Austin; my handsome, happy, determined, sugar-seeking little boy. How I love him. He pouts with his arms folded and both lips sticking out in the grumpiest-grump face you've ever seen, and his giggles are unmatched in bubbling happiness. I love this age. Really, I think 8-9 months to 18 months is just such a fun and special time. I'm so glad that I get to spend my days with this guy.
Stats: Finally fits into most size 12 mo pants. Size 18 mo onsies and shirts fit decently. I finally went to the store and bought some size 4 shoes and he looves them and they fit really well. Size three diapers, although we have a package of size 4s that we were given by Sue and those fit decently, too, just a big bigger. Four teeth on the top, two on the bottom. His eyes still haven't decided what color they are. Most of the time they look grey. A beautiful steely, blue-brown-grey. Ha.
More things to remember:
--He says so many words! Most of them probably couldn't be understood by someone who doesn't spend a lot of time with him, but some of them are much more clear. Some of the ones I can remember/have written down: right there, shoe, sock, Lydia, Daddy, Mommy, Grandma, Grandpa, ding-bump, car, ball, outside, uh-oh, vacuum, sauce, book, read,
Like I said, a lot of the words are hard to understand, ex. shoe is shuh and sock is sah but I'm still pretty proud of him.
-Repeats a lot of words if you ask him to. We were reading a book that has a big brown box and he started saying "big brown box" after me each time I said it. He likes to mimic words and loves when you mimc him back. It makes him giggle and giggle if you mimic his words, noises, or stick your tongue out like he is.
-He's good at stacking things. Like blocks, and apparently yogurt containers.
--He is simultaneously so clingy and so inquisitive. He wants to walk everywhere holding my hand, and much of the day is spent with him whining and whining until I hold him (standing up, because he doesn't want to cuddle with me sitting down, he just wants me to hold him while I'm standing up) - but then he also loves figuring out how things work. He pulls lids off cups and puts them back on, he breaks a cracker apart and tries to put it back together, he pulls all of the tupperware out of the cabinet and tries to restack it, and his most recent fascination: He was pulling out all of the items from our kitchen utensil drawer. He tested each and every piece, banging it on the counter, putting it in his mouth, just exploring. It kept him occupied for a really long time, even if it did make a whole load of dishes in of itself.
--Speaking of dishes, if the dishwasher is open, he will grab the silverware (whether clean or dirty) and walk over to our silverware drawer, open it up, and dump the silverware over the edge. It's taller than his head, so he can barely get it in the drawer, but he knows where it goes and he's determined to get it back there.
-He's a great eater. He loves yogurt and cheerios, chili, refried beans, and pretty much anything that I feed him. (Not milk though, he still won't drink any milk.) But recently he's learned about dipping things into sauce. He loves to dip his food. If he even sees a bottle of ranch anywhere near the table he will point and grunt and say "saaah" which I think means sauce. He likes to dip things and actually does pretty good with eating the thing he's dipped. He also loves dipping things in ketchup.
--I don't know if I ever really said this, but I've still been nursing Austin up until this month. I hadn't planned on nursing him until 16 months, but he didn't seem ready to give it up, and he was refusing to drink milk so I didn't feel like I could force him to wean because I didn't want him to loose those nutrients. But after his doctors appointment at the beginning of the month, where I discussed everything with the doctor, I decided it was time for both of us. I actually don't mind nursing, I quite enjoy it for the most part. I was really only nursing right before naps and bedtime, and I was nervous about transitioning away from that. But he did really great. I just stopped offering and he didn't really seem bothered by it. He never pulled at my shirt or whined, which makes me think that he was ready to be done - but was willing to keep taking it as long as I was giving it to him. It was definitely time for both of us, but it is a little bittersweet. Also, just since weaning him, I feel like he's grown up so much! I think that because I was still nursing him, I could only see him as a baby - not as a true toddler - but this month I feel like he's grown 3 months worth!
--Along with the weaning came sleep training. He'd still been waking up multiple times in the night, but in the same week that we weaned, we did some fairly low-key sleep training. Mostly, I just asked David to help me just go in and rock him while standing for a minute, put his pacifier back in, and lay him in his bed... instead of my usual rock him in the chair and fall asleep with him. After a couple of night of that, even with him crying for a few minutes when we put him back in his bed, he started to sleep SO much better. I really should have done it earlier, but now we are all in such a happier place! Although, David can calm him back 100 times better than me in the night now. If I go in, he calms right away but cries when I put him back in his bed. If David goes in, he cries until he realizes I'm not coming - then he reaches for the crib and David puts him back to bed. So maybe David doesn't come out the winner because I ask him to go in 90% more than I did before, but I feel like we are winning!
--Apparently he's determined to not be a baby, because he climbs on everything and tries to do everything Lydia does.
-Rarely will go down the stairs backwards (on his tummy) if I'm anywhere close by. He wants to hold my hand to walk down the stairs.
--I think I will never be able to put anything in this cupboard because it's the favorite place to play in the kitchen by far (well, maybe neck-and-neck with the pantry).
--We haven't gone outside much this winter because... cold. But now that it's warming up, this boy is in 7th heaven. He loves it outside and cries and cries when I bring him back in.
--Some of his favorite things right now are:
his shoes: he loves his new shoes and tries to put them on his feet while saying shuh-shuh (shoe-shoe)
his toy vacuum: and the real vacuum, he wants to vacuum all day long.
drinking water from big cups: he prefers an open cup over a sippy, and a powerade bottle over everything else. No milk, still.
taking baths: if you say the word bath around him, prepare for him to start pulling at his clothes while running to the stairs for his bath.
outside: he loves to run around in the street with all the other kids.
brushing his teeth: he'll run for the bathroom when it's brushing teeth time and after you brush and say "okay, now spit!", he'll make a big spitting noise while bending over. So cute.
books: he loves to look at books and have you read them. current favorites: Hand, hand, fingers, thumb and Peekaboo Baby - farm animals.
-I think he might have a lip tie. I was just looking at the big gap in his teeth and realized his lip connects all the way to the tip of his gums. I'm not SO worried, because I think the worst side-effect happens during nursing - but I think it can cause problems with teeth and such so I'm going to have them check it next month at our appointment.
-He loves Lydia. Often in the morning, he'll wake up first - so I will go cuddle him in our chair and let him look at books, then when we hear her we'll "go find Lydia". He smiles so big, pushes her door open, and runs right to her to give her a hug. I love it so much! He tries to do everything that she does, and has recently taken an interest in coloring with markers like she does.
--He is super obliging when you ask him to give you kisses. He'll run up, hug you, and lean his face so his mouth is close to you (at least close enough that you can kiss him). It's so sweet.
-He will fold his arms for the prayer and is so proud of it! He also folds his arms and sticks both of his lips out in the grumpiest-grumpy face when he's mad.
This boy. So much stubbornness, happiness, and laughter all rolled up in one sweet little package.
We love you Austin!
