17 Months

Age: 17 Months

It's nice how your cast matches the chair...we totally planned it, right, buddy?

Height: 31 inches

Weight: 12 kg (26.5 pounds) 

Favorite Activity: You are obsessed with wheels and tires of any kind. We went to school one evening to wear you out...er, play on the playground and you wanted to go see and touch every tire on every car in the parking lot. If something has wheels, you immediately go over and inspect them. Wheels have you fascinated, buddy!

Daddy mowed the lawn one evening. You loved standing at the window waving to him, banging on the window, and shouting "Da!"

Honorable Mentions:  You are a building machine!  You are going to be an engineer just like Daddy and your Uncle.

Sorry, buddy...the camera flash was going crazy.

Least Favorite Activity: You are not a fan of Daddy giving Mama a hug or a kiss. If you catch us, you will screech at your Daddy, rush over, and push him away from me.  Don't worry, buddy! There are enough hugs and kisses to go around! We think you just want Mama hugs/kisses, but it's still pretty funny to watch. Usually, once you've gotten Daddy out of the way, you lift your arms up so you can get hugs and kisses. (I secretly like that you are a Mama's boy...at least for now.)

Milestones: Baby's First ER visit which turned into Baby's First Splint which turned into Baby's First Cast. 

I had just changed into my pajamas and was in the guest room packing my one box for the night. You were walking across the living room and slid on one of your blocks. You fell, which you have done 1,000 times before. You cried as Daddy picked you up and comforted you. I came into the living room and you reached for me (nothing new). We went and changed your diaper and decided not to put your shorts back on. When we finished, we went back into the living room and read books. You cried the whole time. That is NOT like you. Finally, you calmed down some so I put you down so you could go play. That's when we noticed you weren't putting any weight on your right leg. In fact, you refused to put any weight on it. I looked at Daddy, Daddy looked at me, and off we went to the emergency room. We were so worried we forgot to put pants back on you. Sorry, buddy.

Four hours later...

Splint from hip to heel

The next day, we took you to an orthopaedic doctor (and a parent at Mama's work) and you came home with this:

Saddest, cutest cast ever...

They call it a "toddler break" which means they can't see a break on the x-rays, but since your bones are so tiny and flexible it could be broken and they won't know until it starts to heal. Therefore, they treat it like a break. We go back to the doctor in 2 weeks to have more x-rays done and see how your leg is looking. Hopefully, they'll take your cast off and not put another one back on.

I'm somewhat worried about how this will affect your walking development...but judging by how you're getting around with your cast, you should bounce back quickly.

New Activity: You have started grabbing our hands (or shirts) and pulling us where you want us to go. Where you want us to go is generally to the kitchen so you can eat or play. You love the kitchen. I swear, I'm going to sell all your toys and just let you play with the water bottles and pots in the kitchen.

Your shirt says, "Sorry ladies, Mommy says No Dating!"

Words: ham, done, pull, door, kitty, cheese, sad, nose, "Hi kitty!" "Oh dear!"  "Oh my!" "Hot dog!" maybe an I love you...your speech is getting clearer every day. Or maybe we're just getting fluent in Wombat!

Signs: Somehow, you have morphed "more" and "eat" into one sign. You sign "eat" while saying "more." It's hilarious but since we know you, we know what you mean and let it slide.

Yum, Mama!  Where has this rhubarb grape compote been all my life?! 

Sleep: The following conversation sums up your sleep fairly often this month:

Daddy: "So, he had a little dance party this morning at 4. You we're pretty out of it so I didn't bother you."

Me: "I was awake..."

Daddy: "You were!? You weren't moving much so I figured you were asleep."

Me: "I was afraid if I moved too much, you'd make me get up!"

Hehehe.... Less 4am dance parties, ok buddy?

Best Moment: One evening, we were sitting in the chair reading books, when all of a sudden you reached your hand toward my face. Generally, that is when you try to put your fingers in my mouth or yank my glasses off. But this time, you reached over, gently tapped my nose, and said, "Nose!" You can't find your nose, but you are an expert at finding mine and Daddy's.

So this thing dips the eggs in the dye, huh Mama?  Interesting...

Worst Moment: We have hit full on temper tantrums. Whoa, buddy. You have your Mama's temper. Luckily, you rarely show your temper unless we have you in a situation where you are having fun and then we have to either 1. Make you stop having fun before you're ready (the playground, playing at the soccer game and we wouldn't let you go steal the soccer balls the teams were using to warm up) or 2. Make you leave before you're good and ready. Daddy and I work hard together to not give in and we're hoping this will pass quickly.

"Hi kitty!"

Favorite Foods: Anything! I swear you act like we're starving you. You must have a hollow leg. You are a big fan of the organic fruit/veggie pouches that I found at the grocery store. Anything in a pouch you like these days! Pouch fruit and ham. Heaven knows you love ham.

Eating: Your favorite sign is eat. All you want to do is eat. I hope it's a growth spurt because I'm almost nostalgic for your picky toddler eating days!

"Look kitty, Easter grass!"

Teeth: Maybe we're done until 2 year molars? I hope, I hope.

Oh and this!

Can we just talk for a second about how incredibly smart you are!? I'm constantly surprised by what you are doing, what you can do, and what you know. While watching an episode of Super Why, Red was sounding out the word "stairs." When she got to the "T," you immediately replied "T!" When she asked what letter that was.

You continue to love letters. I found a board book I purchased way back when I was in college that has letters and sliding panels. Well, that book made me just about the coolest Mama ever. Mother of the Year...right here. Right now, you know 14 letters pretty consistently and 4 are still kind of shaky. Pretty impressive for 17 months old! (At least I think so!)

At the orthopaedic office, your doctor was fascinated by the fact that we were teaching you to sign.  "Is he hard of hearing?" He asked. Nope! We're just giving you one more way to communicate with us.  We think you're pretty cool...but it's always fun when you impress other people, too.

Snooooooooooooow!

Last night it snowed!  We had so much fun playing in the snow today.  Hopefully, we'll get to go back out tomorrow before it all melts.

Um...Mama?  What is this stuff?

Ok...it's a little cold.

Hey, Dad, where did the backyard go?

Hmm...my feet don't seem to move in this stuff.

Going...going...

Gone!  Oof!

Cutest snow-covered bum ever!

Mama, stop taking pictures and help me figure this stuff out!

Since it was pretty cold for a little guy (and you kept shaking your gloves off), we only stayed outside about 10 minutes.  When we came in and warmed up, I sent Daddy back outside to get some snow.  He brought in a tub of snow for us to play with.  It took a while for you to warm up to it...but once you did, oh brother did you love it!

Ack!  It's touching me!

Ok...I will touch it with my cup, but that's it!

Mama!  Save me from the cold stuff!

Oh, hi Kitty.  I will pet you since you're sitting by the gate so nicely.

Maybe this stuff isn't so bad afterall.

Wait, Dad said I could eat this stuff?!

Yum!  This stuff is delicious!

Once your hands started getting cold and red, Daddy grabbed the tub and took it to the kitchen while you were distracted.  It was hysterical when you came back to the blanket to continue playing with your snow tub and it was gone.  You spun around in a circle several times trying to figure out where it went.  Then you gave me this look:

Mother.  Where did my snow go?  It was here a minute ago!

Baby's First Cold

Check another milestone off in the baby book: Baby's First Cold.

Saturday morning, you were simply not yourself.  You were whiny and clingy and every once and a while you would cough.  We spent the day playing and Mama did some cooking/baking.  Daddy and I figured your five (5!!!) teeth that were coming in were bothering you.  Though, the coughing made me nervous.  It's the same deep, chest cough that I get right before I get pneumonia.  Your entire face would turn red and it would scare Mama half to death.

After spending a sleepless night getting up with you coughing, whimpering, and otherwise just being miserable we called your doctor.  The next morning, you didn't want to play, you didn't want to read books.  All you wanted to do is sit with me and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  That is not my baby.  Something was definitely wrong.

Yesterday - Sick day
Sitting with Mama watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse makes me feel a little better.

After talking to the nurse, she suggested we run a vaporizer and give you some honey to help with the cough.  Um, no to the honey (Mama is just a bit cautious).   I needed to run some errands (and a wild vaporizer hunt) and while I was out I found some cold tablets made by the same people that make your teething tablets.  I figured, why not?

Those are magical tablets.  We could tell an immediate difference in your coughing.  We spent yesterday resting, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and getting better.

Daddy reports that today you were much better.  Much less coughing and much less clingy.  Judging by the state of the living room when I got home, you're on the mend!

Today - On the mend
Shhh, Mama...Sid the Science Kid is on.

Now...no more tv.  For the month.

Party Animal

Today, we celebrated your birthday.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

You, my child, are a party animal.  Fifteen minutes before your party was set to begin you were having an epic overtired meltdown.  It was deserved though, seeing as you had only one nap.

However, when the doorbell rang and your first guests arrived suddenly you were all smiles.  If you could talk, I swear you would have said, "Hello, ladies.  Welcome to my home!  Would you like to play?"

We really must conquer this shyness with which you are plagued.  You had a friend that is almost your age, a friend that is only 3 months old (but she'll get more fun, I promise), a 3 year old friend, and a 1st grade friend that is in one of my classes.  You loved everyone.  I'm constantly amazed by your love of new people.  You did NOT get that from me.  Strangers scare me.  Once I know someone, I open up but until then, I am super shy.

We're going to work on sharing toys... but you did pretty well for your first time.

Growing up, Daddy and I didn't really have birthday parties.  Mainly birthdays = family party.  Of course, we're almost a day's drive away from our families.  Therefore, Daddy and I decided we'd do a small party.  We'd invite our friends (and people who adore you) and just do it that way.  In the future, we're probably just going to make your birthday a family day for the three of us.  We'll do something special together and skip the party.  Of course, I said that when you were born and we still ended up with a party.

Your party hat lasted exactly three seconds.  Luckily, I got pictures!

Granny and Grandad came down for Thanksgiving so they were here for your party.  Hooray!  Since Grandma and Grandpa couldn't make it, we Skyped so they could be part of the party, too.  They enjoyed seeing you gum your cake.  

"Hi Grandpa!  Hi Grandma!  I've got cake!"

You are definitely a fan of cake.  I made you an apple cupcake.  I tried them and they were delicious.  They were in no way healthy, but they did contain all natural ingredients.  Sugar is all natural, right?  Instead of topping it with a super sweet frosting, I made you whipped cream.  You love whipped cream.

Mmm, Mama!  I like this stuff!

More whipped cream, Mama!  MORE!

Your guests were very nice and brought you some presents.  Most 1 year olds I've seen don't understand the concept of present opening.  Ohhhhh, brother, you get it.  In fact, we may have created a monster.  You love opening presents.  You really don't need us to help you open presents.  You understand.   Christmas ought to be interesting.

Okay, okay Mama!  I've got it!

This is my concentration face...

Can I keep this bow, Mama?

You loved the monkey, the books, and the blocks.  However, the stacking cups were your absolute favorite gift.  You played with them for hours.  I've never seen you play with one toy for so long.  You love them.

Shhh Mama...I'm playing with these cups.

All in all, it was the perfect first birthday party.  I hope you had fun, Little One.

We love you!

Happy Halloween

from the cutest Hokie Bird around!

Yum Dad, is that a cake walk?  Do I like cake?

Oh, hello ladies...I'm the Hok.ie Bir.d.

That's right, ladies.  Check out my tail feathers.

There sure are a lot of people here, Dad.  Do we know all of them?

All in all, it was just enough festivities for your first Halloween, buddy.  Next year, we'll be chasing you all around that gym.  Mama needs to start thinking of your costume now!  Grandma made some really good costumes over the years.  I don't think the jar of Peter Pan peanut butter will ever be topped.  We are homemade costume people.  No more store bought for us!

Pumpkin Carving

Last night, we carved our first family pumpkins.  Well, to be honest, Daddy carved the pumpkins.  You and I just made a big mess.  It was so much fun!

Before

What is this?  It feels...icky.

So I'm supposed to take all this stuff out?

I'll just use this spoon, ok, Mom?

Chicken.

Hmm...what's this?

I wonder what it tastes like...

Ack!  Not good!  Not good!

This is just the first of our new family traditions.  We can't wait to start more new traditions with you, buddy.