J at 17 Months

Weight: 22 lbs
Height: 30"

Teeth: 11

Words: still not talking

Favorite game: tag/hide and seek

Favorite book: Goodnight, Goodnight, Constuction Site

Favorite toy: his plastic golf bag/club set

Favorite TV show: Backyardigans

Favorite activities: anything outside

Favorite food: fruit

Favorite thing ever: trucks/planes/dogs/cats/horses

J getting his FOURTH haircut. Sheesh.

Here are little tidbits about J:

• He is still nursing.

• He can point to his ears, belly button, nose, and toes when asked where they are. He also likes to find other people's belly buttons. He loves to lift up his grandmother's shirt and my shirt so he can see them. I also caught him lifting up a stranger's shirt (a three-year-old) in a store so he could find the kid's belly button. 
• He doesn't talk, but he does communicate in other ways. He puts his hand to his ear when he hears a phone ring. He waves hello and bye. He blows kisses. He points to what he wants. He claps. I also taught him to open his mouth and put his hand over it whenever he hears the work "yawn" (I did this so he could be more interactive with his "nite nite books.") He finds his shoes and gives them to me when he wants to go outside. I know that even though he won't say anything, he still understands everything I say to him. He obeys me (most of the time) when I give him a command. When he doesn't obey me, he still knows he is supposed to do it, but he's just being bad.

• J went back to two naps a day = hard to get out of the house and do anything.
• He is getting better with forks. He can now spear a pancake piece, dip it in syrup, and put it in his mouth.

• We are sleep training J. It sucks. I hate hearing him scream and know that I shouldn't go to him.   We need to do this because J isn't sleeping well with us anymore. The slightest movement wakes him up, and he gets a lot more sleep if he is by himself with no one moving or making noise. Plus my husband thinks it's time to cut the umbilical cord. My husband puts J to bed because if I do it, he will expect to be nursed to sleep. So now we have to train him to fall asleep on his own. My husband brushes his teeth and takes him to the nursery. He holds J on his lap and reads until he's drowsy, then he puts J on his mattress and waits for him to fall asleep to creep out of the room. 

• J is obsessed with playing outside. As soon as he is done with breakfast, he will go find his shoes and look longingly out the windows. I bought him sidewalk chalk and am debating on whether to get him more outside toys now or wait for spring, as it's already pretty nippy here.

J in his natural habitat