17 months

I'm loving this age... for the most part. The tough part is the whining and tantrums. Already. I wasn't expecting it to be this bad so soon! Oh my gawd.

This month: Fall is by far my favourite season, and this year I've discovered a new reason to love it: harvest festivals at the many local family farms. Andrew and I have been to three so far and just might check out one more before the end of the month... and I have yet to get that perfect pumpkin patch picture! The kid just won't stay still for two seconds. He runs around saying "hi" to the cows and sheep, etc., and making his animal sounds. He loves the sandlot toys and the wagon rides and the straw mountains. So fun!

Food: I've been dragging my feet at the transition from bottles to sippy cups. A while ago, we switched to sippy cups for his afternoon milk, but he still had bottles in the morning and before bed. This month I switched his morning bottle to a sippy, and boy was he mad! Some mornings he still smacks the sippy out of my hand and won't touch it until he's in his booster seat eating his cereal.

Sleep schedule: We've pretty much completed the transition from two naps to one. He's been sleeping in until 8:00 most mornings and goes down for his nap around 12:30. It lasts anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours. Yay!

Vocabulary: Last month's "weee?" has evolved into "whezeee?" ("where is it?"). He throws his hands up in the air in the universal "I don't know" gesture and looks around for... well, most of the time we don't know what he's looking for. But eventually he'll "find" whatever it is and hold it aloft, pronouncing "day-dehr!" ("there it is!"). He fell in love with my mom's dog, Riley, when we visited last weekend, and at least five times a day ever since, he says, "Whyeee! Whezeee?" So cute! Last month's ubiquitous "ah-den?" has pretty much disappeared, replaced by "up" and "more" and "uh-huh" while pointing at something he wants.

New "tricks": I was so impressed when he brought me his alphabet book, turned to the "M" page, and said, "mama!" ("monkey"). Then he said, "aww" and hugged it. The boy loves his monkeys! Since then he has also started pointing out the train ("choo-choo!") and the bus ("buhh").

And he's started blowing kisses! I tried to teach him to blow kisses a few months ago but hadn't mentioned it in a while. Then the other day I asked him for a kiss and he put his hand over his mouth and made a smooching noise. Where did that come from?? And he says "night-night" on a semi-nightly basis. LOVE IT!

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I will

• continue to make a meal plan each week and cook dinner each night for my family.
• keep on top of the dishes and cleaning.
• strictly stick to our monthly budget.
  
• be more disciplined in my work habits.
  
• come up with fun indoor activities to do with Andrew to get us through the winter.
• work on losing weight ... being deliberately vague here ... but I will.
• try to be happier and healthier in general.
  

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I am thankful

My Thanksgiving dinner was a success! I have a new appreciation for my mother and my grandmother before her for their hard work in preparing all those lovely holiday dinners over the years. I mean, I knew it was a lot of work, but I didn't understand exactly how much went into those meals until I was responsible for creating one myself. I loved it, though, and would gladly do it again.

My future sister-in-law suggested a trip out to the cemetery to visit my father-in-law's grave. I stayed behind to slave over the hot stove some more, but everyone else went. I thought it was very sweet of FSIL to think to include my father-in-law in this first holiday since his passing. Can't believe nobody else suggested it! Overall, it was a very pleasant day. I think everyone had a nice time. I know Andrew had a blast playing with his cousin and his uncles.

So. Thanksgiving. I tend to focus on the negative — something I'm working on — but the truth is I have a pretty comfortable life. I have a family who loves me and whom I adore, I have a few good friends, a roof over my head, food on the table, clothes on my back, etc. For now, at least, I have the joy of spending every day home with my amazing little boy. Overall, I'm a pretty lucky girl. And, yes, I am thankful, for these things and for so many little things, including baby snuggles and unexpected phone calls just to say hi, hot tea and pumpkin pie. You get the idea.

Peace and happiness to you all. :)

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I'm hosting Thanksgiving

For the first time ever, I'm going to be cooking a turkey and all the fixings. Usually I just bring a dessert to someone else's house, but this year my husband's immediate family will be gathering at our place. It'll be a sad occasion — the first holiday/family get-together since my father-in-law passed away last month.

I wasn't given much notice, so I'm still working on putting together a menu with days to spare (Canadian Thanksgiving is this Sunday), but I'm kind of excited to test my culinary skills. I'll let you know what I came up with, and maybe even post a few pictures, after the big day.

I have to share: In my search for recipes, I came across foodgawker.com, which links to countless amazing recipes via gorgeous food photos. Oh my, I could waste a lot of hours drooling over that site.

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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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