I Never Love to Write More Than When There Are Household Chores to Be Done

Tomorrow Spencer will be 17 moths old. We've decided he's a keeper. Here's what he's up to these days "milestone-wise" with a few humorous anecdotes thrown in for good measure.

Today, he weighed in at just under 25 pounds, and he is 31.75 inches tall. He is 25-50th percentile and has been all along. His head is 50th percentile. I don't know how mothers of children with 99th percentile heads get shirts on their children. It's hard enough with a 50th. His 12-18 month clothes still fit him with room to grow. His 12 month jammies still fit snugly, and the 24 month jammies are still a tripping hazard--they're footed.

He is so affectionate these days. He will give big, long, tight hugs. It really doesn't get much better than that. He is CONSISTENTLY sleeping through the night! He's been doing this for about 5 months now, and it is life changing. Jonathan is ready for another baby. I told him he better hurry up and get pregnant, then. Spencer went to 1 nap a day about the same time he started sleeping through the night. The books say that this is way too soon. Spencer begs to differ. His development has been very similar to what my mom remembers of mine (except for his "delayed" crawling due to reflux). I slept through the night around 1 year, and my mom never remembers me taking 2 naps, ha! Bless her heart.

He does a little better in the nursery each time I manage to leave him there. More often than not I "volunteer" in a nursery or pre-school room and bring him with me. You think we've got the bonding thing down? I cannot believe that someday he will be a grown man who does not need me or want me to hold him and kiss him. I hope he calls occasionally.

Spencer has decided that he doesn't care much for my song selection at bedtime. If I start a song he doesn't want me to sing, he fusses at me until I stop. Sometimes he leaves it at that, apparently preferring to be lulled in silence. Other times he fusses at me until I start singing a song that we can both agree on. He's quite the critic. We lay him down wide awake, though, and he just lays there while we cover him up and walk out the door. Then, he goes to sleep. EVERY time it happens, I'm surprised (pleasantly).

He walked into the allergist clinic today holding my hand. We'd attempted this maneuver a few times before, and he would just pull away and want to run the opposite direction of where ever we were going; but today he compliantly walked all the way in, though multiple sets of doors and down hallways with many other options, right to the chair where we always sit to wait for my shot. It was fabulous. He loves to walk, but hadn't quite learned to "heel." I think we're making some progress.

I continue to be amazed at the sort of things he "knows" now. He walked into my sister's bathroom at my parent's house. He pulled some toilet paper off of the roll (this is not unusual, and I was telling him "no"). Then, he made blowing sounds with his mouth, while he held the tissue to his nose. We NEVER blow our noses. I wipe his nose, but I never tell him to blow. I think the last time I blew my nose was this time last year just before all the powers of the universe aligned against me in my colossal attempt to nurse my child (allergies, reflux, and Spencer's temperament). So, anyway, after he finished "blowing" his nose, he immediately opened the cabinet door under her sink and put his tissue in the trash can that is under there. How he knew that trash can was there is so interesting to me. Yes, we have a trash can under his sink in his bathroom. But we don't have one under the sink in our bathroom, and he spends more time in our bathroom than he spends in his own. I've never shown him the trash can under Nat's sink...although I'm sure he's seen it before when he ran in there ahead of me. I'm fascinated with human cognition, ok? At least I'm entertained.

I think he is trying to sing with his movies, but he can't quite do it. Instead he makes semi-shouting noises, and points to himself whenever the lyric is "me." At first I thought he only did this with the song that ends "for King Cole and me, for King Cole and me, put it in the oven for King Cole and me." But today I saw him "singing" to the ABC song and pointing to himself when it got to the part about "next time won't you sing with me." It's really cute. Also, whenever Dora asks him if he sees the _____ (fill in the blank), he points to it! I noticed him doing that a few nights ago. So, I'm convinced that his television hours are free preschool, and so far he gets "E's" for Excellent. Plus, when they sing songs they stay in one key; which is more than I can say for his mother's bedtime medleys. So, add music education to the free preschool curriculum.

He has diversified his food interests lately to include strawberries and crab cakes and, last but not least, biting off chunks of apple from a WHOLE uncut apple (NOT SLICES) and then spitting the peel out on the ground while watching tv. And old favorites have morphed into "learning" opportunities, i.e. he pretty much insists on being involved in feeding himself yogurt and apple sauce. I've made some "go-gurt cicles" to avoid big plops of yogurt all over his clothing, and he likes those; but they'll be even better when it's hot outside and his hand isn't numb. I've been having to put masking tape around a wash cloth around the go-gurt so that he can hold it for any period of time. Oh, and he had some ice cream a few nights ago. Big fan.

He continues to love being outside. He especially loves any standing water he can find, especially if he can manage to sit in it or lap it up off of something disgusting. If the water is muddy or otherwise contaminated that makes it even more appealing. What is it about mud that makes him want to ingest it? He LOVES to play in the hose or the sprinkler. And if the water falls from the sky in the form of rain, he dances around grinning. If it stops, he does his sign for "more" towards the sky. My mom said it's his first prayer. It was really sweet until yesterday when he started crying because it wouldn't give him "more" rain. Add it to the list of things he'll have to take up with God. I kept telling him that Mommy can't make it rain.

As far as talking goes, he seems to be most interested in saying things that will get him what he wants. He's not really in it for fun yet. He says "keys," "dog," "pas" (paci), "mmm" (milk or me or moo or meow), "Gigi," "PaPa," "Bob Bob" (that's me), "Ga Ga" (Daddy), and "Bye" (with a strong Southern accent). He makes a guttural "gu" or "coo" (for cookie or Cookie Monster), he says "ca ca" (for cracker and what the duck says). He says "aye" (yes or outside), "ee" (eat), and he makes all sorts of "gee" noises and words that I have no idea what he is trying to say. This noise comes up most often when he is talking in long sentences that contain no recognizable "words." He says "Ahhh" when we say "yea!" I think he tries to say "backpack" when Dora tells him to. He whispers his words when he is trying really hard (his Gigi noticed this first), so it's hardest to hear the words that he's trying the hardest to say. He shakes his head "No" but doesn't say anything like it, and he will say "yes," but he won't nod "yes." This makes for interesting communication sometimes.

He really enjoys riding in his car seat unless the sun is in his eyes. I do put his sunglasses on him sometimes, but they don't stay on for long. He will also ride in his stroller sometimes (he was NOT a fan as a baby), so that's fun for all of us. He has been having fewer tantrums than a month or so ago, and that's been great. He doesn't always comply with what I say, but he is more easily re-directed these days. That's also fun for all of us. =)

One last new "skill"--he can open zippers now. I'm pretty bummed. My Grandmother showed him how to do this a few weeks ago, and I thought he'd forgotten. But I was wrong. There are many "No No's" that were safely zipped away now floating around without a Spencer-proof home.

Around every corner, always a new challenge. . .