During little man's first year of life, I was AWESOME at keeping track of everything he was doing and when he was doing each thing. I had a yearly day-by-day calendar in which I wrote an entry for every single day for probably the first 8 months of his life, dropping to every 2-3 days for months 9-12. Since that calendar ended, and I found out I was pregnant again, I realized that I haven't been keeping as great of track as I did before. So, I thought every so often I'd post a little update on how he is doing and what he is doing.
I'm going to divide this into categories based on what I know from my speech therapy/developmental background and go from there. I'm going to add a lot of information today since it is the first post, but hopefully the following posts will just be updates!
Little man is just about 16.5 months old currently.
Little man is just about 16.5 months old currently.
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| Walking with Grammy |
Speech/Language: Little man is increasing his 'word bank' daily, it seems like. His current words now include: mama, dada, doggie, hi, bye, up, bubble, open, cookie, cracker, baby, nigh-nigh, octopus, duck, fish, vroom/zoom, yea, uh-oh, and boom. (I know, the octopus one is weird. We have a letter ABC puzzle with pictures behind each letter, and he loves picking up the O and trying to say octopus!) I think there are a few more, but I'm forgetting at this point. He also signs more, all done, and waves, as well as points to things he wants and to people, as well as pointing at things to show DH or I something. He is also a VERY good listener. For example, this weekend, he was playing with the controls on my mom's heating pad while sitting next to me, and he walked over toward the cord plugged into the wall. I said, "Not to touch" or "Not to play" or something like that, and he looked at me, looked back at the cord, I repeated it one more time, and he walked away. Thankfully, he understands a lot of what I say now, and is a really good natured child and abides by it.
Eating: We've always had somewhat of a problem with little man and table food. He loves his mama milk and his purees/yogurt, but hasn't always been a fan of real, table food. Recently though, he has started to pick up quite a bit (literally and figuratively!) in what he will eat. Currently, he still gets two containers of baby greek yogurt each day, as well as his oatmeal fed to him in the morning, but most everything else he is taking by himself. He will now eat almost any kind of fruit, but mostly likes peaches, pears, apples, bananas, and strawberries. He isn't a huge fan of raspberries or blueberries, but I think the former may be too sour for him. He will also eat any kind of cracker and most snack type foods, such as soft baby snack bars, string cheese, etc. We recently discovered that he likes to eat plain bread/rolls and I'm pretty sure he lived off of grilled cheese sandwiches this past weekend. We are still trying very hard to get in his vegetables/protein over the course of the week, but thankfully he will always take veggie purees or hummus/etc. when presented from a pouch or a spoon. He also still does drink one fruit/veggie/coconut milk smoothie each day to increase the nutrients he is obtaining.
Personality: Little man still is a big cuddler, and his love language is definitely still physical touch. Just today, he sat and cuddled in my lap for about 10 minutes while I folded laundry. Also, being 'up!' in my or DH's arms is still his favorite place to be. He has started shrieking REALLY loud when he gets excited about something, and it is really sweet to see/hear him run to DH or I shrieking with a big smile on his face at the end of the day at daycare. He recently has been having a little more of what I would consider the beginning of a toddler tantrum, but we're not exactly sure of the cause yet (if it is teeth-see below, or sickness, or just being a toddler). For the past couple of days, he will get frustrated randomly and sit down and then face plant into the carpet with a few exasperated cries. I try to keep a straight face when he does this, and offer a little bit of love or reassuring words to get him through (even if I'm not giving him what he wants if that isn't possible/good at that time), however, he is so darn cute that I just want to just scoop him up and give him whatever he wanted. I'm trying not to :)
Random Stuff: Little man has, I think, as of now 16 teeth. His canines and first molars are really pushing through and very visible now, and I'm wondering how long it is going to be before he gets his two year molars, because I'm guessing those are coming early too. Little man also LOVES having his teeth brushed at this point, and after you are done brushing his teeth, he doesn't want to let go of the toothbrush. We actually just purchased a few more toothbrushes, which might help if we give him one for a toy. He is still not so much a super fan of diaper changes, but with a little distraction we are getting through it. He also learned to point fingers ET style with his Grammy & Grampy this past weekend and has now fallen in love with touching fingers with them and us. Little man still loves being worn, but also likes to lean over my sling/wrap and try to help me push the cart at the grocery store, when he's not staring at the fish tanks in the grocery :) He also still HAS to know where we are at all times. The picture below is of him watching DH mow the lawn the other day. He stood in this exact spot for about 15-20 minutes, between checking on me while I did dishes, watching DH mowing the lawn.
Basically, he just gets cooler and cooler every day.
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| Playing with another puzzle, but keeping his Octopus O tight in his other hand :) |
Eating: We've always had somewhat of a problem with little man and table food. He loves his mama milk and his purees/yogurt, but hasn't always been a fan of real, table food. Recently though, he has started to pick up quite a bit (literally and figuratively!) in what he will eat. Currently, he still gets two containers of baby greek yogurt each day, as well as his oatmeal fed to him in the morning, but most everything else he is taking by himself. He will now eat almost any kind of fruit, but mostly likes peaches, pears, apples, bananas, and strawberries. He isn't a huge fan of raspberries or blueberries, but I think the former may be too sour for him. He will also eat any kind of cracker and most snack type foods, such as soft baby snack bars, string cheese, etc. We recently discovered that he likes to eat plain bread/rolls and I'm pretty sure he lived off of grilled cheese sandwiches this past weekend. We are still trying very hard to get in his vegetables/protein over the course of the week, but thankfully he will always take veggie purees or hummus/etc. when presented from a pouch or a spoon. He also still does drink one fruit/veggie/coconut milk smoothie each day to increase the nutrients he is obtaining.
Personality: Little man still is a big cuddler, and his love language is definitely still physical touch. Just today, he sat and cuddled in my lap for about 10 minutes while I folded laundry. Also, being 'up!' in my or DH's arms is still his favorite place to be. He has started shrieking REALLY loud when he gets excited about something, and it is really sweet to see/hear him run to DH or I shrieking with a big smile on his face at the end of the day at daycare. He recently has been having a little more of what I would consider the beginning of a toddler tantrum, but we're not exactly sure of the cause yet (if it is teeth-see below, or sickness, or just being a toddler). For the past couple of days, he will get frustrated randomly and sit down and then face plant into the carpet with a few exasperated cries. I try to keep a straight face when he does this, and offer a little bit of love or reassuring words to get him through (even if I'm not giving him what he wants if that isn't possible/good at that time), however, he is so darn cute that I just want to just scoop him up and give him whatever he wanted. I'm trying not to :)
Random Stuff: Little man has, I think, as of now 16 teeth. His canines and first molars are really pushing through and very visible now, and I'm wondering how long it is going to be before he gets his two year molars, because I'm guessing those are coming early too. Little man also LOVES having his teeth brushed at this point, and after you are done brushing his teeth, he doesn't want to let go of the toothbrush. We actually just purchased a few more toothbrushes, which might help if we give him one for a toy. He is still not so much a super fan of diaper changes, but with a little distraction we are getting through it. He also learned to point fingers ET style with his Grammy & Grampy this past weekend and has now fallen in love with touching fingers with them and us. Little man still loves being worn, but also likes to lean over my sling/wrap and try to help me push the cart at the grocery store, when he's not staring at the fish tanks in the grocery :) He also still HAS to know where we are at all times. The picture below is of him watching DH mow the lawn the other day. He stood in this exact spot for about 15-20 minutes, between checking on me while I did dishes, watching DH mowing the lawn.
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| But Dad! I'm sure my bubble mower could help! |
Basically, he just gets cooler and cooler every day.
♥ the naptown organizer