Here’s my portion of the family photo shoot!  As you can see, I’m still full of smiles and energy at fourteen months, and I love talking to people.  I’ve got about thirteen words total (new ones are “bottle (baba),” “up” and “all done!”) and I try to sing songs like “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “Goodnight Ladies.”  I also love to cover my face and play peek-a-boo, and give high fives.  I can point to Mommy’s nose when asked, although I haven’t yet made the connection that I, too, have a nose.

I really like being independent these days, and I feel very passionately about guiding my spoon into my own mouth!  Sometimes I’ll refuse food, but if you hand me the utensil and say, “Does Lena want to do it?” I’ll keep eating at my own pace.  I’m also getting very close to walking, and I’m now able to stand up by myself in the middle of the room.  I love nothing more than slipping away from people and then racing up the stairs as quickly as I can.

Current likes: Doing it by myself!

Current dislikes: Giving up my daytime bottles (still not very happy about diaper changes, either!)

Brrr, it’s getting cold out there!  We took a trip up to Syracuse to visit Mimi and Opa for Thanksgiving, and ran right into a blizzard.  Fortunately the family photo shoot we had organized was indoors.

So here I am a three and a half years old!  As you can tell from my grin, I’m a spirited little guy, and I know my own mind.  I love imagining things and playing pretend, although most of my story lines follow a similar and highly predictable narrative arc.  Every story I tell consists of one character getting into trouble, falling down, and yelling “help me!” before being rescued by a different character.  At school they used to be worried and come running whenever I cried out for help, but they’ve realized that it’s usually just me pretending.

Current likes: Being right (“I told you, Mama!”)

Current dislikes: When cool trucks drive by on Lena’s side of the car rather than mine