Sleep: I think we actually have some changes in this category. We've been pushing Barrett's bedtime back to about 6:45-7:00pm most nights, as of late. The fantastic weather is making it too hard to get ready for a 6:30 bedtime. Unfortunately, this has made his wake up time almost strictly 6:30am instead of when it used to be closer to 7am. Not the end of the world though but it sure was awesome when he slept for over 12 hours every night. The bonus is I get to spend a little extra time with him in the mornings. We are also in a transition with our nap schedule. I've mentioned that he has been on a 1 nap schedule at school during the week but would still easily nap twice for us on weekends. Again, now that the weather is nice and we've been getting out more, the 1 nap daily schedule is taking over. So for record sake, here is a normal schedule for B.
Nightmares are becoming semi-regular lately. We had one night where they were really bad and we had to bring him in bed with us. He kept sleeping but would scream bloody murder in his sleep and eventually wake up freaking out. It was so sad.
Food: Barrett's eating is much better this month. Maybe I've just given up on fighting/stressing over it but he seems to be less tantrum-y about his meals. We have a few tricks up our sleeves to get him to at least try something because usually if he tries it, he realizes that he likes it and scarfs it down. My number 1 rule is that he gets what we eat for dinner or nothing. I don't make anything different. I do try to at least have something that I know he will eat but I'm not afraid he's going to starve if he skips a meal. Fruit, cheese, oatmeal, eggs, pasta and greek yogurt are still going strong as ultimate favorites of his.
We had his 18 month well visit with the pediatrician a few weeks ago. At this appointment, they have pages and pages of developmental questions you have to answer to test the child for various things. Some examples: "Does he try to copy your actions?" or "Does he try to repeat words you say?" or "Does he string two and three words together?" They add up the scores and depending on the number, it can give the doctor signs of autism and other development issues. We're happy to say Barrett passed his first ever test with flying colors. I'm not really banking the results incredibly scientific (who knows what will happen in the future) but it was a good reassurance for now.
At that visit, he got to stand on the scale like a big boy for the first time. Previously, we always laid him down in the scale. He weighed in at 25.7 lbs (69%) which is pretty identical to his last few visits. All his running around has kept him steady. He's starting to thin out and lose some of his babyness. For height, he was 32.25 inches which just passes him for his first requirement of Disney rides (Woo hoo!). This makes him 76%! His little pipsqueak days as an infant are over. Now we don't go back to the doctor until his 2 (!) year well check. Craziness!
New Words: One of Barrett's new favorites words is "Ewwww!" He emphasizes and drags the word out, too. I can't explain it but we laugh every time. Usually it is followed by a very stern "Yuck." Jumping is like the best.thing.ever for Little Man and he always says "jump" while he's doing so. He must jump off any and all steps. "Baby" is a big favorite right now. He loves looking in the window of the infant room and pointing at the babies. He sees his reflection and says "baby." We also have all of our christmas cards on the side of our fridge and he stops, points and says "baby" when he wants us to pick him up to see the pictures closer. (We have lots of friends with babies.)
"My ball" was his phrase of choice last month but now it's my "bankey." Sigh. He better not catch you with his blankie or you are getting a very stern reaction. Water is "wa-wa". He doesn't use wa-wa when he wants water to drink because all he ever asks for is juice but he says water if he's getting rained on or in the bath. "Barn" is also the word he uses when he sees my phone. Hmmm, I wonder if that could have anything to do with his game, Peekaboo Barn? (Sarcasm.) Barn is always asked in the form of a question as if he's asking to play his game.
Now that the weather has been warming up, Joe has been mowing like a mad man lately. This means we spend a lot of time out there with him. B has his own lawn mower that he LOVES. Any time he hears a lawn mower or sees his dad mowing, "mow" "mow" "mow" until we recognize that yes, we can hear the lawn mower. He also gets out of the car most nights and walks over to the lawn mower and says "mow." We live semi-close to train tracks too and every time one goes by in the distance, it's "Choo Choo!" Lastly, I've mentioned that Buddy can say most of his animal noises. I can't remember if I updated this last month but he now says "sss" for a snake, "whoo" for an owl and he does a noise for elephant as he lifts his arm up by his nose, pretending it's a trunk.
Along the lines of talking, Barrett loves to have random babbling conversations with himself and others. It's his own little language.
I don't know if I can blame the weather but we have had almost no behavioral issues this month. He sometimes has quick tantrums when we have to come inside but otherwise the kid is beside himself with happiness all the time. He can just run in circles over and over again and nothing can get him down. We are going to have a great summer if this keeps up!
Some favorite things from this last month includes the Touch A Truck event we went to while in Pontiac. I had a garage sale that morning but took a break to check out all the trucks. By far, the fire truck was his favorite which is great since Grandpa Todd is a fireman. We have to make a trip up to the station so he can get his own tour of the trucks. It was pretty chaotic with all the other kids running around and beeping horns and turning on the sirens so he didn't get to explore a whole lot but it was a fun little free activity. He'll love it when he's older and can climb and play more, I think.
This month he's started to get the hang of crawling down stairs on his own. Still not good enough that I'm comfortable letting him go at it by himself but I can stand in front of him and tell him to sit on his butt and he'll go down one set. Then he stands and I have to tell him to sit on his butt and he does another set. So on and so forth. I mentioned he has a thing with jumping down steps so that is mostly what he wants to do. He has no fear so he'll face dive if I wasn't there to catch him.
I mentioned he has most of his animal sounds down and that's because he's in love with all animals. Seeing one on tv is one thing, but seeing them in person is the jackpot! He usually prefers to keep some space in between himself and the animal but he gets so excited to see one. Something else he loves is slides. Climbing up or sliding down. Again, he has no fear.
I think it was last month that I talked about his love for the song "Row Row your Boat." We've added in the second verse, Row, Row, Row your boat, gently down the stream. If you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream! Then of course, he has to put his hands on his cheeks and SCREAM! Picture the Home Alone, aftershave scene. If we ask him what a crocodile says he screams too. He has such a personality.
18 months is another month that can go down in the books as one of my favorites. He is an absolute joy. We laugh so much because of him.
