Louis is 15 Months Old

The big news this month? Louis WALKED!! He took his first steps on his 15 month birthday. It was only 3 steps but it still counts as walking. His grandma and grandpa were in town to see it too! Louis was very proud of himself - I am not sure he knew why he was proud, just that everyone in the room was clapping and cheering for him!

Louis' ability to sign has also really taken off. He signs eat, more, and down. He is constantly signing eat, and then crawling over and pulling up to his high chair. Louis is always eating and will sit in his high chair for like 40 minutes if I let him! He definitely has opinions on what he eats now, vigorously shaking his head "no" if he doesn't want something. It is getting more difficult to get him to eat veggies but he still loves avocado's and tomato's.

Louis has one word that he says all the time which is "oh-oh!" His other words are still there but are less consistant -he says words daily but they are spontaneous, he doesn't repeat after you yet! However, Louis understands everything you tell him - he will attempt to take off his coat, or hat or shoes if asked, he will pick up toys if asked, I you ask him if he wants to take a bath he will crawl over to the steps, crawl up the steps and into the bathroom! He also is able to point to lots of things in he books when I ask him and when he is in the right mood!

At the beginning of the month Louis had a one week stretch of temper-tantrums - screaming, crying, flinging his arms and head around! I was getting scared that this was how it was going to be when all of a sudden he really mellowed out again! I stopped giving him my cell phone because he ALWAYS wanted it - if i got it out to answer a call he would have a melt down. Now he doesn't even care about it for the most part! I also started ignoring him when he was throwing a fit and now if he doesn't get his way he may cry for a minute or two but no head banging or arm flinging!

Louis is still doing pretty good at night but I would say a couple times a week he will wake up and want me to go into his room cover him up with a blanket and pat him on the back - it only takes a second but he was sleeping through every night!

Louis is getting more and more fun and we are looking forward to the next chapter of his life - the one where he walks!

Pictures from the month!

Grandma and Grandpa H. In Town

My parents arrived for a visit on Thursday January 28th. My parents got in at noon and took the bus to Federal Way and grabbed lunch and waited for me to pick them up. We all went to get Louis from daycare where we realized he was sick. He was sitting in his high chair staring off into space and was not in a smiling mood. He hadn't eaten all day and when we got him home and put him in a high chair he screamed and cried, pushing all food away. For lack of a better idea I put him to bed at 6p.m. where he proceeded to sleep all night and woke up back to his old self.

Friday, my mom and I ran around while Louis napped and then we all went out to dinner at the Elliot Bay Brewing Co. There was a vent blowing cold air right on Louis the whole time! We asked our server to turn it off but the only thing she did was to maybe turn it down. Louis didn't seem to mind though. It is so hard to go out to eat when the kid is used to going to bed at 6:30. Once he is tired he is a little irritable and needs entertaining constantly!

Saturday my parents were awesome! Not only did they watch Louis and let Mike and I ski (yes, that's me on my back!), they also made a fabulous dinner of pulled pork and slaw for Mike and I and Katy and Ed who finally got to meet my parents. We had a great night playing Phase 10 and eating dark chocolate cake! Right before Katy and Ed came over we had a "practice walking session" with Louis which we had been doing all along, and the day before Louis slid his foot a half a step, so we knew he was getting close, but we were elated that he actually walked on his 15 month birthday!

Sunday, we walked along Ruston Way while Mike kayaked to Ruston way. We were able to meet him for lunch (well, Mike ate lunch - a peanut butter sandwich and we watched him eat). Then my parents and I grabbed coffee and met Mike back at Dash Point park. We let Louis swing and go down the slide which he had a blast doing!


Monday morning we had to say good bye to my parents, which as always is really sad! We had a great time and hope to see them again soon! Thanks for everything mom and dad!

Alligator Skin Disorder!

There is a well known problem that plagues some members of the Heidemann clan. Maybe its a fair skin thing, maybe there's a little reptile in their blood, but one thing is for certain... they receive no sensation through their skin. Especially in the facial area. Grandpa is constantly the butt of Thanksgiving table jokes and I have personally witnessed a whole chicken wing stuck to Marcie's mouth (well, almost a whole one).

Unfortunately it has become apparent that Louis suffers from the same disorder! At first we thought it was just baby being babies. Oatmeal, potatoes, apple sauce, all the normal baby messes. But lately the pieces have been getting larger, pieces of fruit, blueberries, and now whole noodles without any appearance of acknowledgment! Hopefully they will soon develop a cure for this or else we will have to somehow mount a mirror to his lunchbox when school starts :)