16 Months (4/18/2016)

GENERAL: Life has been so good with my boys.  They are healthy and happy and loving life.  We saw ENT last Monday for Josh's ears and he has an effusion in his left ear (again or the same one…who knows) but we can safely hold off on ear tubes for now.   He very clearly does NOT eat when he isn't feeling well, so I was originally hopeful for tubes for that reason.  However, now that ear infection season has come to an end, I'm hoping he can stay healthy on his own!  He seems to be growing up extra fast these days.  He actually willingly wore the sticker for the pictures this month AND he smiles on command now.

SLEEP: Sleep has still been great!  He had a bad night the other night and ended up in our bed which meant poor sleep for me, but I'm thinking and hoping that that was just a fluke.  He slept from 7:00PM last night until 6:20AM this morning---amazing!!  He usually goes to bed around 7:00 after we read books with Ben I put him to bed awake and he falls asleep right away.  He's such a good boy!  He gets up pretty consistently before 6:00 every morning, but we are not complaining.  His naps are sporadic but he takes at least one nap a day.

EATING:  Josh's eating has been better than usual, but I still wish there was more variety.  He is really good at feeding himself cereal with milk in the morning.  He usually has Cheerios!  He likes string cheese (like his big bro!), grapes, grilled cheese, bread, peaches, oranges, and goldfish.  He used to eat meat but he won't really eat that anymore, unfortunately.  We will keep trying!  He loves his sweets and knows where they are hidden!  He will grunt and point and whine until you understand what he wants! He is still nursing in the evening and morning and I still think this is mostly for comfort.

COMMUNICATION/COGNITION: He can definitely understand more than he can tell us!  I think it's true that kids with older siblings don't talk as much because they have their siblings to talk for them. Ben definitely likes to talk and do everything for Josh.  He very sweetly says, "I have to protect my baby," even when we tell him not to do things so that Josh can learn for himself. ;)  Josh still finds and points out every ball he sees.  He's really good at pointing to whatever you tell him to point to in a book.  Again, big brother likes to try and beat him to the punch!  I think Josh is THIS close to being able to follow my "if you take a bit of this, then you can have that" line that we use on a daily basis with Ben.  Joshy is shy yet funny and social at the same time.  He loves his momma SOOOO much.  The feeling is obviously mutual, though it's hard to hold him non-stop in the morning when I'm trying to get dressed or do my hair.  He does not like to hear, "just a minute, Joshy!"  Lots of tears when he has to be put down.

FINE/GROSS MOTOR: My 2 little athletes are always on the go.  He just started kicking a ball and is getting close to being able to catch a ball too.  He loves to throw and play catch.  He always wants to be included in whatever activity Ben is doing, so it's tennis, golf, basketball, baseball, football, soccer, or some made up game.  The boys love to play "chase" and Josh just giggles and giggles whenever someone chases him.  He is still climbing whatever he can whenever he gets the chance and he still dances whenever he hears music.  I love how he bops around to the beat whenever he hears music!

I just love my boys SO much!  I can't wait to add another (probable BOY!) to the mix!

16 Months (1/13/2014)

Dear Ben,

Happy 16 month birthday!  I blinked again and another month had passed.  Every single day you are doing something new and I love it!  (Hopefully I'll have time to take your 16 month pics one of these mornings!)

GENERAL:  I believe you are still around 30 inches and when I weighed you yesterday, you came in at 19 pounds and 2 ounces.  You are as happy as can be, almost always.  Recently, 2 different strangers told me that they could tell you are well loved. You are most definitely loved a LOT so I'm glad that it is somehow visible.  You certainly love to give a lot of love yourself, to animals and people alike.  :)

EATING: Your eating has been so-so.  We finally found a vitamin with iron that you will take, so that makes me feel a little better that you are at least getting this!  Your breakfast is typically fruit and blueberries are still your favorite.  You are really liking these puffed popcorn things, which I never in a million years thought I would buy, but they have lots of fat so buy them, I will.  You are starting to eat yogurt again, as long as you are able to feed yourself.  You're getting good at that!  We are still working on getting you to drink whole milk.  You will drink a sippy cup of water during the day, and you have typically 2, 5ish-ounce bottles a day.

SLEEPING:  As I mentioned the other day, you had a nice stretch of sleeping through the night this past weekend.  Unfortunately, that is not the new norm.  You have been getting up once a night, which isn't horrible, but it isn't our first choice either.  :)  You continue to nap about 2 hours during the day, but the timing varies.  We still give you a bottle when you wake up in the night, but again, this is because we want you to get all of the calories you can get!  I should really start breaking you of this habit but it is the only time you will take it!

FINE/GROSS MOTOR:  I probably say this at least daily, but you are SO BUSY.  You love taking all of your toys out and making a big mess.  You love going through drawers, laundry baskets, and anything that can be taken apart.  When you aren't making a mess, you are climbing everywhere.  You are always moving your grey chair somewhere new so you can reach more trouble.  You can't quite get up on to the couch by yourself, but you know how to pull a pillow over for an extra boost.  You like to climb our tiered shelf, so we are slowly clearing that off.  You are getting waaay too close to being able to open the bedroom/bathroom doors by yourself.  You love the bathroom, so that just spells more trouble.

COMMUNICATION/COGNITION: You have really started to talk a lot lately!  You love music and you love to sing and dance.   You had 2 new words today alone.   I was singing "Humpty Dumpty sat on the..." and right on cue you said "wall!"  It was so cute that we had you do it like 10 more times.  And then when it was snowing you pointed outside and said, "snow!"  You still use your signs, but you are now saying "more" with your voice instead of your little hands.  You can label all of your family members when asked where so-and-so is.  You are obsessed with your "Spot" books and you laugh at the same pages every time.  (What is so funny about the penguins??)  You love to be a little helper and whenever you find a crumb on the ground, you are sure to show us and then you'll run and throw it away.  You are super duper attached to your momma!  I can barely go to the bathroom without you banging on the door and waiting for me to come out.  It is reeeaaally hard to get ready in the morning because you constantly want to be held.  You are smiling in the picture below as you wait for me, but typically you are sobbing with big old tears.  Poor daddy!

I can't wait to see what the next month will bring!  These months go way too quickly.  I've been looking at a lot of baby pictures of you lately and I can barely believe that you have grown so quickly.  I love you SO MUCH!