14 Month Update

At 14 months Owen...

• has found a new gear in his walking. He is no Jamaican runner Usain Bolt, but he is proficient and on the verge of running all the time.
• throwing balls. If you chase him, he will run with the ball and will do an over-the-head throw when you get close.
• can go down the toddler slides by himself. He also upgraded to the real swings. He still loves the park and goes during daycare. Daycare told us that when Owen was trying to climb out of the crawl tunnel at the park, he wasn't sure he could do it himself. Little Evy was behind Owen waiting for him to decide what to do. Owen held onto one of Evy's pig tails to steady himself and then climbed down. Evy looked worried the whole time, but Owen did not pull anything (not sure if that qualifies him as a gentleman).
• still loves paging through books and pointing at Bob the Builder a lot
• can turn the toy truck he is pushing before it crashes into the wall - most of the time
• sits in a forward facing car seat
• still loves his Push Around Buggie, but his legs are getting a little too long
• loves his rocking horse. He isn't big enough to get on it himself, but he can "rock" when he gets on it.
• loves his sandbox. He can take the cover off and can put it back on. He would spend hours out there
• loves the outdoors. After a big digger at the park, he has rebounded and has mastered the uneven terrain of the woods and grass. Lately he has realized that he can not only step on the twigs, but pick them up too. He tries to "reattach" the twigs to the tree. Very cute! He is very random with his walking outside. We expect him to follow us, but he likes to randomly stop and change direction a lot.
• has mastered the temper tantrum. Anything taken away from him or refused results in high pitched screams, arching of his back, rolling around on the floor, running to you when you walk away only to push you away a moment later
• is very vocal in a caveman sort of way. The daycare teachers describe him as "enthusiastic" and "animated".
• can feed himself with a fork and spoon. He can stab with the fork but needs assistance with scooping. He hasn't figured out the purpose of the plate yet, other than something to wear like a hat.
• is a messy eater. After a slight lull the last few months in the level of mess after dinner, things have picked up again.
• still loves raspberries and Colby cheese
• has a long attention span. He seams to have a "mission" he is working on everyday - most of the time it is top secret as the rest of the household does not know what Owen is doing other than it is important.
• loves adult items with long handles. He tries to help us rake and sweep - unsuccessfully, but don't tell Owen that - he will scream at you.
• loves the front closet and will stand there for hours picking through shoes. When we put his coat on, he will go there to find and bring us his shoes.