My 14 month old daughter is exactly the same. There is no blueprint, your child will be walking and talking when they are ready. If you are really worried about no words you should talk to your doctor but I was told an ear test would be appropriate because they may not be hearing words in order to say them correctly. My sister-in-law's son did not speak until he was 18 months, no words at all. My daughter can say "Uh Oh, Momma, Dada", she sure is cute though.

ajsmama, thanks for your comments. the house was built in the 50s and the problem is not with the bedding touching the outlet but with it being only one of 2 outlets in the room, we will need to plug into it and it's an older outlet where the plugs sag out of it. My dh doesn't want the plugs from a light to be jammed against the bed, and since my son is only 3 1/2 we need a bedrail and a wall for him not to fall out so bed needs to be against wall...I guess we could have another outlet put in at some point, but not now. Polly929, I will be getting rid of the dresser soon and getting a long one to put in it's place against the wall the head of the bed in on. The curtains we have do come in red (Pottery Barn Kids)and you can't really tell but they are navy blue with colorful stitching in stipes. I just noticed they have curtains which match the bedding (see link) what do you think about that? Shannon01, the door is on the same wall as the bed. The closet wall is to the left of the door and the closet is not very long but takes up half of that wall. In the picture with the bookcase, the wall to the left is where the closet is, pretty much within inches of the left edge of photo. I like your ideas. I think I will keep the bed where it is. As for toy, we have a playroom so he doesn't really need any storage for them. Just books. And we just bought this bedding he picked out in January when he changed from a crib to a big boy bed. So that stays. Making a headboard out of the cards is a fantastic idea! Valinsv, thank you for considering the real reason behind my son's feelings. We actually have had a big year with lots of changes. We moved in October (just up the street, so same friends etc but still a move), I just had a baby, and he moved from a crib to a big boy bed. I'm with you in not wanting to make too many changes at once. The problem is that ever since we moved in here, his room has been in constant flux, now with the bed so I guess this is my last ditch effort to get it right. But I agree too much change is no good. So I think the biggest thing is the paint color. I will paint it a wheat/khaki. I will keep the bed where it is and move the animal cards down to make either a headboard or put on the wall next to his bed. And I will get a new longer dresser for safety reasons and put it next to his bed. But like you said, first the paint and then wait to see. We don't have room for a chair but we do cuddle up for a long while on his bed and talk and read at night. The problem is I don't feel warm and cozy in there, so there may be a real issue of design to address as well as being sensitive to is growing independence and feelings of fear. Wow. This has all become much more complex than when I began but it's good. I'm going to involve him in all of this too so that should help. So tell me what you all think of matching the curtains to the bedding? Here is a link that might be useful: Madras curtains

Assuming that Nick was tired, or that he thought you were interfering with something that he should have chosen, or something, & that he really doesn't feel like Chad is someone to swear about, in other words, assuming there's something to work with here... One thing I've noticed that men *are* good at is detailed directions/instructions. 1. When alarm goes off, push button. 2. Throw back covers. 3. Put feet into slippers. 4. etc Send Chad to a friend's house for the evening, & take Nick for a walk or a bike ride & tire him out, since people are more open-minded & less likely to erupt when they're a little tired ("physically tired", not "stress-tired", do *not* try this when he's just spent 10 hours on an excruciating project at work!). When you get home (be sure this isn't on a football night, or whatever night he has something else on his mind), sit down with him & tell him that you want everyone to be happy in the family & that you want him & Chad to have a good, strong, enjoyable relationship, & that you want to try an experiment. & have an outline of your "project" in front of you, with one goal & a few basic or simple steps to achieve it. Tell him you haven't thought past this first small goal, you want to start small, & ask him for his ideas for more steps toward the goal. Agree to get together in a week to talk about how successful it's been & what can be done to fine-tune the steps or refine the goal. At that get-together, agree to have another meeting the following week. Praise every tiny improvement as it happens during the week. (We know to praise dogs, & yet we forget to do it with our nearest & dearest!) When the first goal has been attained, or is within reach, ask him for thoughts on another goal. That first get-together may give you a yes/no answer: if Nick is willing to give it a try, even if he's wary (& people are often wary of something new), hang in there, but if he blows up & tells you to mind your own business & stalks off *& doesn't come back to make up & explore the idea further after he's cooled down*... then I'd say you need to take your son & get outta Dodge. I wish all of you the best.

I am not being used as a chauffer or babysitter. I offered... it was my decision. I saw it as helping the two of them see each other more often. But I guess then I didn't realize the harm that it could be doing. As for mom, she is kind of a strange parent. It seems as though a lot of you women have a strong maternal instinct and wouldn't even let your DD SM pick your daughters up. However, BM has asked if I could pick up her daughter (we meet in the middle of our houses) because it was more convenient for her to drop her off at that time. If we don't accommodate her schedule she often tells us then she won't be able to drop her off at all. She's never around to receive her daughter either. Most of the time dad brings her with her grandparents because mom isn't around. This weekend was a perfect example. Mom told us she would receive her daugther at 6pm on Sunday. She called and told my BF that she left town and wouldn't be able to pick her up until Monday sometime, and that either she would pick her up with dad at his work or mine. HAH. So dad didn't go to work in the morning because mom decided she had better things to do than pick up her daughter, and he ended up bringing his daughter to her grandparents because mom wasn't answering her phone. Sometimes she leaves to the beach for the weekend and decides not to come back until Wednesday, leaving her daughter with her parents, and no one to bring her to school. Not very motherly if you ask me. As for our relationship, it's fine. I am not getting involved in baby momma drama... we see each other, say hello, everything's cordial, then we talk about the girl, say goodbye no name calling as far as I know etc. I never say a bad word about her mother to anyone.. ever. As for my bf we met 11 years ago in the US. I came here to Mexico to be with him a year ago. Maybe I use the term soulmate in a way you don't understand. I know I could find someone else if I wanted to. I don't. I'm here to stay with this man and this girl. We may not be married but we are committed to each other as if we were. We are talking marriage... and it will happen some day. What else... oh to answer a question dad and mom divorced when daughter was 2.5. Sooo... 1 year and half before I showed up into the picture. Their relationship sounds like it was verbally and emotionally abusive, probably from both parts but she also sounds like she was physically abusive towards him... but never to their daughter. Dad never had a serious girlfriend after that before me. I don't think dad ever introduced any women to his daughter before me either. But I don't know that for sure. As for the bed thing, I know. Dad and daughter used to sleep in the same bed before I arrived. I think it's weird. So when I came into the picture and she was over on the weekends, dad had daughter sleep in the same bed as us. I put a quick stop to that. NOT OK. I expressed to him that it's uncomfortable and he talked with her, though I don't think he really understands why it's a problem. He sometimes asks if she can sleep with us still... I don't understand why. As for this weekend little girl was throwing up and had a bad temperature in the middle of the night so she came into the bed in the early morning so dad could keep an eye on her. I didn't think it was inappropriate in that case. I don't want to be an in your face sm. I honestly feel like dad is trying to force the situation and really I was over doing the favors just to try and get to know the girl and make it easier for them to see each other... to be nice. I know that I need to back off now. Anyways I left and did my own thing on Saturday and part of Sunday and when I came back things were much nicer. I think the girl does like me when she wants to see me, but I was around too often and intruding on daddy daughter time. Today she was very talkative to me, sweet... gave me a little kiss goodbye and they left. I think I found my answer. I agree with the playing house thing being a rush, I'm not moving out now... so I have to find other ways to fix this. To answer someone's question it is not the house of his previous relationship... and when I say house I mean apartment.. a small one. I think it's kind of hard to stay out of each others business when we are all there... leaving is probably necessary to give them proper alone time.