4.24.2013

Lachlan - 16 months!

Overall this last month he has just been a happy child and is content playing by himself for short periods of time.  It has been REALLY NICE!  I think it has helped that we've had some nice weather so he was able to get outside a bit, which he just loves doing anything outdoors.  Again, he was SO SQUIRMY for his pictures and zero interest in giving us just a split second of a sweet smile...
























But then I had a brainy idea to move him to a chair that sits up high so he can't crawl right off of it.  Then I was able to get he cute picture I'd been determined to get!  How angelic does he look here?!



Fine/Gross Motor Skills
  • He is walking EVERYWHERE and is starting to learn to run.
  • If we are feeding him food with a spoon/fork, he likes for us to load the food on it and then he will bring it to his mouth to feed himself.

Verbal/Communication Skills
  • List of words he says (sometimes more often or clearly than others): Uh-oh, Up, More, Hello, Dada, Duck, Mama (new), Dog (new), Elmo (new)
  • So we still aren't sure if he knows that I am Mommy.  For months and months I've been trying to teach him that I am Mommy so I will say the word and then pat my chest trying to indicate that's me.  So now if he hears the word Mommy, he just pats his chest and says mama.  It's actually pretty funny, but hopefully he has caught on or will catch on soon!
  • Waves bye-bye and now LOVES to blow kisses.  He will immediately blow kisses to any person he sees...including the homeless looking guy at the park.  He has also started giving High Fives...once he starts though, he wants to give you like 20 in a row though!
  • Signs for More, Eat, All Done, Sleep (new), Book (new)
  • If he doesn't know something we ask him, he'll put his arms up in the air with palms facing up to show he doesn't know.

Cognitive/Brain Development
  • He knows where pieces of a simple puzzle will go.  Has trouble usually rotating it to fit exactly, but knows the correct spot.
  • He is learning his body parts.  He will always get Feet and Belly correct when I ask where those are at.  He has identified Hair, Ears, Eyes, Nose, Mouth all several times, but also gets it wrong sometimes.
  • He really can understand I think almost everything we say.  Last weekend morning we played for a while and then I told him to go wake up daddy and he dropped what he was doing, went to our bedroom to open the door and find Dustin.  He constantly seems to be able to follow simple directions like that.
Eating
Some meals eats a lot and others not so much- just hit or miss.  Grandma tried cooking him all sorts of new foods and most of it went straight to the floor unfortunately.  He is just weird sometimes though that he won't eat something for one meal, but then will the next, so you have to just keep trying it.

Sleep
For some reason he has turned into a very light sleeper and is waking during the week whenever Dustin gets up.  Come the weekend or Dustin is out of town, he'll sleep in closer to 7 usually.  Also, some mornings he has started crying within 5 minutes of waking up, which is very unusual. 
We've got him on the 1 nap schedule pretty consistently now.

Favorite Things
  • Loves playing games with us where we chase him around and catch him to tickle him.  Loves to hide from us or we hide from him.
  • Loves going outside.  He now knows he can go stand at the front door (and cry) to signal to us he wants to go out.  He is content just walking around outside and doesn't really need toys.
  • Still just loves to read books- likes to sit on our laps while we read, but he will also page through them on his own (at rapid speed)
Typical Day at 16 months:
  • Wake 6:15ish.  Leave him in crib as long as we can while getting ready for work and daycare.  Give him some juice with miralax before heading out the door around 7:00.
  • Eats breakfast with milk around 8:00
  • Lunch with milk 11:30
  • Nap 12-2
  • Afternoon snack with milk 2:00
  • Dinner with water or milk 6:00
  • Bath every other night at 7:00
  • Bedtime 7:30- read books for about 5 minutes.  His usual favorites are Goodnight Moon, The Going to Bed Book, and a really cute Hallmark book with pictures of our family behind some flaps.
I was extremely bad with taking pictures this month, so here are the few I have:

Where's Lachlan?!  PEEK-a-BOO!

He discovered crawling and sitting on the window ledge

He LOVES watching videos of himself, but he gets this same serious look EVERY time

Luckily I had quite a few cell phone pics this month...and they captured our trip to Florida and Lachlan's first visit to the beach, which he enjoyed.

Takes after mom and more enjoyed relaxing at the pool than being in the cold water!
Was sick with the flu the week before vacation.  
Waiting for our plane at the airport

The first leg of our flight was delayed, so they upgraded us to first-class for the last flight.  It was great that Lachlan had a little extra room to move around and gave out lots of High Fives.
Lachlan got to see his little friend that he hadn't seen since he was 7 months old.  
New stroller for the trip...is it just me or does he look freakin huge in here!?!