Sunday, October 16, 2011

Seventeen Months

My little baby is seventeen months old.   He is turning into such a kid.  From the bandages on his knees, to the dirt smudges on his cheeks, to the adamant opinions he is vocalizing - he's becoming less and less baby and more and more kid.  At the same time, he's still nursing regularly, so cuddly, and still so little.  Here's the monthly rundown. 

  • Singing and "reading" - He has a couple board books that he can "read" aloud.  He can read "Baby Faces" in it's entirety - yes, all six words of it ;)  He is filling in words to more than a dozen songs and singing more and more songs on his own.  Dino Five (cuppa cuppa cuppa) and Cloudy, Cloudy (goggy goggy) are his two favorites.  
  • Decision making - I've recently begun more deliberately offering him choices for clothing, food, books and activities.  It has blown open his world.  He gets so excited and puts one finger to his mouth and says, "hmmmm, hmmm" (I guess he saw me do that at some point?) and then points to his choice and is DELIGHTED when that's what we do/wear/eat. 
  • Phrases - He is officially stringing together words.  He will say, "more grapes please" or will list the people he loves by saying, "althou mama, althou dad, althou Talula, althou AnFe."  (He often does this early in the morning, and it's a very sweet sound to wake up to.)
  • Favorite activities - coloring, drawing, painting, playdough, mixing - basically if it makes a mess, he loves it.  He's also digging his shape sorter and xylophone.  
  • Fork and other utensils - He still tends to dump the contents onto his lap right before reaching his mouth, but if it's something a little sticky (like mashed potatoes) he mostly gets it into his mouth.  He's also getting pretty good at maneuvering his toothbrush, when he's not just sucking the water out of it.  
  • Mobility - Running, marching, "jumping", backwards and forwards, downward dog, round and round, up and down - he never stops.  I'm hoping to get a good video of these activities, but I haven't had any luck yet.  He is also constantly climbing.  He tries climbing from chair, to table, to window sill - it's terrifying.    
  • Teething - He's still working on the second set of teeth.  Initially he did the first eight in a short span, and now he's working on six more.  He's good about letting me look in his mouth to check the progress and it looks SO painful.  His poor gums are swollen and the pointy teeth are sharp on my fingers while the flatter ones are just showing up as a ring of white still working to push the middle through.  Ouch. 
  • Height - he can now reach door knobs and things near the edge of kitchen counters (hello knives!).
He's doing great.  He's sleeping from 8pm - 7 am (mostly, barring some rough teething nights) and taking a 1-3 hour nap at around noon or one pm.  He's eating most of what we offer him - although raw veggies are still a hard sell.  He's still generous with the hugs and kisses.  I have no complaints.

12 comments:

  1. His hair looks so red in that photo!

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  2. He is adorable. A very fun age!!! Your picture is awesome!!!

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  3. It's true! Sometimes the light hits it just right and it has these crazy red highlights. In this case it might be the reflection of the tube :) but I love it!

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  4. Stephanie Telep10/17/2011

    So glad I got a public shout out to the "I love you" list. Point!! I hate to say it but....they grow up so fast!

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  5. Rebekah10/17/2011

    When you said "second set of teeth" I thought of a shark, but Leo is nothing like a shark.

    Also, Etta served him a cup of tea when we were playing yesterday.

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  6. How cute and fun and adorable! The thing about him getting excited over choices and his list of people he loves is just priceless. Glad you are all having such a good time!

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  7. Melissa10/18/2011

    So amazing. I am loving this age! It is just so fascinating how they learn something new every day. I'm amazed that Leo can string together three words in a sentence. What a little talker!

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  8. Ha! Not quite THAT cool. Etta is the sweetest. We need to get them together soon.

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  9. It's hard to keep up with! Today's big word was "lip" - weird that he didn't already know it, but he must have said it 750 times...

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  10. It's true. Everyone tells you - and then you are still shocked somehow...

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  11. Candice Heinen10/21/2011

    isnt it a great age ? i am an educator in a daycare and my group is the 18 months (when they start off with me in september) i have 8 kids with me, and they are all so amazing, there is not one day i do not go home without laughing and being amazed at their progress each day. I live in montreal, so the other language is french, so its amazing listening to them starting to talk in both languages. Great pic btw!

    www.mission-baby.blogspot.com

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  12. It's incredible. Every day he amazes me. They just don't slow down!

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