17 Months Old

Another month has come and gone. Eli is growing and changing more and more into a little boy right before our very eyes. It's so much fun to watch him explore his world and learn new things. Here is his monthly update:

Physically:
-Getting much better at running all over the house
-Taking off his socks and shoes
-Taking off his diaper!
-Throwing any kind of ball ACROSS the room (most of the time he does this left handed, too)
Josh is SUPER EXCITED about his future ball player :)
-Climbing on the couch, recliner, coffee table, dining room chairs, and anything stationary.
-Climbing on both of his slides
-Using a spoon or fork pretty well at meal times. We just have to help him load the spoon or fork and he can do the rest
-Moving around on his little train and in his cars using his feet
-Turning around in circles and then plopping down real fast (he loves doing this!)
-Stacking and nesting his wooden blocks, building tall towers with his Duplo blocks, and pushing his cars around the house saying, "Vroom, vroom!"


Verbally:
-So many words are coming out of his mouth daily! I haven't written every word that he can say on his own down like my friend, Cheryl, did but he's saying a lot these days!
-Saying two and sometimes three word sentences, "Bye, Ma-ma/Da-da!", "Hi, Ma-ma/Da-da!",
"Ma-ma, get down", "Sit down," and other variations of these.
-Sings along to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"
-Repeating everything we say

Personality:
-Such a happy little boy
-Stubborn and likes to get his way (pouts and throws himself on the floor when he doesn't...it's quite funny actually)
-Active, active, active...has been from Day 1 and continues to be in month 17. He is constantly on the go.
-Loves to test the limits
-Outdoors lover
-Animal lover (especially "kee-cats")

Sleeping:
Nothing has really changed in the sleeping department. He still goes down around 7:30-8:00 every night and usually wakes up around 6:30 or 7:00 the next morning. He still wakes up once a night usually around 3:00 in the morning, but is easily consoled and goes back to sleep. He normally takes one nap a day now; usually, after he and Molly have come in from outside and eaten lunch. Dara says they both crash at the same time. Sometimes on the weekends, he'll still take a morning nap and an afternoon nap, but that's very rare these days. My goal this summer is going to get him to take his naps in his room. He's always been a couch sleeper during the day (he gets it honestly, because Josh and I both love to sleep on the couch). He actually takes his nap for Dara on her couch. She found that he slept much better there than in the crib. I have no idea why this is, but that's how he's always been. Nicki recommended room darkening curtains, so I'm going to try those this summer to see if they help.

Eating:
We're FINALLY off the bottle!!!! He actually weaned himself :) He started drinking less and less milk at night before going to bed and one night I just didn't give it to him and gave him a sippy cup of milk instead. He drank a little bit out of the sippy cup, popped his pacifier in his mouth, and went to sleep. WOO HOO! No more washing bottles for this Mommy :) Now if I could only stop worrying about how he's not drinking enough milk during the day. He's doing okay, but he's just not a big drinker period. He mostly drinks water when he's at Dara's house, but at mealtimes he always gets his sippy cup of milk. As far as food goes, he's doing GREAT! He loves beans-green beans and lima beans mostly. A typical day for him usually looks like this:
Breakfast-milk and oatmeal/cereal
Snack-yogurt
Lunch-Gerber graduates meal with veggies/cheese stick/milk
Snack-goldfish/fresh fruit
Dinner-Usually whatever we're eating, but if it's too spicy for him he'll eat another Graduates meal or chicken nuggets with veggies and milk to drink.

He goes for his 18 month well visit next month. WOW! It's hard for me to believe that my baby is about to be 1 1/2! What a fun 17 months it's been! I can't wait for the rest :)