Month 17 . . . and Month 18

Since I failed miserably at posting in the last months [totally not because I can't remember when some of this happened], I am combining months seventeen and eighteen into one post. Here we go.

Food

Justin still eats a lot, but he has gotten into a pattern of eating all.of.the.time. which I am trying to break. I would like him to wait for dinner instead of asking for food constantly upon getting home from daycare. He is not crazy about plain food - meats, fish, etc. Seasoned meat is perfectly fine with him. He still likes vegetables, and will walk over you to get to some fruit or unhealthy snack. He has begun throwing food [truly endearing/sarcasm], which results in his tray being taken away temporarily. While Izzers is very grateful for this, I am not a fan. 

Sleep

Hallelujiah!! After five months of horrible, horrible sleep, Justin started sleeping through the night at his 17 month birthday. It was as if a switch was flipped - that simple. Baby Daddy went on a five day trip to South Carolina, and I (terrified of getting no sleep) gave him a bath, read his book, sung him a song I sang when he was a few months old, and put him in his crib. That night he woke up one time, which I really thought to be a major improvement, took a drink of water and went right back to sleep. The next four nights, I did the same routine, he slept straight through the night, for 10 hours, and I had to wake him up to get ready for daycare. Since then, in an entire month, he has woken up only one night. I am beginning to see how people have more than one child - not that that is happening anytime soon at Casa Us. 

 What? Don't tell me you find rubbing a fleece on your nose relaxing too?

Quick, Papa, I need to read this book 12 more times before naptime. 

 

Naps make me so tired . . . I think I'll chill with Grandpa. 

Temperament 

We have a little troublemaker on our hands, which probably doesn't surprise any of J-Man's grandparents. To start with, he is a head-butter. He headbutts walls, floors, toys, chests, spines, appliances - anything he can. He headbutts hard sometimes - sometimes he cries. We are not sure why he does it. Apparently up to 20% of toddlers do it, with boys doing it more often than girls. Frustration triggers it sometimes, but other times it seems to come out of nowhere. Attention is a common reason, so I currently try to stay calm/ignore it (as long as he isn't hurting himself), and try to help him better cope with his frustrations by redirecting him to some other activity. 

I am not looking forward to the Terrible Twos with these two.

His play skills are a bit rough at this time. At our last play session with Annabanana, Justin pulled her hair more than once and tried to headbutt her. He also hits Izzers, and hardly ever pets nice, which we try to teach. Needless to say, Mama blames daycare. ;)

Speaking

Our little chatterbox is racking up a vocabulary. His list currently consists of:

More (mah')

Please (Cheese or simply 'eees' sometimes)

Mama

Dada

Papa

Gramma

Cracker (caackaa)

Car (cah')

Cookie (cookoo)

Love You (Luh Loo)

Yellow (lehlow)

Book 

Hello ('lo)

Ball

Bye Bye

Annabelle (Anaba) - Annabelle calls him JMAN

Handsome and his Mama (Awwwwwwww). He may be 90% his father, but he's all mine. 







His bear sounds are typically more fierce than his dinosaur sounds.

In addition, he can do the sounds for : cow, sheep, horse, pig, elephant (complete with trunk), cat, puppy, doggy (yes, they are different), duck [his favorite], chicken, monkey (complete with underarm tickling), bear, dinosaur, Little Blue Truck (beep beep), Dump Truck (HONK), toad, lion, cars (vrooom)

These were the best of the 217 photos I took of Justin in his first snow. What? I could have taken more. I only took 91 of the second time we went outside. 

Other Tidbits - 

• Like almost any toddler, he loves being outside. I love that it is good for him, and I can use it as a bribe :)
• Justin is good at identifying body parts and will readily identify eyes, ears, nose, mouth, toes, and belly*.
• He gets upset easily when we go downstairs without him, typically when one of us switches the laundry.
• He will go to the stairs and look out the windows by the front door when I mention 'Grandma and Grandpa'. 
• He still loves to read and has begun expressing his preference for certain books. He brings us "Little Blue Truck", "The Lorax", and "Curious George" most often. 

I want to turn the page! No, I want to the page! (repeat, repeat, repeat)

• He understands "Take a Drink" and "Hooka" (referring to breathing in his nebulizer mist). Only rednecks would be prouder for this.
• He tries to drive his cars on the walls [endearing/sarcasm].
• He loves to throw his crayons more than color with them.

How nice of you to get me a box for Christmas Mama! I LOVE IT!!

• He will climb on anything he can, which is typically what he can topple over - boxes, hampers, you name it, he'll scale it.

* Future Justin, I am sorry for spreading this, but it is too funny. When clothed, Justin will pull up his shirt and touch his tummy when asked where his belly is. When in the tub, asked the same thing, he will touch his balls. Must be a boy thing because Mama does not understand . . .