The Lion at 16 months

Yes, I'm a week late.  It gets away from me.  Robby's busy, we're busy, y'know the drill.

Little man is absolutely not a baby anymore.  I know, it's been awhile, but just look at that.  1 week vs 16 months.  Crazy.  From holding him up on a pillow to him climbing on his own into a rocker and rocking himself.  And then requesting a blanket to cover up with.  When did this happen?

 

Of course, some holding him up is still necessary, but that's more because he's a maniac, than because he needs the help.  He is climbing everything these days.  He can't get straight up on a couch, but he pulls his chair over, or climbs on a table first.  Fortunately, this does not include climbing out of his crib yet.  We're waiting for it, and planning on switching to a toddler bed at that point, but so far, so good.

 

He is a pickier eater.  There are certainly things he likes and dislikes.  Unfortunately, he's mostly moving towards liking processed food.  His favorite things are melts and cereal bars.  He's still a fan of bread and grapes, but everything else is a little iffy.  He would rather graze than eat a meal, and would rather eat at his little table than in his high chair.  Apparently, he's still a great eater at daycare, but not always at home.  Still nursing 2x a day.

 

Talking is improving quickly.  He asks, "This?" all the time, and is starting to have "sentences" if by "sentence" you mean name + action.  "Bye bye truck" or "Mama down" happen, but that's about it.  It's still not always clear to someone who doesn't know him what he's saying all the time, but I'm getting better at interpreting.  He has a couple that I haven't quite figured out.  He exclaims both "AhBah!" and "Bay!" quite frequently, but not so sure what they are.  (He has different "All gone" and "Bye" s)  He signs with more insistency now.  It was hilarious when we left an ice cream shop that he kept signing "More more more" all the way to the car, even though, I promise you he had more than enough. 

 

He still loves to be outside.  If we take our nightly dog walk, and turn away from the park, he knows and starts screaming.  He REALLY loves playing on the slides and the balance beam, though the swings only last about 30 seconds.  He's always the youngest on the slide play structure, and he's fearless.  He would dive down those slides unassisted if we let him.  We ran into one of his daycare buddies from the 2-3 year old class a couple nights ago, and he ran over and gave him a hug, then was off to the races again.  Very sweet kid at times.

 

On the other hand, WHOOO boy can he be tiring.  He had been screaming a lot last week because his FINAL TWO TEETH (lower canines) were breaking through the surface.  I had taken him to Target between when I got off work and Chris did in an effort to entertain him.  HE WAS A PIP.  Running away from me, screaming, ate almost an entire bag of melts.  But the second someone came up to us?  He's smiling, and waving, and being adorable.  I felt like a horrible person that I couldn't just let people tell me he was cute.  I always had to add, "Sometimes" or the like.  Breathe, Katy.  He's just got bad days.

A couple days later we were at the car dealership getting an oil change, and I was much better equipped to chase him.  (I've been having some back issues for a month, and sometimes they get to me.  Thank goodness for pain killers.)  He was being a loon, and running between the show room, waiting room, and service area, but was really being quite cute, and people were entertained.  A salesman gave him a balloon, and he gave virtually every person there a high five.  I was happy that I didn't feel the need to say "sometimes" that day.  Oh, and he got to see a truck on a LIFT.  Made his life.  The little man is crazy about vehicles right now.  They all go "Vroom". 

 

He's still crazy about the animals, and they still tolerate him pretty well.

 

This is his most adorable thing at the moment.  He "tastes" things with his finger and smacks his lips in appreciation.

 

And...he's still getting sick an insane amount.  Chris was home with him the day we took these pictures, but I have high hopes that one day soon he'll be healthy.  It'll happen, right?

 

Little man, you're my favorite buddy, and I'm so glad you've finally started asking to cuddle on the couch.  You may run back and forth across the house a million times with the dog, but under that tornado of energy, you have such a sweet little core.  Love ya, monkey!