17 - 19 months

Alas, months have come and gone with so much as an update, photo...nothing.  I apologize to my loyal readers.  Time spent in my office is a rarity these days.  It is SO not baby proof and despite the piles and boxes of toys I have available for Ty's entertainment, he insists on playing with everything he shouldn't.  The bookshelf of Pampered Chef catalogs, cookbooks, marketing supplies, door prizes, etc is his go-to spot every time.  The bookshelf is now is complete disarray, but at times I let him go if that means I have a few minutes to pay bills or close out a show.  I soon regret this decision as soon as I turn around.  He has emptied drawers in record time, found piles of card stock or photography equipment...and all of this only keeps him occupied for a teeny, tiny amount of time.  As much as I want and need to write, sometimes there just isn't time when you have a toddler!

Ty and I spent most of the month of December getting over a pretty nasty cold.  He has been sick so few times in his life that when he's down, he seems to take us all with him!  His demeanor is so blue, it just breaks my heart to see him sick.  He also contracted his first case of pink eye.  Luckily the morning he woke up with his conjuncti-funk was the same day his 18 month appointment was scheduled, so we have still avoided our first sick baby visit with the pediatrician!  Ty has grown lots in the last 3 months.  Although he didn't gain much weight, 23lbs 14oz this visit (46th percentile), he lengthened out quite a bit.  He is now 31 inches long (9th percentile), which means he grew 1.25 inches in 3 months!  That's huge for our little boy!  Again he has hit all of the 18 month developmental milestones.  Everyday he learns something new and watching him try to be a little person is such an adventure.  He doesn't go back for a check-up until he's TWO.  Oh my goodness...he's going to be TWO.

So, what can  Ty do now?  As usual, he continues to LOVE being read to.  He comments as we read, anticipates page turns and mimics actions that I always do as I read to him.  We seriously read through all of his books everyday...over and over and again.  He makes animals noises on command and when he sees those animals in books or on TV.  He can do the cow, cat, dog, lion, duck, sheep, and sometimes bird.  He doesn't just walk, he runs ALL the time.  He walks backwards very proficiently now too.  He climbs on the couch by himself if you give him a pillow to step on.  He'll get the step stool out of the pantry just to stand up high.  Yeah, there's trips to the ER in our future...  He likes building with his mega blocks and stacking bowls in the kitchen.  I love watching him meticulously stacking his blocks.  Its amazing how much more motor control he has now.  He can sort shapes, with a little help, but the circles and squares he can figure out on his own.  We've been working on colors everyday, and although I'm pretty sure he has no idea which is which, he can say the color blue.  He brings me his coloring book and crayons all the time, but he more or less empties the crayons from the box while I color a picture.  He drives cars and trucks around and makes sounds as he does so.  How does he know to do that?!?  He is so good at playing independently.  His language skills have probably been the biggest improvement the past couple of months.  On his own he still mumbles and babbles the majority of the time, but if prompted or asked to repeat certain words, he can do so!  He probably has 10-15 words in his vocabulary.  He can also say CiCi now (my mom)!  We're still signing everyday too.  That's still a form of communication and I'm happy with that!

For about a month Ty seemed to have become a more picky eater.  That was no fun.  I hate fighting with him to eat.  He loves breakfast, I never have to ask him to eat in the mornings.  Probably because he picks at his dinner, he's starving when he wakes up!  He will eat for Cooter though.  Not without tears most nights, but Daddy must mean business more than Mommy.  He gags when he thinks he done eating, even if its food that doesn't require being chewed.  Its very frustrating.  Most of it gets worse with teething.  He cut two bottom molars in November and when they popped through he started eating again.  Then when he got sick we went back to the whole, "take one more bite, please" bit.  I know this is just the beginning of this phase, but this too shall pass.  After cutting one more tooth (11 total now!), eating is pretty much back to normal.  Ty's newest fun food for him is apples.  I cut the peel off and give him the whole slice.  He thinks its super fun because I eat them too and I think he believes its some kind of chip because it crunches when he eats it.  He always asks for more!

In an effort to actually get this posted, I am once again posted without any new pictures.  I honestly have not unloaded my camera since Thanksgiving (what is wrong with me?!?).  When I finally get some serious work done in my office, I will get to the pics and do a photo dump post of the last few months.  For those who haven't seen our little man recently, he's grown up SO much since his birthday!  He's such the toddler now!