few months.  Don't worry, boy has been busy, but I guess Mama has been too.  I have been taking pictures, so I'll post those later.  Here it goes...

• Weighs 28 pounds, 32 1/2 inches tall
• Size 18 month- 2T clothes
• Eats 3 BIG meals and will snack whenever
• Will only drink water, so I have to substitute milk with yogurt and cheese
• Eats whatever we eat, cut up into small pieces
• I haven't tried letting him use utensils, but he loves to feed himself
• He loves to get his hands on a big piece of food.  He gets so excited it makes him shake, and he just holds it and looks at it and smiles before he begins taking bites.  What I mean is, he is cutting his molars, so I'm not as worried about him choking. So, recently I've been giving him whole pieces of toast or cheese or a cookie, and he loves to be able to take his own bites. ;)
• Favorite foods: buttered toast, raspberries, banana, cheese, avocado, zucchini, any meat, macaroni and cheese, taco soup, pizza, any bread or sweet
• 6 teeth, with 5 more coming in at the moment
• Just this month he has switched to one afternoon nap.  He is going to bed between 7 and 8 and getting up between 7 and 8.
• He is not walking yet, but has taken up to 4 steps.  I think it will be soon.  Of course, I would have said that at 12 months!  I think he could now, but he gets scared and can crawl faster, so he just goes down to his knees.  He can stand and play without holding onto anything.  He's very steady, just not motivated. ;)
• Favorite toys: Mama or Daddy's cell phone, remote control, anything with buttons or music, riding in his cozy coupe, blocks, cars, balls (all the boy things)
• Really he just loves to drag every toy out of its proper place.  He is a pro at emptying boxes and cabinets and drawers and the laundry basket.  He can destroy a room in under 60 seconds.  He really is a destructive little boy.  He throws things, tries to tears things apart, bangs things together.  He is a wild man!  His favorite thing to destroy is Mary Ella's kitchen.  He crawls in her room and heads straight for it. Then you hear every piece of food, every dish, every utensil, hitting the floor.  That is one thing I get tired of picking up!  But it really is his favorite thing to do.  And he does actually play with it and pretend to eat and cook.  He pretends to eat the food and drink from the cups and eat off the spoons and forks.  And he brings you a sample to try.  It is precious!
• He is also finally into books!  My heart is over the moon that my little boy will finally sit still and let me read to him.  He has always enjoyed (dragging out) and looking at books, but now he wants to read and points to the pictures and turns the pages.  Now, it does have to be a book he enjoys or it is pushed aside fairly quickly.  But he will sit for quite a stack of books if he's in the mood.  We'll read one, and he'll pick another from the stack. 
• Favorite books: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Barnyard Dance, Do Your Ears Hang Low?, 100 Words, Here We Go, Trucks Go, Peek-A-Boo, Ten Tiny Tickles, Counting Kisses, Eat, Play, 5 Little Monkeys, Just Like Mommy
• He really loves any of the Baby Einstein books or books with pictures of animals or trucks, cars, etc or books with tabs to lift or things to touch.  He gets really excited about animals, especially dogs, cats, horses, ducks, and elephants.
• He loves story time.  His eyes are glued to Miss Lizzie the entire time.  He loves the nursery rhymes that are songs or have motions or bouncing.  He also loves to play the little instruments she passes out, and he wants to be the first one to knock Humpty Dumpty off the wall.
• Favorite songs: Five Little Monkeys, Arkansas Fight Song, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Old McDonald, You Are My Sunshine, Jesus Loves Me, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Hot Dog, God Made, If You're Happy and You Know it, I'm a Little Teapot
• Favorite rhymes: Humpty Dumpty, Eye Winker, Mother and Father, This Little Piggy
• He likes to point and pretend to count.
• He loves to count 1, 2, 3, and jump off the changing table.
• He has the cutest laugh and squeals when you tickle him.
• He watches every move ME makes and wants to do everything she's doing.
• He loves bathtime and splashes like a maniac.  He loves the basket and balls Santa brought for the bath tub.  He also loves to fill the big cup with water from the faucet and dump it on himself.  He will play and play in the bath while I get ME out and get her ready.
• He does not love diaper changes.  This is where he has gotten a few spats on the leg or booty.
• He knows what "no" means and is going through a fairly compliant stage.  Ha!  He usually listens, but if it's something he really wants he will go for it until his little hand is red from Mommy's attempts to re-direct him. 
• He can be stubborn, and when I really have to get onto him and spank it breaks his little heart.
• He can also show a temper, and it's all I can do to hold him when he gets mad.  It there's one thing I can't stand, it's an arching back, but he can almost take me down when he does it.  He's like a man child.
• I have plenty of pet names but here are a few: little strong man, boo boo, brother, bubby
• We're trying to get away from calling him "baby Rhett," but it's really hard for ME and me!
• His fat hands clapping for himself make one of my favorite sounds.  And I know I'll miss the slap, slap, slap of his hands on the hardwood when he starts walking.
• He is trying to talk so much!  No one else might know what he's saying, but he has picked up quite a few words lately.
• Words: bye bye, Mama, Dadda, ball, go, Papa, Woo, truck, book, Bible, bite, thank you, bath time, boo (in time for Halloween), gobble gobble (in time for Thanksgiving), ho ho ho (in time for Christmas), mmm..., cock-a-doodle-doo sound, roar, horse sound, dog sound, car, uh oh, oooh...
• He likes to blow on his food to pretend it's hot.
• He also pretends to blow his nose with a wipe.
• He climbs...he recently got his first black eye when he climbed up on the picnic table and fell off.  I didn't see it, but I assume that's what happened.  We were all in the living room, and he had just crawled into the kitchen.  I heard him cry, and when I walked around the corner he was sprawled out on his back beside the picnic table.  I was looking for bumps on the back of the head, but a goose egg soon presented itself above his left eye.  That thing has changed every color.  It looks like he has worn black, brown, green, and blue eye shadow.
• He loves to climb up and play in his PB chair.
• He LOVES his blanket and paci.  We throw both in the bed and say night night when he gets up, and if we didn't I think he would suck his paci all day and drag his blanket around like Linus.
• He can be SO loving.  He gives real kisses and then he gives really wet and more than you bargained for kisses.  He pats me and hugs me and lays his head on me or puts his face to my face or grabs my face with his hands and I just.about.melt.  I mean I love him so much.  And then he can pull my hair and be as rough as snuff! 
• He is happy to go with the flow at home or jump in the car and go.  He is so good wherever we are.  Well, he gets a bit testy in church and sitting in my lap at gymnastics.  But he is great in high chairs and strollers when we are out.
• He hears everything and especially loves to spot airplanes and big trucks.
• He is a dancing machine.  It is hilarious!  He bounces and shakes and bobs his head.  I can't wait to see how it will look on his feet.
• He is no doubt a Mama's boy and has shown a bit of separation anxiety lately, but he is more willing to go to friends at church than he has ever been.  He loves Ann Louise, Sarah, Lauren, Nathan, and Chad.  He will sit with them through church better than he will with us.
• He loves to turn off the light switches and ring the doorbell when we come inside.
• He gets so excited when Brad gets home.  He loves his Dada!