16 Months - Finding Our Groove

Whew!  What a couple of weeks for all my friends and family!  It seems like a constant stream of injuries, accidents and bad news.  April has become my least favorite month ever since I was pregnant and feeling so darn sick all the time.  It has not been kind.  I think we are bad news free for a couple days now and everyone seems to be healing nicely.  So, for happy news, let's talk about Enzo whose cuteness never ceases!

This past month we've seen tremendous growth - mentally and physically.  He no longer is this babbling baby with mostly random motions.  He now has movement with purpose and makes meaningful sounds.  His face has subtle changes daily.  He concentrates hard to imitate us and every once in a while we realize he is attaching sounds to objects.  He is becoming very clear about what we wants using a variety of signs, sounds and movement.  Or maybe we as parents are just getting better at understanding him.  My favorite thing is when he chooses a book, says "ook" or signs it, then climbs into my lap to have me read it.  We usually get through about 5 choice pages (you know, the pages with the noisiest trucks or the loudest animals) until he wants to move on to the next book.  He is also getting down routines and life has gotten into a groove lately.  For example, Wednesday night our bedtime routine included getting a clean diaper and jammies, then we sign "brushing teeth" and he runs to the bathroom where we both brush our teeth together.  He then flies out of the bathroom and runs into his room where he starts signing sleep.  He then nurses, gets put in the crib half awake, he cries for two minutes then is passed out for the night.  These routines seem to make the day more predictable, in a good way.  

New signs: water, daddy, walk, thank you, hat, banana, horse, book, brush teeth, sleep

First animal noise: goat (I think moooo is next)

Words: Thank you, Enzo, shhhhhhh, also is doing a Bill Cosby impersonation (doopbie-doopbie-doopie)

Nickname: Bubs, Bubaloo

What he's eating: Egg and 1/2 bagel for breakfast, applesauce, yogurt and cereal for 2nd breakfast, dinner leftovers, fruit and veggies for lunch, some kind of bean soup for dinner with whatever else we can get into him.  He tastes change frequently.  French toast was a recent winner.  Will not touch peanut butter anymore.  Tried strawberries for the first time with mixed results.  Will eat anything with whip cream on top. Raw carrots as of yesterday.  He also really likes this mango, coconut, cinnamon and apple puree I made.

At school:  He's painting, helping clean up by putting toys and books away (then signs thank you!), he loves sitting at the desk, loves the sandbox and eats a lot of sand

Things he likes:  sitting on the dog, getting his hair brushed, running around the house making noise, his red and yellow car

My favorite thing he does: Runs up to me when I pick him up from school with a huge smile, then he hugs and kisses me.  It's the sweetest thing in the whole world.

And now for the monthly photo dump!

Trying a strawberry for the first time.

Enjoys an occasional smoothie shared with dad.  Not sure how so much can end up on the face when one uses a straw.

Resting mid-hike and exploring with Turnip.

His really happy face!  I cannot get enough of this expression where he smiles big and scrunches up his nose.  (Too bad his arm looks really weird in this picture.)

Did not like the matzoh!  Fed promptly to the dog.  Turnip thought it was Passovertastic.

Matzoh balls on the other hand - those were a big hit!  I'll be sad when these airplane jammies no longer fit.

Kisses from Carly Rae, my co-worker's newish dog.

And thinking about what just happened....

In jammies and signing sleep!  So smart and helpful!

Meeting some chickens.

And this happened......

Ok, back to normal happy boy mode!