manning update

this is one happy kid - at least now that his ear seems to be under control (the claritin did the trick and we go next week for a follow-up to confirm with the doctor).  and he is on the go!  he still isn't all that interested in pulling to stand, but he is crawling everywhere!  the kids marvel at how fast he is and how he just checks everything out.  he pulls up to his knees a lot and that give him enough height to reach what he wants on chairs and the couch and that has been good enough for him.

he is very loud and very chatty.  even when he eats he makes an almost constant "mmmmm" sound.  there is rarely a moment of quiet when he is awake.  i don't even notice the noise any more except for the dramatic contrast of how quiet it is when he takes a short break.  in fact, i find myself often telling the kids that they have to "be louder than manning" when we are in the car and they are talking to me.  i just cant hear them over his chatting.

he is very into faces right now and madelyn loves how he sticks his pointer finger in the missing teeth hole in her mouth when she smiles at him.

his main interest in books is eating them.  it is very difficult to read a book to him for that reason and just that he won't sit still.  he really, really likes that he can get around on his own.

this week he has eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.  i love when they can finally handle eating one.  it makes it a lot easier for me to eat some lunch too.  he has almost no patience when he is eating and 'yells' about it if you try and take a bite of your own meal while his mouth is empty between spoonfuls.  he isn't very interested in spoonfeeding right now and i am having to take more time coming up with semi-neat finger foods for him because while he refuses the spoon, he is still very hungry.  although there is almost nothing he can eat neatly with his hands - he has a skill.  funny enough he doesn't even need a bib when eating from a spoon because he is so neat.  go figure.  he also has a talent for getting any dropped food under his bottom in the high chair.  you pick him up and there is stuff all over his bottom!  i am not really sure how he does it - and i have tried to watch.

i didn't really notice until these pictures but he has a gap between his front teeth like mason did.

manning is really growing too!  he is wearing 12 and 18 month clothes now and is starting to thin out.  he is built more 'solid' like mason than wiry like maddux.

just loving this little boy.  love.