Toby: 17 & 18 Months!

I decided to start doing an update every other month as I’ve just been so late in getting these done.  Besides, he isn’t having a ton of firsts/milestones every few weeks like he was previously and I felt I was recording a lot of the same stuff each month! 

So the past couple months…he is saying more words and definitely babbling a ton.  I can see he understands much more now.  Like we will ask “can you get your shoes?” and he’ll go right over to the boot mat and pick out a pair of his, one shoe at a time(usually the red ones).  We’ve been dealing with the hats/coat/mittens routine, so he knows where to get his hat and understands how to help put his arms in his coat.  He knows some of his toys by name now.  When I ask “are you ready for lunch”, he will go right to the fridge since he knows we start with yogurt first.  He also understands the words “snack, puffs, Goldfish, pouch”.  When I say “Let’s go upstairs and read stories”, he knows it’s nap time and will go over to the gate and wait for me to pick him up.  The cutest thing he’s done lately is starting to recognize body parts and pointing out certain things.  Asking “Toby, where is your belly button?” will result in him lifting up his shirt and pointing to his belly button while giving the biggest grin.  He also knows where his eyes are, and I’ve been trying to work on nose and ears with him.

Temper tantrums have been in full force the past few weeks and are tiring Momma out big time.  It’s usually due to him being hungry or getting mad when I take something away that he was playing with.  We had a little break from the teeth but I think more may be coming in again…runny nose is back along with restless nights and needing us to go in to comfort him. 

Weight: 23.2 pounds (the nurse let him get weighed on the big kid scale since he REFUSED to sit down on the baby one)

Height: a little over 32 inches (let’s just say he was wiggling around so much that it wasn’t very accurate)

Medical Issues: Had a tummy bug the day before Thanksgiving.  At first we thought he just coughed too much overnight as he woke up with puke in his crib.  But then he barely wanted anything for breakfast and did end up throwing up the little amount of bagel and applesauce he actually ate.  It was weird since he seemed okay the rest of the day, though – no fever or any other symptoms.  The next day on Thanksgiving we started giving more bland food and he kept everything down so I gave him half a yogurt for lunch.  He had the other half and a pouch later that afternoon, but I guess they were too much for him and while we were all eating dinner, he wanted out of his high chair and then ended up puking in Hubby’s lap.  Great holiday story to remember!  He then proceeded to share the bug with Hubby and me that night and then to Auntie, Grandma, and Grammy over the next couple days.  I hadn’t had a stomach bug in almost 10 years and it was AWFUL…ugh little kids and the germs!!!  Other than that, his doctor said all his teeth are in, so he may already be working on his two year old molars.  His skin has only flared up a few times – it’s much better compared to last winter.

Sleep: Basically the same schedule – wakeup around 6:30am, nap from 12:45-2ish (for a few weeks he was sleeping until 3pm and it was AMAZING!  But the past week he’s been waking up at 2…sigh), then asleep for the night by 7:30pm.  There have been a few nights where he’s needed one of us to go in after crying for 10 minutes.  He tends to prefer Daddy being the shoulder to lay on.

Clothes/Diapers: All over the place for clothes right now – some 12-18 month sizes fit (mostly just pants) but he is quickly jumping into 2T stuff for shirts and hooded sweatshirts.  Even 18-24 month stuff is not long enough to cover his belly!  His pants all fit under his belly, though, so he will probably be in 18 month pants for at least a few more months.  Still in 4’s for diapers, we will move up to 5’s for overnights once our current box runs out.

Diet: Not being as picky – he still doesn’t like chicken and green veggies, but he’s gotten better with trying other things.  Last week I tried giving him breaded chicken dipped in ketchup, then with BBQ sauce, then with applesauce and he wanted none of those variations.  He wants nothing to do with broccoli or peas, but loves carrots and sweet potatoes.  I was able to sneak some broccoli on pizza recently since we ran out of diced peppers for our usual topping.  He ate a decent amount before he started to spit the broccoli back out.  Normally he hates pasta but I cut up spaghetti into small pieces last week and he had some with turkey meatballs and loved it.  He loves apples (“aaattle”), bananas, bagels w/cream cheese, oatmeal with blueberries, ground turkey w/taco seasoning, steak, hamburgers, cheese, cheese, and more cheese.  He is starting to use a spoon to eat yogurt…so messy.  We started putting his food on a plate instead of just on his tray and he’s doing well with not throwing the plate off, so hopefully this is good training for when we go out to eat.

Likes: Helping to clean up (most of the time), reading,  watching Super Why (gets so excited for super letters to show up), being chased around the house and playing hide and seek (he will want you to hide), listening to music on the TV radio station (we listen to Pop Hits).  Likes anything to do with alphabet letters.  His new obsession has been to take a few items, place them in one spot in a room one by one, and then move them to a different spot one by one.  He will repeat this for a good ten minutes and entertain himself.

Dislikes: Getting lotion applied.  Having his diaper changed. Having things taken away from him.  Having the bathroom door shut.

Milestones: Saying more letters in the alphabet when I sing – he will now say “L” and “O” when I stop and wait for him.  Can point to his belly button, head, and eyes when asked where they are.  Starting to use a spoon more on his own.  Saying about 10-15 words consistently now, he has repeated a handful of other words once or twice. 

Things I don’t want to forget: How sometimes he will touch my mouth until I open up to show him my teeth – he loves touching them but it grosses me out.  How he will reach down and start undoing the velcro straps when I ask him to take his shoes off when we get home.  How he does more Yoga moves and songs at him now – he flaps his arms when I sing “Fannie the bird”. How he sometimes jumps up and down in one spot (his feet don’t leave the ground) to certain songs.  How hard he laughs when we bring out the laser to let the kitties chase.  He will run all around with them and laugh his butt off when they jump up to grab it on the walls.  How he will listen to me sing “Jingle Bells” and then say “Oohh” when I start on the verse “Oh, what fun…”.  How he will still rest his head on my shoulder after we read stories before I lay him down for a nap.  I only rock him a minute or two, but I savor every second.