Dear Chase,
Another two months have passed so it’s time to play catch-up and share what you’ve been up to lately! (In case you’ve missed any my previous letters, you can find them here.) About a week ago you turned 16 months old! It’s crazy how time is flying. Every single day I wake up thinking about how lucky I am to get to spend my days with you!
You’re a busy guy that’s for sure. Here’s how the past couple of months have been:
January
Don’t let the picture fool you. We’ve actually had a very mild winter and as a result, we’ve been able to spend a fair amount of time outside walking the dogs, going to the park, etc. But we did get one big snow and I just had to put you in your new boots and snowsuit. You weren’t a very big fan.
You’re obsessed with food….to put it mildly. You ask to eat pretty much from the time you wake up until you go to bed and you eat more than it seems possible to fit in your tummy. I do my best to give you whole, healthy foods for your meals and snacks. For breakfast you usually eat eggs or oatmeal. Mid-morning you usually snack on a sweet potato bite or a lemon energy ball. Lunch varies but it’s usually a fruit, sweet potato or another veggie, some meat and lots of hummus. You will literally eat anything dipped in hummus. A couple hours after lunch we usually share a smoothie. You learned how to drink out of a straw and that’s been a game changer. Around 4 we go to gym and every day you get a hardboiled egg and a box of raisins when we get there. And then we eat dinner around 7.
You go to bed around 8 most nights and sleep like a champ, usually waking up around 7am. Naps have been hit or miss for the past couple months. Some days you’ll take two. Some days you’ll only take one. You’re not quite ready to drop down to one all the time.
You can throw a tantrum with the best of them…most often related to me refusing to give you a snack 30 minutes after you last ate. This month you got ALL FOUR of your molars at the same time, which made for a rough week or two for all of us.
I’ve taken you to childcare at MOPS a couple times. You’re definitely a mama’s boy so you don’t do well when I’m not around but we’re working on it!
Other notable events this month:
- You got your first haircut. Daddy did it and it went fairly well. I held you in place and fed you raisins.
- Mimi and grandpa came to visit.
- You went to the dentist with Mommy to see what it’s all about.
- You got your first fever. It spiked one night up to 103 degrees but went away in about 24 hours.
You love:
- Cleaning. You have a toy vacuum that you love using. You also love brooms, swiffers, etc.
- Stacking. Blocks, paper towel rolls – you name it.
- Throwing things. Mostly balls, but occasionally books, blocks, etc.
- Anything kitchen related. Both your toy kitchen and stuff in mommy’s kitchen.
- Books. All day every day.
- TV. You’d watch all day if I let you. We watch mostly PBS- you love Curious George, Wild Kratts, Sesame Street, etc but we occasionally watch things like Mickey Mouse as well.
- The gym. You’re at the gym every night with us for a couple of hours. Everyone loves you and you love running around, stealing the remotes, dancing and throwing balls and barbell clips around.
- Baths. Endless entertainment.
February
February 1st you went in for your 15-month appointment. You were 33 1/4 inches long (98th percentile), 26 pounds, 6 ounces (92nd percentile) and your head was 19 1/4 inches (97th percentile).
It’s crazy to look at side-by-side comparisons of this time last year and now. You were so little then and now you’re such a little man. I wrote another Day in the Life post this month to share what our days look like during the week. Food and sleep-wise, things are pretty much the same as last month. Naps are still unpredictable. Some days you take a later morning nap and then skip your afternoon nap. Some days you take two. I try to just go with the flow as best I can and let you dictate when you need to sleep. You’re still wearing mostly 2T tops and 18-24 month pants.
You love:
- Forward rolls- You’ve started doing this at the Little Gym and now you just randomly stop what you’re doing at home, put your head and hands on the floor and your butt in the air and wait for someone to flip you over.
- Climbing on everything- You’ve figured out how to climb and you’re now climbing on EVERYTHING. Stacks of weights at the gym, your toy box, the couch, whatever you can find!
- Feeding yourself- I ordered you some sectioned plates and have been trying really hard to let you start feeding yourself. I still have to watch you closely because you’ll often shove too much food in your mouth at once, but I put your plate on your high chair tray and let you decide what order you want to eat things in. You’ve started trying to scoop things up with a spoon or fork on your own as well, although most of the time you’d rather just have me do the scooping for you.
- The Dishwasher – Nothing makes you happier than when I ask if you want to help me unload the dishwasher. You take everything out piece by piece, stack them up and hand them to me.
- Mimicking- You’re turning into quite the mini Crossfit coach. You love to walk around clapping your hands, yelling at people while they’re wodding. We got you our own barbell and you’ve starting picking it up and doing squats with it!
Notable events this month:
- Your feet grew! We had to get you a new pair of shoes (size 6 instead of size 5).
- You got your second haircut. This time mommy took you to Cookie Cutters. I wasn’t sure how you’d do but for the most part you did pretty well!
- You let grandma and grandpa babysit you a couple times so mommy and daddy could go out with friends.
- Almost words! I’m pretty sure your first words are going to be “Let’s Go!” because you say something VERY close to that when you’re cheering for people at the gym.
You’re the light of our lives, little man. It’s a huge joy to watch you learn and grow every single day!
Mommy loves you!
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Joanna says
What a sweetie! The 2 nap / 1 nap limbo is hard! We’re already going through that with Everly who is only 10 months