16 Months Old

Gosh, how time flies.  As much as I love looking back and reading Matthew and Kayla's monthly updates, it's almost annoying to write them.  It seems like I just wrote Nathan's 15 month entry!

Nathan, at 16 months old you weigh 27 lbs 9 oz and are a fun-loving, attitude-filled, independent boy.

I am clearly your favourite, but you always ask where Daddy is when he is not home.



You are a great eater for the most part.  You are super-independent when it comes to eating - you want to do it all by yourself, the whole time.  This is a completely different approach Jon and I are taking (unintentionally) to feeding, as it just started happening that you would feed yourself meals.  I think it came from the lack of desire to have to feed a third child.  You are good about trying to use your fork or spoon, but when you realize that it's quicker to use your hands, you do so.  Last night you were eating boerenkool by the handfuls.  It's a battle between us to let me feed you your last few bites, but a threat to send you to bed quickly resolves the battle with a win for me :).  You're becoming a bit better at drinking your milk at dinner because I ask you to finish your cup so that I can wash it.

You like to lift your shirt up and touch your belly button.

You know where your hair, ears, eyes, mouth, tongue, feet/toes, hands/fingers, and belly button are.

You love helping me unload the dishwasher.  Your job is to take all of the cutlery out and pass them to me.  You love emptying the dishwasher so much that you even try to empty it when it has dirty dishes in it!

You love playing on cell phones.  You love Auntie Candice's because it has a picture of Lacey on it.  You love Jon's and mine because we have "Peekaboo Barn" on it.  When you want to play it, you point to our phones and say, "Boo".  If you wake up before Matthew and Kayla are awake then I lay you in my bed and give you my phone so that I can shower.  It makes your brother and sister jealous that you get cell phone time and not them :).

You are much better at sleeping at night, although it's quite common for you to wake up calling for me around 9:00pm and around 5:00am.  I check to make sure you have your soother and blankie and then you fall right back asleep.

You typically only have your soother for nap time and bedtime.  You are quite attached to it for sleeping so I'm scared to take it away.  Matthew and Kayla had theirs until they were 18 months so I don't feel guilty yet :).

You also still get a night-time bottle, which you love.  You need it.  Not sure when I'll take that away yet, either. :)

You love making sure everything is in its proper place.  You love routines, and you know routines.

Your favourite books to read are Matthew and Kayla's 'Bright Baby: First 100 Words' and 'Bright Baby: First 100 Animals" books that they received as baby gifts from Jon's sister, Michelle.  You love pointing to everything.

You always take your socks AND shoes off in the car.  SO FRUSTRATING when we are running errands and are in-and-out of the car numerous times.  

You love fruit.  Strawberries are probably one of your least favourite, though.

You love being outside.  When Matthew and Kayla were your age they could roam around on the deck whenever they wanted...but if you want to be outside I have to be with you so that I can see you.  At least when the weather warms up I can leave the house door open so that you can come and go as you please.

You love having piggy back rides from Jon.

You dislike laying down in the bathtub, but are starting to tolerate it more.

As soon as you see Matthew and Kayla colouring, you want to start colouring too.  You've learned how to take the caps off of markers...which resulted in you colouring on the kitchen floor the other day.  Luckily, we caught it quickly because they were not washable markers.

On the days that I work, as soon as I step through the front door you come up to me and point to my jacket for me to take it off.  You know that as soon as I take it off I'll pick you up...and you don't like to let me put you down.  This is cute...but when you have a counter full of dinner prep dishes and diaper bags and dirty clothes from the diaper bag and crafts made while I was at work and half-opened mail it gets hard to go through everything to clean it up.  I can't stand a cluttered counter top.  Tidy counter = happy Laura.

You've learned how to walk up and down the two steps between my parents' kitchen and family room, unassisted.

Nathan's Routine:
7:00am  Wake Up
7:45am  Breakfast
10:30am  Snack
12:00pm  Lunch
1:00pm  Nap Time
2:00pm  Wake Up (followed instantly by a sippy cup full of diluted juice, drunk while laying in my arms like he's having a bottle!)
2:30pm  Snack
5:00pm  Dinner Time
6:45pm  Bottle
7:45pm  Bed Time

When I look at you I don't see my baby anymore.  Although, I can't say I ever really did.  You were practically born a toddler :).  I look forward to hearing your speech develop over the next few months.  Being able to talk + attitude = lots of fun ahead!