Andrew weighs about 25 lbs. At our doctor's visit earlier this month, he was so terrified on the scales, they could not get an accurate weight. Basically, he refused to sit or stand on the scales. I don't remember how long he was, but I do know that he is taller than Bentley and can just barely see over the top of our bed. Because he didn't begin his life as a percentile, I have not been too concerned about what percentile he is in compared to other children. I do know he is about average in all areas and is growing--which is the most important factor! He fits perfectly into 18 month clothes.
Walking is not his preferred mode of mobility. He runs. Everywhere. His teachers told me that he pushes his classmates out of his way and runs down the hall to the gym! He climbs on anything and everything. He hasn't mastered going up and down stairs without my assistance, but he is requiring less of my help. He can sit himself at his picnic table and can climb in his wagon.
His grasp of language amazes me everyday. He can understand most of what we say to him. "Go to the kitchen"....he goes to the kitchen. "Let's look for daddy"....he looks around the house for daddy. "Put your jacket on".....he holds out his arm. "Time for your bath".....he goes to his bathroom. "It's time for your nap".....he runs away. He knows when we arrive at Rob's parents house because he will say "Na-na" (his name for both of Rob's parents) as we pull in the driveway. He will try to climb in his highchair or picnic table to let us know he is hungry. Which is better than getting the food out of the pantry himself....his other "trick".
He is also adding more words to his vocabulary. Da-dee (daddy), Mama, Ba (ball), Didi (Bentley), Gigi (Gigi--my mom), Pa (Mr. Brad), Na-na (he gave this name to both of Rob's parents), Uh-oh, Bye-bye, chee (cheese as he points to the fridge), jush (juice *which is our name for water*), tooki (cookie), mmmm (he likes the food!), duh (duck), and dah (dog). He also has words?/sounds?/noises? for "the end" and "outside". They are un-spellable! He can shake his head "no", but has yet to master saying the word....YAY!. I love hearing him talk and learn new words.
His favorite toy is the outdoors. When the weather was warm right after Christmas, he didn't care about playing with his new toys. He just wanted to go outside! So that is what we do most mornings and afternoons. He loves to chase after Bentley and throw bones and balls for her. He loves to walk in my flower beds and run up and down slopes in our yard. He enjoys swinging for about 2 minutes and then he has more exploring to do. He likes to slide down our big slide----on his belly, face first. He has figured out how to slide down on his bottom, feet first. But, he likes to lean back and catch speed, then air, as he shoots off the bottom of the slide. He likes to climb in and out of our baby pool (no water this time of year) and tumble down the slide in the pool. He loves to be pushed in a toy car or wagon. He tolerates quick walks in the stroller. He still begs me to blow bubbles everyday. He really loves to dig in the dirt and, sometimes, eat the dirt. Often we come in from outside with dirt covering his hands and mouth
He loves Didi (Bentley). He chases her all day! He has pulled her ears so hard she yelps, but he loves to give her snacks (if he doesn't eat them himself) and bear hugs. Bentley licks Andrew on the face, and this gets big belly laughs. He loves to "pet" her by pulling on her fur. We are working on how to correctly pet a dog. Bentley thinks Andrew is quite annoying.
Inside, he likes to take his toys out of their organized baskets and put them back in again. (This allows me to get a load of laundry folded or dinner cooked!). He pushes toy cars down the hall and throws balls around the house. He likes to turn on the faucet to my bathtub and play with the water and soak his clothes. He loves music and will only watch movies/tv that have children singing. He will attempt to make the motions to "The Wheels on the Bus". Likewise, any toy that makes noise or music is a big hit! He likes to dump his blocks on the floor and watch as Rob or I build something. Then, he will knock the building down.
He LOVES books. He will sit in my lap or across from me and have me read him book after book. Although he mainly is just interested in turning the pages, he is beginning to understand the function of books. I have caught him a few times "reading" to himself. And recently, he will look up at me if I don't "read" when a page is turned. His current favorite book is "Llama, Llama Red Pajama". When I pull that book out, he says "mama" because the word mama is repeated over and over in the book. He also likes a University of Georgia board book because I sing "Glory, Glory to Ole Georgia" at the end. That is his favorite song, after all ;). When reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, if I try to break the monotony of each page and just say the animal names, I get a "maaaa-maaa" as if he is so annoyed with my new version!.
He sleeps great at night, about 11 hours and takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoons. He needs his sleep and everyone around can tell if he is off his sleep schedule. He is turning into a finicky eater. He will love mac-n-cheese one day and then refuse to eat it the next time it is served. Just this week, he refused to eat pizza at a restaurant, but loved the olives. He will only eat meat if it is shredded and covered in some sauce. He doesn't want his food to be cut into bite-sized pieces. Now that he is a big-boy, he wants to bite off the food himself. The few times I have given him a spoon, he thinks it is a toy. We will try utensils again when he is closer to 2. He loves fruit, well bananas, apples, cantaloupe, watermelon, raisins, peaches, and grapes. Veggies are hit or miss. Some days he can't enough butter beans and other days he won't even put the butter bean near his mouth.
He likes to test the rules with me and Rob. He will look right at us and proceed to bang the screen door on the wall or touch an off limits object. He laughs when I pop his hand---I don't know what this means. He is generally a very happy baby and is learning to adapt to most situations, kids, adults.
I get teary-eyed almost everyday (and not from the tantrums or wrestling matches) because he really is growing up so fast.
2 comments:
They do grow up WAY too fast!! Thanks for sharing all the cute things Andrew does... your "essay" was not boring at all :)!!
I loved this! It's funny because he is almost an exact mixture of my two. He sounds like such a fun little boy, and I wish we lived closer so we could throw all three of them into a room and let them have fun together. An indestructable room with a baby gate, that is.
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