16 Months Cub

My little boy is such a toddler these days. 16 months old and he's turning into a whole new kid. He runs around the house with his drum sticks, banging on the walls and climbing anything we'll let him. His legs seems to have grown overnight, and when I look at him sitting in his car seat, i wonder how he got so tall!

His vocab is increasing too. Now, whenever he sees Cuddles he says "bad cat!" Yea, ok, so I taught him that, but in my defense, she is usually being annoying or scratching at something she shouldn't be. He'll also says "cracker" when he wants his goldfish or a cookie, splish splash when it's time for a bath and a few others. Here's the full list:

Dada

Mama

Yia Yia

Bappa (Bapou)

What's this/that

Cracker

Splish Splash

Bye

Hi

Waa waa (water)

Baba (bottle)

Bubba (bubbles)

Ba Ca (Bad Cat, ie Cuddles)

WOW

Uh oh

Bless (whenever someone sneezes or coughs)

Eye (while sticking his finger in my eye)

Da (yes-when he's doing his German accent)

Aye (yes- when he's doing his Irish accent)

I love how he points his tiny little finger at everything. He is still asking us "what's this" or "what's that" a thousand times a day. He knows the correct sounds for dog, cat, duck, lion, monkey, cookie monster and his newest one, a dinosaur. He also knows where to point when you ask him where his nose, teeth, eye and belly button are. We are currently working on ears and head.

With all these exciting new developments, there are also some bad habits that have shown up. In a word, crankypants. Hmmm, maybe that's two words, but never the less, Dom sure can be moody when he wants to be. He will throw his toys, push me away, make his body turn to jello and just kind of melt down. He had this fave he makes if he's mad and it's really the cutest thing ever. He furrows his browns and really makes a scowl on his face. There is no misunderstanding how he's feeling at that moment.

He's also figured out that he's pretty hilarious. If you ask him to make a funny face, he'll do this weird (and hilarious) thing where he sticks out his arms, makes them very tense and then shakes them while freezing. When I laugh he throws his head back and laughs too. He's finding new ways to express his emotions, which is good. But along with that comes more meltdowns, more struggles with just getting his pj's on sometimes and more work for Mommy.

It's kind of amazing how much more tiring it has been this past month. Now that he is fully mobile and wants to be in everything, there is no rest unless he's napping or in bed for the night. I love his curiosity and really let him try to explore as much as possible, as long as he's not in danger. He's figured out how to pull himself up into the couch and he is so proud of himself for that. He also likes the climb on the arms which could result in him falling off, so it's eagle eyes at all times. I do love how he knows how to get down though, always feet first and slides down to the floor. He loves to turn his chair upside down and find new ways of sitting or standing it. Pretty creative huh?

Monday was Dom's first time using a spoon all by himself. I was really dreading the mess it was going to make while he figured out how to get it into his mouth without spilling it. But guess what? I showed him once and he totally got it! There was very little applesauce on the floor and mostly ended up in his mouth. He loved being a big boy and feeding himself and it kept him entertained for about 20 mins! The next night we took a shot at jello and then introduced him to a fork. He stabbed at his turkey dogs and chicken and was able to get a couple on there. When he would get frustrated he'd just pick up a piece and stick it on the fork, or straight into his mouth.

Teething is still part of our life. He's got four on top and four on bottom now and his back molars are starting to come in. I have to say, he's been pretty great so far. Not too much fussing or crying. Now that he has some chompers, he loves, loves, loves to brush them. It just might be one of his favorite things to do right now.

Music is still the one thing that can stop Dom in his tracks. He loves when the various bands play on "Yo Gabba Gabba" and now will dance in the living room or in his car seat. He has figured out how to spin in a circle and it's pretty funny to watch him get dizzy and then try again.

I'm happy to say he's totally adjusted to daycare. He was pretty much there, but he was still crying when I would drop him off in the morning. For the past 2-3 weeks there have been no tears at all. It's the best feeling be able to drop off a happy baby in the morning!

He's still sleeping through the night with a typical schedule of bed at 7pm and waking up at 6:30am. I never thought I'd be getting up so early every single day, but it just seems so normal now. Even when I'm really tired and am wishing for five more minutes, as soon as I see his face, I don't even care that he woke up early at 5:30am and peed through his diaper. I'm instantly awake and ready to take of my Cub. Funny how being a Mom just kind of takes over:)