Fifteen Months Old

At 15 months, Maverick is our curious, little explorer.  He has managed to find the candy stash in our pantry.  Often he'll put the entire piece in his mouth...wrapper and all.  Every now and then he'll bring the Milk Duds, Starbursts, Skittles, or sucker to me and ask, "Bite?"  Then, if I do decide to let him have it, he'll keep saying "Bite-bite....mmm!" over and over until he gets it in his mouth.  

Don't think that he eats junk all day.  He rarely gets candy.  Here he is having his first real banana at mimi and papaw's house. The only problem is that he thinks he is so big he gets upset if you just give him one bite.  He wants the entire banana, and then he thinks he can cram it all in with just one bite.  

Maverick LOVES to eat!  He'll have a mouth full and be handing out more food in his hand asking you for a bite-bite.  The other day I gave him a small bite of my apple danish.  That wasn't enough.  He took off with the entire treat!

Maverick got to go to the Smoky Mountains for his second time.  The last time he went, he was just four weeks old. Jason, Rocco, Maverick, and I went for our first family trip after he was born.   At 15 months he was certainly into more this time around.  Rocco, Maverick, Daelyn (my 4 yr old niece), mimi, papaw, and I stayed at Oakmont Resort in Pigeon Forge.  We really enjoyed the Fun Zone, a place with lots of kiddie rides.  The one thing little man could do was the large slide.  I rode with him in a large potato sack.  Once we reached the end of the tall slide, he would turn around and try to climb up it.  He wanted to go again!

We also enjoyed swimming at the resort pool.  Little man didn't last too long there, though.  He was too independent for his own good.  Maverick thought he could just walk right off the deck into the large swimming pool.  He has no fear.  For his safety, we put a life vest around him. As long as he didn't think we were holding on to him, he was fine.  He did NOT want to be restrained or controlled by any of us!   (Notice the strap in the top, left corner of this picture?  Don't tell him but that's how we monitored him in the small baby pool!)

Daelyn was so good with Maverick, acting like his second mama and taking care of him on our trip.  

What a little stinker.  When he found his diaper wipes box, he just put himself in it.  Sometimes he'll do this in my cooking pots when I'm working on supper.  For now he can fit inside them, but I can tell you now he won't be able to for much longer.  He's a growing boy!

This was the month for amusement parks.  Weeks after our mountain trip, we also went to Lake Winnie.  My brother, Tyler, and I took our kids to the park for several hours in the evening as the sun was going down.  There were a few kiddie rides that Maverick could do.  We all rode the boat chute, a log flume ride that goes through a tunnel and ends in one long hill that splashes you into the lake. Maverick also got to ride the Lady Bug, Bumblebee, Cars, Wacky Factory, and even the little boats.

In our house, we seldom wear our shoes.  So you'll find many pairs in our kitchen floor by the door.  For some reason, Maverick loves to put them on his feet and hands.  He'll walk around the house in these over sized shoes.  At least he's getting better about not eating them.  That always made me cringe.  I'd much rather him take off with a toothbrush in his mouth. . . which he often does.  When we can't find our toothbrushes we can usually find them in his toy box.

We've been swimming at nana and granddaddy's this summer.  As long as little man thinks he is in control, he enjoys it.  But...if he ever thinks you are holding him it's all over.  The fit begins.  Mr. Independent.  MAVERICK...we named him right.

Just look at that sweet face!  I love it!  This was one day when Carolyn and I took the boys and Sydney to the park.  Man did he love walking around in the cold, creek water!  He pitched a big one when we had to leave.

And what would little boys be without their super hero outfits?  Cutest little Super Man ever!  Rocco dressed up like Spider Man, and I had two handsome heroes on my hands...

Bath time is fun around our house.  The boys often take one together.  Look at those happy smiles!

This shirt is so cute...and appropriate.  He's really not any trouble, but he sure can find some messes to get into!  He found his brother's markers.  Look at how he decorated his face!  He loves to make us laugh.  Recently he's learned that his nose is fun to pick.  He's not really picking anything out...he just likes our reaction.  EEW..YUCK!  Our little stinker thinks it is hilarious to gross us out.  He'll start eating his toes and licking his feet if he knows it will get a reaction. And he's all boy.  He thinks his poots are funny.  He's not even two yet!  We're in for it come next March.