Sweet moment

Andrew and I had the best moment the other night, when I was rocking him before bed. I was singing his usual lullabyes and looked down to find him staring at me with a huge grin on his face. I smiled back, and he giggled, so I squeezed him and said "I love you, baby" and he laughed, so I gave him a big noisy kiss on the cheek and he laughed harder. We just had a great little gigglefest, even though I knew it would make it harder to get him to sleep. I kept trying to sober up, but every time I looked down at his smiling face we'd both start giggling again. I have no idea what was so funny. It was awesome. :)

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16 months!

I decided that I need to start doing a monthly Andrew update post. On Tuesday he turned 16 months old, and if I want any more proof that he's getting to be more boy than baby, I need only look at this picture:

He looks so big!

This month: The last month has been kind of rough. Andrew had his first ear infection and a bad cold while teething his first two molars. I've never seen him so miserable! It was awful. And then, on September 8, Andrew's grandpa died, and the week following his death was hectic and chaotic to say the least. We were barely home and spent a lot of time driving, and as a result Andrew's schedule was thrown off significantly — and yet he was so good, and so happy, and brought smiles to many sad faces. I was so grateful for my boy, my little ray of sunshine.

Favourite foods: cheese, berries, bananas, pasta, ham, green beans, and carrots. He also goes crazy for wieners and ice cream (who doesn't??), but we try not to give them to him very often.

Sleep schedule: He's a pretty good little sleeper most of the time. He usually gets up around 7:00 a.m. (although sometimes as early as 6:00 a.m.) and goes to bed at 7:30 p.m. Sleeps through the night unless he's sick or teething. He still naps twice a day, 1-1.5 hours each time, although I think the transition to one nap is right around the corner. I hope that goes smoothly. Until recently he would go down without a peep, but ever since he was sick a few weeks ago, he cries briefly (often only about 10 seconds, occasionally a couple of minutes).

Established words:

• uh oh, oh wow, yay, and wheee! - I guess these are exclamations and not really words, but I had to include them. So cute!
• no - Typical toddler sass.
• hi & bye - Now said whenever he enters or leaves a room, sometimes accompanied by a wave. Also said over and over when he finds a door to open and shut.
  
• again ("ah-den?") - This is his general demand, meaning "gimme" or "up" or "I want." And sometimes he really does mean "again."
  
• mama - He uses this to refer to his beloved stuffed monkey, not me (see post below)!
• where ("weee?") - He'll hide something (not very well, of course) and then ask "weee?" with the classic palms-up gesture. Clever boy.

Newest words:

• cheese ("chee") - I'm not sure about this one, but I think that's what he's saying. He really loves cheese.
• bubbles ("buh-bo") - This definitely started while I was blowing bubbles for him the other day, but he seems to be using it to mean other things too (e.g. "toothbrush"??).
• ball - I've only heard this one a few times.
• more - New today! This will be a good addition to "again."
  

Teeth: 10! I think teething is harder on him now. He got his top molars at the same time he had his first ear infection, and that was really rough. I'm not sure how much of the screaming to attribute to which ailment, but I do know it went on for a couple of days after the doctor said the ear infection was almost gone.

Favourite toys: He loves anything with wheels, it seems, and they either go "rrrrrrrrrrrrrr" or "choo-chooooo!"

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Introducing... Mama!

"Mama." Could there be any sweeter word from the lips of your child? Like most mothers, I eagerly anticipated hearing it for the first time. Oh, sure, he babbled it when he was first finding his voice months and months ago, but when would he say it with meaning? When would he say it to me?

And then, just over a week ago, he said it, clear as day. He was climbing up some stairs outside, with me close behind, and he said, "Mama, Mama!" As if to say, "Come on, Mom, hurry up, I have places to go." My heart melted.

And he has said it many times since. It soon became clear, though, that he wasn't talking about me. He was talking about Monkey — his best friend and lovey. Monkey was a birthday present from Mommy and Daddy. I guess we sort of forced him on Andrew. We started putting him in the car seat and in the crib, and pretty soon Andrew was carrying him everywhere. It's awfully cute. Monkey is now a constant companion, and he seems to be a special comfort whenever Andrew is sick or upset. Here are a few shots of Monkey in action:







(Sometimes I tell myself that Andrew really is referring to me when he says "Mama," and that he has a slightly differently pronunciation for Monkey. It's more of a "Mo-ma," isn't it? And he just happened to start saying both words right around the same time. That's likely, isn't it?)

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