17 Months

It's not been a great month.  A lot of challenges to deal with mixed with some bad luck are keeping us pretty busy and on our toes.  I'd like to say things are looking up, but at this time I feel we are not out of the woods just yet.  We have some really busy weeks ahead of us and I'll be going on strike again.  I will be on strike during my dad's visit to Modesto to visit grandma so at least I'll have a few days to travel over there.  And so it goes.

(I did receive one piece of happy news yesterday that one of my oldest and dearest friends had her baby!  I guess I shouldn't name names at this point because she herself hasn't announced it publicly.  News about babies make the world a nice place, don't you think?)      

Anyway, little beanster keeps on developing whether we like it or not.  He's getting into the "persistent mischief" phase and it's cute and annoying at the same time.  "Let's slide the screen door" over and over is a classic.  His teachers are also noticing and this is a report I got one day after school:

"Speaking up more - selective listener... :).  Selective Cooperation (more accurately said! :))

Listens when spoken to just needs direction.  Happy to help him toward our goals in this class.  Please practice focused, shared attention."

Otherwise known as stubborn!  The amount of smiley faces also makes me a wee bit nervous.  

New words and signs: It's getting hard to keep track, though most notably he says "no" and "more" quite a bit.  He started wagging his finger when saying no and I really don't know where he picked that up!  I know that they don't use that word at school very much so maybe Jake and I do it without knowing!  Another cool thing he does is sign and say "off" and "on".  He loves when I turn the lamp on and off and will sign and say it when I do it.  It's pretty darling.

What he's eating: diet is getting a little better as he is trying more vegetable and fruits.  He ate a whole pile of roasted fava beans and went to town on some cherries and apricots and the farmer's market last week.  Tis the season.

Favorite activities: playing outside, especially in the garden and riding the bike with dad.  He also loves to go to the neighbor's garden and play with the two girls over there and their little dog.

Nicknames:  Little Bean, Bubs, Diaper Man (now with cape)

Hair! 

He makes this face all the time!  We call it his Baby Blue Steel because it reminds us of the movie Zoolander. 

Loves her so much. 

Helping in the garden.  In Jake's old corduroy overalls. 

Sweetest Mother's Day present!  A sunflower planted in a pot he painted himself. 

Riding the carousel for the first time.  Did not like. 

 Helping dad cook Mother's Day breakfast.  Cutest thing to wake up to!