Alex, 15 months

This picture really sums up my little boy down to a tee – sitting in a box, munching on toys or things he isn’t supposed to and causing trouble. His personality is really developing so rapidly, I can see such a difference month to month.

I still can’t quite get over how different he is to his sister when she was his age. I don’t know whether it’s a boy / girl thing, or whether it’s just a character trait, or a bit of both, but he is so much more naughty and mischievous. He is, however, as funny as his sister, and he makes us laugh so much. He is starting to test the boundaries a bit more now, and whenever we say “no” to something (like when he’s trying to steal and lick the coals in the fireplace – a favourite of his!), he doesn’t take no for an answer, but just carries on regardless and laughs, while looking at us to see what we’ll do next (most of the time we pick him up and place him somewhere else and try to distract him, only for him to go back and repeat the whole thing again).

He loves bashing and banging things, preferably the kitchen cupboards or the washing machine and dryer doors, as well as trying to actually climb inside, so I literally can't take my eyes off him for a minute, or he'll have pulled out pots and pans or emptied the contents of the freezer. It would be really annoying if he wasn't so cute and it was also so endearing! 

He’s starting to be able to concentrate and focus on things more, and he can spend a good while playing with his little tool toy, where he can repeatedly bash balls with a hammer. Or he’ll spend ages playing in Becky’s toy kitchen, more so than Becky ever has, which is also cute. He is, however, absolutely not interested in the TV and kid’s programmes, which is a bit of a shame, dare I say it, as it would be nice if he could just sit still enough to watch In the Night Garden or Peppa Pig (which Becky was already obsessed with at this stage), so I could have a cup of tea and a sit down in peace. But no such luck.

He is, however, getting more interested in the iPad. I don’t know whether it’s just because Becky plays with it and he wants to join in or snatch it from her, or whether it’s just the lights and sounds that fascinate him. Either way, so far Becky has not been prepared to share the iPad with him, and as soon as he comes near it, she runs away with it.

He’s still not walking, the little lazy bum. He clearly has the strength and balance to do it, as he is confidently cruising and even walking on his walker or holding on to me with one hand, but he is just not interested in letting go and trying for himself. Why should he, I guess, as he is crawling at lightning speed and gets around everywhere, so why learn a new skill? 

He is fearless though, and will climb up and down anything and everything, and has even worked out that if he pulls a little stool to him, he can climb on top and reach for things even higher up, so it’s quite full on pre-empting what he might be up to next.

Even at nursery they said that it’s strange how he can be climbing all these high hazards, but not show any interest in walking itself. We’ll see. I guess they all do it in their own time, and – even though I have been saying this for a couple of months now – I do think he is on the cusp and will start walking any day now. We're off to buy him his first shoes this weekend. I've been holding off on this, as I wanted to buy him proper ones once he's walking, but as he's taking his time and the weather is getting cold now, I will just pop to Clarks and buy him some anyway. Maybe this will give him some more stability and encourage him to take his first step. Watch this space ...