Well, I obviously provided some updates about Reece in my regular posts, but I think that every three months for the second year seems appropriate. Honestly, I don't think I recorded a thing in the big kids' baby books after their first birthday, but who knows? I certainly can't remember details like that this far out! And so, I'll record them, because otherwise they'll be lost from me forever.
And, though I've had three months to start and edit this post, here I sit on the 30th, finally getting started. We'll blame this on the flu that I suffered from the past couple of days. Yuck.
So, here we are with a 15 month old who still doesn't walk. This kid. He started making some progress last weekend with the kids. Kennedy is the only one that he will walk around with when she holds his hands. For Eric and me, he goes straight to his knees. On Saturday, Cade introduced him to the bear crawl and for some reason, that helped him a lot with the concept of getting his feet moving and getting off his knees. He had been doing this little shuffle-step, where he never really picked his foot up off the floor, and he only took one "step," but by Monday, he was up to three. And I don't think he's taken a step since. Stinker. To be honest, he's getting heavy, I'd like him to be able to stand in the elevator, and if he's not sleeping at night right now anyway, we may as well get through another milestone. It doesn't look like I'm going to get my way any time soon, though.
I know that you're pretty much up to date on his sleep habits, because, well, I'm a big whiner when it comes to not getting sleep. He has slept through the night a couple of times since his big eight night stretch a couple of weeks ago (including the night that Eric and I were both up all night with the flu), but nothing to write home about. He has, in large part, gotten back to two naps per day, which really helps things. We can have a normal evening without racing through dinner to get him to bed, when he takes an afternoon nap! Unfortunately, it's pretty miserable to attempt this on the weekends because he's used to a quiet house during the week, and so everybody has try to be quiet. Not much fun. I wish we'd had a vacuum and dishwasher when he was born, so I could have made more noise.
I looked back on his last official update, a time when this kid was eating everything we gave him. Oh boy, do I miss those days. Now, he has a very limited palate. And, there will be no repetition. "If I had tomatoes for lunch, mom; I will not be eating them for dinner. So, don't even try." He'll still eat olives from time to time. He'll eat chicken, but only if it's covered in pesto or curry. Is that strange? I feel like that's strange. Sometimes, he'll eat green beans. He pretty much always goes for cheese, maybe toast with peanut butter, and pasta. He will always eat Greek yogurt with mashed blueberries in it, though. That's the one thing I can count on.
We are making some progress in the realm of communication, though it is still nonverbal, his only words being "hi" and "dada,"and not always used in the proper context. His signing has improved, though. I think I may have started teaching him too many new ones at the same time because he's gotten really good at signing "milk," but sometimes he uses it for "please" or "all done." He gets the "please" every once in awhile. Clapping for "more" is still a standby. He's got waving goodbye down, too.
He's gained four more teeth in the last six weeks or so, bringing him to four on the top and four on the bottom. I thought I saw a molar on its way last week, but it might have been the lack of sleep causing my vision to be cloudy. I swear, I don't remember any of the big kids' teeth coming in after those first 6-8, but with the lack of sleep in our lives, I'm always looking for an excuse!
And, of course, this kid is into everything all the time, as any good toddler (who doesn't toddle) should be. Lately, his favorite activities have been talking on the "phone" (a play phone that Cade made out of an old iPhone case and the picture of the phone that came in the new iPhone case) and taking all of the spices out of the spice rack while I cook. I suppose that's a small price to pay for getting dinner on the table, but it would be much more convenient if he could find a place to play that was not right in front of the oven. He's also starting to figure out how to open more of the drawers and cabinets, so last week all of the knives and many of the utensils had to find new homes. Everything feels so temporary right now, though, so we're not too worried about it.
It's hard to believe how far this little guy has come and how much has changed in the past year! It's a good thing we have a record of it (as spotty as it may be!). I opted out of a "15 month" photo shoot and instead posted some of the better pictures that I've taken of this one over the past three months that you hadn't seen yet. It turns out, I might have more pictures that I could edit after all because it was really hard to narrow them down to just a few. That task will have to be for another day, though, because this mama needs some sleep!
And, though I've had three months to start and edit this post, here I sit on the 30th, finally getting started. We'll blame this on the flu that I suffered from the past couple of days. Yuck.
So, here we are with a 15 month old who still doesn't walk. This kid. He started making some progress last weekend with the kids. Kennedy is the only one that he will walk around with when she holds his hands. For Eric and me, he goes straight to his knees. On Saturday, Cade introduced him to the bear crawl and for some reason, that helped him a lot with the concept of getting his feet moving and getting off his knees. He had been doing this little shuffle-step, where he never really picked his foot up off the floor, and he only took one "step," but by Monday, he was up to three. And I don't think he's taken a step since. Stinker. To be honest, he's getting heavy, I'd like him to be able to stand in the elevator, and if he's not sleeping at night right now anyway, we may as well get through another milestone. It doesn't look like I'm going to get my way any time soon, though.
I know that you're pretty much up to date on his sleep habits, because, well, I'm a big whiner when it comes to not getting sleep. He has slept through the night a couple of times since his big eight night stretch a couple of weeks ago (including the night that Eric and I were both up all night with the flu), but nothing to write home about. He has, in large part, gotten back to two naps per day, which really helps things. We can have a normal evening without racing through dinner to get him to bed, when he takes an afternoon nap! Unfortunately, it's pretty miserable to attempt this on the weekends because he's used to a quiet house during the week, and so everybody has try to be quiet. Not much fun. I wish we'd had a vacuum and dishwasher when he was born, so I could have made more noise.
I looked back on his last official update, a time when this kid was eating everything we gave him. Oh boy, do I miss those days. Now, he has a very limited palate. And, there will be no repetition. "If I had tomatoes for lunch, mom; I will not be eating them for dinner. So, don't even try." He'll still eat olives from time to time. He'll eat chicken, but only if it's covered in pesto or curry. Is that strange? I feel like that's strange. Sometimes, he'll eat green beans. He pretty much always goes for cheese, maybe toast with peanut butter, and pasta. He will always eat Greek yogurt with mashed blueberries in it, though. That's the one thing I can count on.
We are making some progress in the realm of communication, though it is still nonverbal, his only words being "hi" and "dada,"and not always used in the proper context. His signing has improved, though. I think I may have started teaching him too many new ones at the same time because he's gotten really good at signing "milk," but sometimes he uses it for "please" or "all done." He gets the "please" every once in awhile. Clapping for "more" is still a standby. He's got waving goodbye down, too.
He's gained four more teeth in the last six weeks or so, bringing him to four on the top and four on the bottom. I thought I saw a molar on its way last week, but it might have been the lack of sleep causing my vision to be cloudy. I swear, I don't remember any of the big kids' teeth coming in after those first 6-8, but with the lack of sleep in our lives, I'm always looking for an excuse!
And, of course, this kid is into everything all the time, as any good toddler (who doesn't toddle) should be. Lately, his favorite activities have been talking on the "phone" (a play phone that Cade made out of an old iPhone case and the picture of the phone that came in the new iPhone case) and taking all of the spices out of the spice rack while I cook. I suppose that's a small price to pay for getting dinner on the table, but it would be much more convenient if he could find a place to play that was not right in front of the oven. He's also starting to figure out how to open more of the drawers and cabinets, so last week all of the knives and many of the utensils had to find new homes. Everything feels so temporary right now, though, so we're not too worried about it.
It's hard to believe how far this little guy has come and how much has changed in the past year! It's a good thing we have a record of it (as spotty as it may be!). I opted out of a "15 month" photo shoot and instead posted some of the better pictures that I've taken of this one over the past three months that you hadn't seen yet. It turns out, I might have more pictures that I could edit after all because it was really hard to narrow them down to just a few. That task will have to be for another day, though, because this mama needs some sleep!
