Lenore at 17 Months

 

Happy Girl at 17 Months Old

What she's doing this month:

• She continues to know what she wants, and she will get her point across, no matter what. She points and grunts, mostly, until we have answered her.
• She has started to vocalize more, overall. She babbles, but has also started repeating words. For instance, she loves putting on her socks and shoes, so I've started saying sock-sock-sock when she brings them to me. She'll say 'dock-dock-dock.' Or shoe-shoe-shoe is 'djoo-djoo-djoo.' She hasn't really said many new words, but the repeating words back is new this month.
• She's also remembering her animal sounds this month! Last month was just 'boof boof' for the dog's bark, but this month she's doing her best chicken (bock bock), cow (some sort of moo), and bunny (hop hop).
• She continues to be a good little helper. If I'm yelling at Lewis to get ready, she will get his shoes and deliver them to him, without even a prompting. :) She loves to help carry a water bottle or Lewis's lunch or someone's jacket when we are going out the door, too. She'll also go under the kitchen sink (which is/was locked/childproofed, but she's broken through it), and gets a spray bottle and washcloth and walks around to clean up. She doesn't know how to spray, of course, and it's just vinegar/water, so there's no worries of her doing great harm. It's just too cute, the way she's taken to mimicking certain tasks. She's a blossoming little mama's helper.
• She is a bowl bandit. She 'gets' that we put our food into bowls, so every time I offer her food, she runs over to the kids' cabinet and gets a bowl. That is fine, but then 3-4 more bowls make their way out by the time snack/the meal is over, and before long, we have no clean bowls. She, like Lewis, insists on having a separate bowl for each food, as well.
• She is getting better and better at feeding herself with a spoon. She still makes a mess of her shirt, but I'd say 70% makes it to her mouth.
• She loves to pick up tiny pieces of trash and either give them to me or put them in the trash.
• She loves to get a piece of paper and a pen/highlighter/marker/whatever she can get her hands on, and she'll pretend to draw/write. Lewis was never into putting pen to paper, so it's neat to see how they are different.
• She is tough! Currently, she has a scratched knee and nose (how did that happen?!) and a bruise on her cheek (from falling off the couch and hitting the coffee table). She pulled a play kitchen down on herself at open gym yesterday and didn't react much at all. She just laid still until I came over and picked it up off of her, and she got up and played with it again. I'm sure being around Lewis has helped.
• She looooves to be outside. At some point, though, she will decide to walk into the road or onto the neighbor's driveway (and then down said neighbor's driveway and into her backyard), so then playtime is over. She thinks it's funny, of course, to run away from me, so I'm doing my best to kibosh that action. Until we reach that point, though, outside time is good.
• Sleep is still going well. She sleeps from about 7:30-7:30 at night, plus a 2-3 hour nap during the day. The 2nd nap has gone away this month, and her midday nap ranges from 10:45-1:45 or 1-4, depending on whether we have to pick up Lewis at 12 or 2.
• She has also just started sleeping with snuggly items this month. She has a seahorse that lights up plays music for 5 minutes or so, and she has a monkey that my mom got her at the zoo. Last week she was also snuggling with an extra pair of pajamas, Lewis's (clean) underwear, and a John Deere hat. I got rid of those, though, and just stuck to the stuffed animals. ;)
• She is still in her 18 month clothes, inching ever so closer to her cache of 24 months.
• Current Tooth Count: STILL 12. She's been gnawing on her finger on one side the past few days, so maybe they're on the move again. Or maybe not! Maybe she'll have 12 teeth forever. ;)

She's pretty darn sweet! (Minus the fussing and demanding for food she'll pull occasionally.)

To the Doctor and Dentist

A few weeks ago, Lewis and I had a little incident with his bedroom door. I was replacing the handle lock, and he was 'helping' me. As I went to close the door and check it, I met a little resistance. I pulled the door a little more, only to hear an enormous scream come out of Lewis' mouth. Without me knowing, he had stuck his index finger in the crack of the hinge side of the door. OUCH! It looked really bad immediately, followed by at least 10 minutes of crying (which is very unusual for Lewis). I called the pediatrician, and they had me bring him in. The doctor looked at it but wasn't sure if it was broken (it was swollen and red/purple). He sent us out to the children's hospital for an x-ray, and I was SO glad to hear that it was not broken. It was back to normal just a few days later. Mother of the Year! :)

This week, he went for his 6-month check-up at the dentist. He did SO much better laying back in the chair this time than last time. He did try to sit up at first, but he calmed down quickly, held my hand, and laid very still for the cleaning. The dentist came to check out his teeth and decided to take x-rays. When they did, they found that one of his front teeth is BROKEN at the root! Yikes! The dentist asked me when it happened, and the only thing I could think of was an incident about 7 months ago (and I only remember the timing because it was close to his last dentist appointment). He pulled one of our dining room chairs back and hit himself in the mouth--I remember his gum being a little bruised, but they didn't seem that concerned at his last visit. The dentist said that we'll just watch it for now since it hasn't changed color (to yellow or gray). It has angled forward very slightly, but the dentist said that it's possible it has re-fused and will be fine. She will check it again in 6 months.

Weekend Part I: The Mini, Big Brother, Great Blue Heron, a Goose Egg, and Swimming

We had a fun-filled weekend, starting with Kevin running the mini on Saturday morning. 

Go, Kevin, go!

He is near the orange cones, just to the left of center of the photo. Dark gray shirt, gray shorts. Right above the guy's head in front of me with the black fleece with white Adidas logo on it.

After he crossed the finish line, Lewis and Grandma and Grandpa T. and I started to head to meet up with Kevin. I looked over and saw a guy from Louisville (Wil Heuser) who was on last summer's Big Brother season (Kevin and I love Big Brother)! I was a total dork and went up and asked to get my picture with him--I wish Kevin could have met him, too. I think I said something like that--like 'Oh, we just loved you--my husband won't believe it.' So now I've met him and the guys from eastern Kentucky who were on the Amazing Race a few seasons ago. 

He looked so fabulous after running 13.1 miles, and I looked like hell after power-walking a mile from the car through drizzle so I didn't miss Kevin crossing the finish line. Oh well! It was fun to meet him. He was very nice and a very fast runner--Kevin looked him up and said he finished like 95th overall! That's crazy talk.

We headed home, had lunch, and then headed up to Bloomington to meet up with my parents for the weekend. We stayed out at the Fourwinds resort on Lake Monroe which was really nice--we've talked about going back in the summer when we could rent a boat, get a tan, swim in the pool, play at the (lake) beach, etc. 

Great Blue Heron

The first night, we tried sitting out on the patio as Kevin was putting Lewis to bed. I noticed a heron out on the dock, looking for its dinner. It was peaceful for a little while, but then Kevin came outside for help--Lewis bumped his head again. 

Quite the goose egg there, buddy.

We've had problems sleeping away from home for quite awhile now--Lew won't stay in the pack 'n' play and won't stay in a bed unless you lay with him until he falls asleep. At the hotel, he was getting up and running around (in the dark) instead of calming down, and he bumped his forehead on the desk. So we iced his head, and Kevin and I both laid down with him. It was pretty frustrating--I think he finally fell asleep at 10pm (normal time is 7:45-8pm) and woke up at 4:30am, kind of sleeping off-and-on until 7:30am. Thankfully he was so tired by the 2nd night (from that and from not napping), he fought sleep less and slept from about 9pm-8am.

Anyway, after breakfast that first morning, we went swimming:

 

 

 

Lewis and Maw (that's what he kept calling her vs. Gramma...just Maw) :)

 

Lewis and Papaw

These next three pictures make me smile--Kevin was disappearing under the water and then jumping out to surprise Lewis.

 

Where's Dada?

 

There he is!

His new floatie worked really well--he was able to figure out how to balance his body so that he could float around on his own some. We went down to the deep end, and I dropped him in from the side a few times--the floatie popped him right back up to the surface. He'd say 'Ageeen!' (again), and he'd climb the ladder and I'd drop him in again. He seemed to enjoy swimming much more than he did the last few times we took him, so maybe we'll give lessons another go around sometime soon.

Part II coming soon.

I Go Away for One Weekend...

And this happens:

Ouch!

Kevin sent me this picture Saturday evening--Lewis missed a step off the porch and landed flat on his face. Sadly, it's only looking worse as it heals. And I'm totally just kidding that it's anywhere near Kevin's fault...life happens, whether I'm here or not. He's conquered those stairs hundreds of times now on his own. He's okay, maybe just looking a bit more badass while his face scabs over and heals. :)

Day Two

Day Three (today)

with Neosporin on it

He has a new game he likes to play at the dinner table or on the changing table. He'll hide his face in a piece of clothing or a tablecloth, in this case. He says 'Lewis Pete!' That is his way of saying 'Where is Lewis Pete?' sort of like peek-a-boo. We say 'Where is he? Where did he go? etc.' until he drops the tablecloth (or clothes) and giggles, like 'Here I am! I was here all along!' It hasn't gotten old for him (or us) yet. 

Lewis Pete! 

There he is!