Months Seventeen through Twenty-One

So I obviously have missed our monthly updates for the last several months.  In an attempt to catch up I'll just jam them all together but honestly he has changed so much since October it's hard to capture it in words.  In that same span of time he's gone from being a mobile baby to being a full fledged toddler who's bordering on being a little kid. 

Stats: 24.6 lbs at the hospital this morning and I estimate he's about 32.5 inches tall.  He's wearing mostly 12-18 month tops with the occasional 18-24 month thrown in although they seem to swallow him whole.  The 6-12 month pants all finally seem to fit around the waist but they are a little high water in the length.  Of course now that it's shorts season, I tried some of the 12-18 month size shorts on him and it basically looked like he was wearing pants.  Guess it's back to the 6-12 month shorts and maybe the others will fit next year.  He wears a 5.5 shoe and size four diapers but definitely has room to go in both. 

Best I could do to get him to stay still in his chair long enough for the camera to flash

Conversations: Wow we are definitely in the language explosion phase.  I can't even list all of the new words he's added in the last few months but I'll try to list the ones I can remember -   Bird, Deer, Tree, Blue, Green, Eggs, Chick, Up, Down, Help, River, Purple, Baby, Clicker, Ball, Stairs, Outside, Moon, Fishy, Help, Meatball.  Honestly there are more but it's just too many to count. Probably our favorite "real word" to hear him say is Hello.  He'll pick up anything that could possible look like a phone and hold it up to his ear to say "Allo".  Not sure where he picked up a cockney accent but we love it.  In addition to signs, he has some of his own made up words that have taken us awhile to figure out but he uses them constantly no matter how many times we say the right word.

Yeahlow = water
Chicha = tractor
Choochoo = trains, cars, motorcycles, strollers and pretty much anything with wheels
Bupa = fruit cup
ChiChi = cookie or dog treat depending on who's eating it

Probably though the most useful thing is that we finally have a "yes" word.  After months of trying to have him say yes/OK/alright/Uh-huh when he would say "no" but sign "yes" he finally settled on Uh-huh and it has revolutionized our communication.
Accomplishments: You name it, and now he pretty much does it.  He runs, climbs, uses a spoon and fork, climbs the stairs while holding the hand rail, walks or slides down the stairs holding your hand, sliding, dunking and dribbling his basket ball, playing puzzles, coloring etc.  He doesn't quite jump yet but he will hop off very short steps and his dancing now involves lots of twirling and leg movements instead of just swinging his arms. 


Attitude: His toddler personality is definitely declaring itself.  While he's in a good mood when he's excited about things, his fuse is definitely getting shorter. He still does pretty well if you give him two specific choices to pick from but he gets frustrated if you don't understand his answers when you ask him an open ended question.  And heaven help you if you want him to walk in a direction he doesn't want to go.  We're learning to work around it and have him do what we need while making it seem like his idea.  It might be a little manipulative but I think it helps him develop confidence but yet helps him adapt to the rhythm of our family.  This last month he proved that he understands "sequence" commands i.e. Eat a bite of this and then you can have this.....Put your shoes on first and then you can go outside.  This finding probably comes third only to walking and sleeping through the night  in causing a dramatic and welcome change to our lives.  It's especially helpful when it comes to eating.  I wouldn't say he's a picky eater since he still eats just about everything, but if it isn't his idea, he doesn't want it and since he'd much rather be moving then strapped to a chair, getting him to finish a full meal is a challenge.  I figure as long as he's getting a well rounded diet and isn't loosing weight, we'll deal with the constant snacking.


Transitions/Milestones: All of have been pretty well captured in the deluge of posts I've done this month - his baptism, baby free vacation, Thanksgiving, Christmas, first haircut, trip to the rodeo etc.


Favorite Toys and Games: He loves his slide, basketball hoop, dinosaur, and bubble machine probably the best but Scott's lawn tractor might edge them out any day. 

Things we love:  While he's still not a snuggler and won't sit still for more than five minutes unless it's bedtime, he's become super affectionate lately.  Pretty much any time you pick him up he'll pucker his lips and lean in to give you a big kiss and he'll throw his arms around your neck and lay his head on your shoulder to give you a hug.  I'm trying to stock up now on plenty of kisses for those pre-teen years when they will be scarce. 

I'll try to limit my summary of these months in pictures with just a few favorites.