Hi baby boy! You are 18 months old!!! I don't know how it happened so fast- the days are flying by! You are SO much fun and getting to be such a trouble maker ;)
I think one of my favorite things about you right now is your curly hair. It is getting really long and after a bath, it is down to your shoulders, but it quickly curls up as it dries and i get SO many comments on it because it is just too cute. i feel like it is almost time for your first hair cut, but we just can't bring ourselves to do it yet! pair that with your baby blues and oooh man we are all in trouble. and you're the baby of the family, so you pretty much get away with everything ha.
you have started hitting and kicking... while nursing, if someone gets close, you whack em and you laugh and laugh. if no one is close, you hit mama. and i say no, but you just giggle and then do it again five mins later. and if your siblings take something from you, you scream and hit. you are quickly learning how to manipulate your siblings and we will have to work on not giving in to your tantrums ;)
you are a pretty good eater- you like most foods! but you have a sweet tooth for sure. you know where the candy drawer is now and you open it and get up on your tippy toes and grab out candy. we have started using a rubber band to "baby proof" it a bit and you get so mad. you cry and cry if we tell you no candy ha. it is my fault for always sharing my ice cream with you ;) you love meat the most i think and always eat well when it is meat! you really love cheese and will ask for it- you go up to the fridge and say "cheeeeese" and i almost always give you some haha. you love cereal and go grab it yourself if someone leaves the pantry door open. we freeze dried some blueberries and had them in the dehydrater in the laundry room (where you sleep) and you would point and beg for blueberries every time we were in there. in the middle of the night after nursing even haha. now they're safely in the fridge, so you've stopped begging every time we go in there, but you still ask a few times a week- that is how much you loved them! haha.
you are also obsessed with AQUA. you ask for it constantly! and you want your own cup. you do great with a water bottle with a straw! but you really want it in an open cup and then of course you spill everywhere. we got these cute silicone cups with silicone straws and lids and they worked awesome for a while, but now you death squeeze them to pop the lid off and then spill everywhere haha. oh well, i guess you'll learn quickly and we will be thankful to be done with the sippy cups!
We have been trying "elimination communication" for a long time now and for a while you were doing so great. Lately, it hasn't been that great haha. The other day, I took off your diaper and let you run around pantsless for a while hoping that you'd tell me when you had to go (we had just tried over the sink and you did not want to). but nope, you just peed on the table twice while playing play-doh with your siblings. you didn't even stop playing while going or acknowledge that you'd made a big mess- just kept going... i was irritated. like you clearly are in the habit of peeing whenever your bladder is a bit full in your diaper. so, i think we will tackle that come spring time when i can leave you pantsless outside ;) but you probably poop over the sink 50% of the time. you hate the tiny potty we got for you. whenever i leave it sitting on the ground for you, you bring it to me all annoyed saying "uh uh uh uh uh uh" until I put it away. haha. sometimes, you'll grab your diaper area and say something like "potty" or "poo poo" and you have gone when i take you! and that always feels so so good like YES we are going to be fully poop potty trained before 2! I actually got rid of the cloth diapers a few weeks ago because we just don't use them. our diaper sprayer broke so when you poop and it gets all mashed into your diaper, it is SO hard to clean them and i have to go do it outside with a hose and it is freezing and blah blah blah. so we got rid of the cloth and are now exclusively disposable diapering you, which i don't love becuase it is expensive and bad for the environment. so we are going to push for potty trained before 2- let's goooo!
you are still sleeping in your pack'n'play in the laundry room. it is so cozy warm in there, which is awesome because we have had the heater guy out 4x now and it is still 60 degrees in the house this morning grrrr. and also brrrrr. you have become very attached to your blanket- the little blue and white cloud one- and you always hold it when you cry for me to get you up and you even ask for it sometimes- so cute! but grandma sandee got you another sweet blanket with your name all over it for Christmas and you are quickly wanting BOTH blankets haha. just like June.
You LOVE your siblings. you are really starting to play with them! you copy everything they do and you engage with them and talk with them and try hard to be included. you love to color when they're coloring, you play "baby" with them and feed Ellie's baby dolls. you jump on the rebounder. you play hide and seek and tag and all sorts of physical games iwth them. as i type this, zeke and ellie are deep in pretend play with duplo legos and you are right there next to them just vrooming some legos up and down the coffee table thinking you are playing with them haha. you love to give them goodnight hugs and kisses. and i think you just love the pace of a big family and all the FUN and crazy and busy that it comes with. and you are determined to keep up!
you are starting to say all sorts of things! some favorites are "mi" for milk while tugging at my collar, "bu" for book, mama, dada, "teee" for teeth, "h" for hot while making a fanning motion, "mow" for kitty, num num for food, aqua for water, up, "ba' for bath, "boo" for boots while pointing... actually you do a ton of communicating through pointing and saying "uh uh uh" haha. i have heard that last children tend to be slow talkers because they have big siblings to do the talking for them. we will see i guess!
you are crazy about BALLS! you enjoy cars and dinosaurs and such, but you by far love any sort of ball the most of all the toys! you love to golf! you will find anything that resembles a stick- even if it is way taller than you- and hit anything resembling a ball. so cute! i have lots of videos. Ita got you a tiny little plastic toddler golf set for Christmas and you've been loving it! dad has high hopes for you! you also love to kick balls, throw balls, and make baskets with balls in the little bball hoop tia jess got you. i am excited to see where this little passion takes you! zeke has always been all about cars and dinos, so this is a new boy mom thing for me and i can't wait!
some other favorites of yours- the kitty! you love her and follow her, but she won't let you anywhere near her ha. you love to color and are actually quite impressive at it! you focus pretty well for an 18 month old. it is irritating though because markers inevitably lose their lids and end up on your face, but you break crayons. so... just pushing through this destructive age ;) you love tv haha. you're not even 2 and we are totally giving you tv time on the daily, which is not ideal for your brain development, but boy do we need the time with 5 crazy kiddos. i usually do tv time while trying to get dinner made- lately, it has been all wild kratts all the time, so at least it is educational ;) you love to snuggle with daddy while he looks at his phone in bed ha. i hate that he does that with you, but you snuggle in and i can understand why he does it- you don't slow down at all anymore besides that time. and i get the nursing snuggles- especially at night. you love snacks and are getting quite picky about what foods you want. you love the chex cereal and often bring me the bag asking for some. and you ask for cheese every day pretty much haha. "cheeee". and you certainly know what cookies and ice cream, etc. are and will loudly ask for some haha.
You didn't like Ita for the longest time. she had to work hard to win you over. we think it was because every time she came around, she would swoop you up and take you upstairs and you didn't want to be away from mama, so you stopped trusting her. she'd come downstairs and you would scream and walk backwards away from her haha. she had to come down and just sit and play down here showing you that she wasn't scary. but now you are all about climbing the stairs and love to go up to her for a bit in the evenings. it reminds me of zeke at this age going up and spending time with abuelo every evening- bittersweet for sure. He would have loved you so so much- he loved this age too and i am sad we don't get to experience that precious relationship. but at least you love Ita now!
You are still in 18 month clothing! a bit smaller than your siblings. we just bumped you into size 2t jams, but they are big on you and i have to keep fixing your feet back into the feet spots ha. we only had 2 pairs of 18 month jams and we made it work! i just got you dressed every day, but now that you're in 2t, you rock the jams all day every day ;) cuz why get you dressed when it is so cozy in your warm jams!
you are starting to be a pretty good sleeper! you are finally starting to sleep through the night.. i think. i finally ditched the baby monitor after you started crying out just once and then going back to sleep several times a night. and now i am peacefully sleeping through the night ha. i for sure hear you when you are screaming, so i feel good about it. you go down around 7:30 and usually wake up for a dream feed sometime before 11 and then you'll wake up anywhere from 7-8! sooo nice having a baby sleep in. i guess i used to put your siblings down by 6pm and then they were up at 6am, so you're not doing anything special by sleeping 12 hours, but it just makes sense to put you down a bit later because that is when your siblings are going to bed and they're so loud and keeping me busy that i don't get any rest til they go down anyway. dad and i have started sleeping in til 7 too and man is it nice after years and years of bad sleep with pregnancy and nursing babies. so thank you, little Zak!
you have really enjoyed playing in the car and i enjoy it too because it keeps you pretty busy. you'll sit in the front seat for like an hour and i can just pop my head out and make sure you're still there while getting some cleaning done. BUT lately it has been way too cold, so we haven't been doing that much and when it is warm and dry enough to head outside, you have been more interested in exploring the yard or the trampoline, etc. also, we are getting a new van pretty soon and no way i'll be letting you explore unattended in there, so those days are likely over, but wanted to document them because it was pretty sweet!
you're still nursing several times a day...maybe 6? you always have a big nurse first thing when you wake up. and then you usually nurse once in the morning, usually for comfort, and then you'll nurse again after nap time. usually once more in the afternoon for comfort and then before bed and then a dream feed. i cherish my time breastfeeding my babies and really hope you'll continue until 3 years old like Zeke and June did! but i am really nervous because I am heading to CA for a cousin's wedding in March for 3 nights and I've never left you before... you don't take a bottle and i'm just leaving you cold turkey ha. i am pretty anxious about it actually! i am praying that you'll just pick up nursing again when i get home from that!!! you love to point to my teeth and beep my nose and play peek a boo with your blanket while nursing. you're so stinkin' precious during those quiet still moments. i just love that time with you!! and i think the dream feed is my favorite when you're half asleep and all warm and it is just us. i usually play a game on my phone and just feel you and enjoy it. i will never wish away the dream feed. but i know you'll drop it soon enough on your own as you start to eat more.
You are getting so much better at going into the nursery at church and BSF lately. You have hated it so much for a while and screamed when i left you- to the point of flailing. you always calmed down pretty quick, but it was still hard. or at church they'd say that you'd be fine for a while and then get upset and go looking for me and then calm down again. rough! but the other week at BSF, you actually leaned into the arms of the caretaker (Tiffany) like you knew who she was and liked her and were ready for fun. we both were like, "Whaaaaat!" so I am hopeful that you'll love it soon!
anyway, there is a little snapshot of who you are at 18 months old. you are SO FUN, SO PRECIOUS and just my favorite little baby ever. you are my sweet son and i love you more than i can express in words. you are such a gift from God to me. and to our family. we would not be the same without you- none of us. you bring so much joy and laugher and delight to our family. I love you, Zakeus Allen Espididion Gonzalez. stay my baby forever and ever <3 <3 <3
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment