Baxter's New Tricks: 15-months old

One thing is for sure: Baxter is never boring.  It seems like he picks up a new skill everyday, and it's amazing to me how fast he's learning things.  He enjoys mischief and has inherited our sense of humor.  In other words, Mighty Mouse has turned into Jokey Smurf.

Here are some new things Bax has been doing:

He's learned how to "smile".  Sometime he'll do it on command, sometimes he won't.  But when he starts doing this cheesy smile, there's no stopping him!  He'll bust it out at random times at home and at the store, expecting a big round of applause afterwards.

He has a Zoolander face.  We like to put random things on him (hats, glasses, toys) and tell him to "go show mommy/daddy!" to which he'll walk over to the aforementioned person and pose for a bit.

The half-smile.  This isn't really a "trick", this is more or less the look he gives us all the time.  To me, it's a look that says "I tolerate you.  Now give me some raisins/a straw to chew on/cheddar bunnies!"

Remember when Baxter was 6-months old and I made a video of him signing for "more"?  All the progress with signing stopped when he learned that he could get his point across by pounding the table (thanks, mom).  I tried signing again with him, and lo and behold this week he started signing for "more" again, usually followed by a point toward the bag of raisins.  Today, however, he signed for "more" after I gave him some cuddly kisses, which made me feel like the World's Best Mommy.

Bax has also developed an ear for music and dancing.  Every morning he points to the Vers (our iPod dock) and starts dancing.  Baxter's version of dancing is bouncing up and down with his knees, snapping his fingers, and sometimes swaying side to side or shaking his head.  I'm trying to get him to incorporate more b-boy moves, or at least the Robot.  Here's a clip of him dancing with a burp cloth for a cape that my mom put on him.

At 15-months, Bax has learned how to blow snot rockets, flush the toilets, pick up food with his play tweezers, successfully bring a spoon or fork ladled with food to his mouth (but hasn't quite mastered getting the food on the utensil), take his diaper off, take his shirt off, and knows that his socks and shoes go on his feet.  He can point to his eyes, ears, nose, tummy, belly button, knee, feet, titi, and "boobs".  (No comment.)  His favorite games are playing chase, sliding into the almost-splits on the kitchen floor in his socks, hiding in the curtains, and getting tickled by Mike.  His favorite toys are anything he can fill up and dump (like blocks and a bucket), Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl from Toy Story (he has Woody and Bullseye, but will almost always grab Jessie first), and sorting shapes into holes, such as with puzzles or his wooden tool set.  He still loves his lovey blanket(s), and thinks it's funny to give people pulsatile squeezes with hugs.

Where has the time gone?  He's grown up so fast!