(I don't have many new pictures of him. Sadly, it's because if I get my phone out, he starts demanding ELMO!... So I try not to get on my phone much!!)
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| At the library |
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| Easter egg hunt! :) |
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| Loves playing with the baseball! |
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| First taste of solid food (avocado) to now...munching on some string cheese! :) |
In a way it feels like he's been around forever, but in another, I feel like he just got here yesterday! As always, I'm constantly amazed at how much he is growing, changing, and learning. I want to both cry and beam with pride and excitement at all the awesome things he can say and do!
New Moves
+ full-fledged running! but he still falls sometimes. He tripped over his own feet last weekend and scuffed up his poor little nose on the driveway. :( But he only cried for about a minute before he was off and running again! Dare devil!
+ throwing balls. Like really throwing them! The kid has a good arm!
+ kicking the soccer ball. He mostly kicks it while walking, but he can kick it around the yard for a little while.
+ still dancing!
+ climbing more and more! He stood up on an end table the other day. Eek!!
+ brushing his own teeth (after we've given them a thorough brushing)
New Words:
I'm not going to list all the words he says because who even knows how many words he can say? He talks non-stop! But some of my favorite new words of his include alligator, elephant, and hippo (we're preparing for our trip to the zoo next month!)
+ He now puts words together! Some of my favorite things he says: hi, ____ (Daddy, Brett, Elmo, cat, etc...)!, I know!!, Elmo balloon (we got him one for Easter), oh! A ___ (cat, book, egg, dog, etc...)!
+ He can also say the names of most of the kids in his classroom, including: Eli, Luke, Hannah, Dalan, and Ethan (actually Ethan sounds more like Angie which is really random and weird. But the others are spot-on!)
Food/Teeth:
+ I think he has 16 teeth now, or will soon. He has his full first set of molars, the four front teeth on top and bottom, and the 4 canines that are still coming in.
+ As usual, he can be a good eater or a picky/frustrating one. Our biggest challenge is to stop him from randomly throwing/dropping his utensils during meals. We go through 2-3 spoons or forks per meal! -_-
+ Still has most of his favorite foods but has added a couple news ones to the mix: black beans, applesauce, Greek yogurt, graham crackers, peanut butter, goldfish, string cheese, eating a whole fruit like an apple, plum, or orange slices, popcorn, and...potato chips. Don't worry--we don't usually keep those in the house. But we had some at our Easter cookout and he was obsessed!
+ I can't believe it's been a full year since we started this journey with solid food! We've come a long way from the days he would puke when I put applesauce on his lip... Thankfully!
+ Still nursing on demand at home, but it's usually only 2-3 times a day at this point. For those who are curious, my plan is to fully wean by the time he is 2. I'm not rushing it because it's still good for him and our system works well for us. But it has to end sometime and I'm not looking to nurse through a pregnancy, so I want to wean sometime before that happens!
Sleep:
+ Sleep is GREAT! Did you hear me??? It's great! But I'm knocking on ALL the wood because I am never convinced any sleep pattern is here to stay.
+ Scott and I have been alternating putting him to bed and getting up with him in the middle of the night, which was really awful the first couple weeks but now is awesome! At first, Grayson would scream and cry whenever Scott would get up with him. Some nights we were up for 1-2 hours with him! But now he goes to sleep equally well for both of us! And he's mostly only waking up once per night. So if it's not my night (like last night), I get to sleep through the night!! After 18 months, that feels pretty dang good!! :)
+ Mostly sleeping in his own bed at night, but will still come to bed with us if he wakes up any time after 4:30 AM. I'm not spending my last hour of sleep rocking him, so we snuggle instead. It works well, and doesn't happen every night.
+ We've implemented a new routine of sleeping with Elmo and a sippy cup of water. He now HAS to have his Elmo and water cup before getting ready for bed and when he wakes up in the morning. It's so cute! I started it off by telling him that Elmo needed someone to sleep with him. We talked all about it while getting him ready for bed. And while I nursed and rocked him to sleep, I told him a story of Elmo going to all his friends on Sesame Street and asking if he could sleep with them b/c he didn't want to sleep alone. None of them had any room in their beds. Finally, he asks Grayson and Grayson says yes because he doesn't like sleeping alone either! :)
Favorite Songs:
+ We started letting him watch Youtube videos on our phones of songs from Sesame Street. He's kind of addicted though, so every morning he wakes up demanding Elmo!! I always make him wait until after we read the Bible and have our smoothie. I also don't let him watch it every day. The past two days I've been able to redirect him to puzzles instead. But I'm okay with it every now and then. Plus, Scott and I kind of like the songs too! Sad, but true! :)
+ I like to Move it from Madagascar is still a favorite, too!
+ He LOVES the Taylor Swift 1989 cd! It's so cute! He dances and gets excited when we put it on in the car. Or if he's really fussy, it can magically calm him down! And he can actually sing along with the song "Bad Blood." There are parts where she says, "HEY!" and he says it along with her, at exactly the right moment, almost every time! It's pretty impressive actually!
Favorite Toys/Activities:
+ We've started going to the library on Saturday mornings, and he loves it! He says "ibary" and enjoys choosing new books. And he really likes reading his new books each week. I think it's good for him to see some variety instead of the same ones over and over and over (even though he still has his favorites!).
+ He's excellent at the chunky wooden puzzles. He can put them together all by himself and knows the names of almost all the pictures. Such a smarty!
+ Playing outside. He's always asking to go outside!
+ bubbles, balls, and his cozy coupe when he's outside. He walks over to the closet where we keep it in the garage and says, "Car?" and when I start to pull it out he says, "Beep! Beep!" because that's what I say when I want him to move so I can pull it out. :)
+ coloring, stickers, and any arts/crafts activities
+ Helping me with chores. He can put away clothes (with some directions), hand me dishes from the dishwasher, and pick up toys!
Height/Weight/Sizes:
+ His 18-month checkup isn't until the end of the month, so I don't have any updates on his height and weight.
+ Still wearing anything from 12 months to 2T, depending on the clothes.
+ we bought him some size 6 shoes, but they're still too big.
+ moved up to size 5 diapers
Other:
Parenting has never been this much fun! Grayson can actually PLAY with us now and we can actually do things we all enjoy, like playing outside or coloring. He even behaves while we watch a family movie on Sundays (for the most part!). He is still in a stage where he becomes easily frustrated if he can't figure something out or is physically unable to do something. He can reach most counters and tables in house now, but if he's just shy of being able to reach something, he'll freak out. Whenever he gets frustrated, he cries and will sometimes sit on the ground or lay down. Depending on the situation, I either comfort him and help him figure out his task, I redirect to something else, or I let him get it out of his system. It all depends on what he's trying to do, and if it's something I actually want him to be doing or not! His outbursts and tantrums never last more than a minute and he's usually fine again! If he's sleepy or hungry, they may be more frequent, but usually I nip that in the bud by feeding him or putting him to bed! Life with a toddler isn't perfect, of course. It's messy and unpredictable and we have to base a lot of things around his schedule, which isn't always convenient. But it's also one of the most fun, exciting, and rewarding things I've ever done! :) I'm loving this stage!!
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