Lauren at 14 Months

The past few weeks (months) have been so busy that I haven't had much time for a full Lauren update, so this is a bit overdue. Lauren is a very busy 14-month-old. She has had another cold this week (yes, again) but we have been able to handle it well with the medications we have at home--no trips to the hospital this time! Praise the Lord!

Lauren's main focus lately has been on talking and learning new words. She loves to point at things and say, "Dis?" She waits for us to tell her the name of whatever she is pointing at, and then she tries to copy us. Sometimes she is very close (like when she calls Elmo, "Eh-mo!"), and sometimes not so much (like when she called a zebra a "gumba"). But she always tries and gets a little better every day. She says her own version of more words than I could list, but some of her current favorites include "ka-ka" (or cracker), "ko-ko" (or cookie), "uhba" (for up or open), and "moe" (for more). She doesn't use her signs as much since she is using words instead, but still signs "please" quite often.She is also busy learning new things. She's figured out many of her body parts, including hair, head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, neck, chest, toes, and her favorite: belly button! Some things we work to teach her, other things she figures out on her own without us even knowing. She still likes making animal noises and has added a few new ones, including horse ("naaa") and monkey ("hoo hoo!"). So cute.

Lauren is also beginning to figure out "pretend play." She got a kitchen for Christmas and today she brought the cup from her kitchen over to the coffee table and set it down in front of me. Then she got the blender and pretended to pour something from the blender into the cup. She then handed me the cup and waited for me to drink. We'll be having tea parties in no time! As for real food, she has good days and picky days. She is eating a larger variety of things, but definitely has a sweet tooth. We still can't get her to eat regular meat or veggies (other than corn), so she is eating baby food for those things. (Thankfully, she usually gobbles that up.) She recently tried Kraft Mac and Cheese for the first time and like every kid, she loved it. She also uses her fork at times, but I'm reluctant to give her a spoon very often--I don't want to clean up the mess!More to come, including Lauren's trips to the zoo, the library, and her first bite of a hot dog...