Here's an example of your 17 month old schedule:
9am- Wake up. (We are so thankful for this recent blessing!) Sippy cup of milk, breakfast
10am-Play, play, play. We read lots of books, play with your train, redecorate the Christmas tree, read more books, play chase, you climb all over me, get told "no no" 500 times at least, and look forward to lunch.
12pm- (or there about) Lunch. I dread lunchtime. Breakfast is easy because you'll eat bread, pancakes, cereal, etc. Lunch is different. I have no clue what to feed you. Sometimes you eat well; sometimes you eat hardly anything. You seem to love bananas these days, even with peanut butter sometimes. You're really fond of yogurt and any kind of chip or cracker. Besides that, it's anyone's guess! (Oh...and you hate veggies now) *Sigh*
1:45pm--Naptime. On the dot. Today you brought your blankie to me and laid your head on my legs to tell me it was time to nap. We rock in your room for 10 minutes or so and you fall asleep and usually go straight to your crib without problems. Mommy usually gets on the computer or showers at this time.
3:30--You wake up in a great mood, ready for another sippie of milk or juice and a snack. We play and play some more!
5pm--The bewitching hour has begun. It seems at 5pm you get really clingy and whiney. It's been this way for a long time! We just pray Daddy doesn't have a long meeting on this night!
6pm--Dinner. Whatever we can force down your throat. If there's bread on the table, that's all you want.
7pm--Bathtime with Daddy while Mommy cleans the kitchen.
8pm--PJs and playtime before bed. Sometimes a snack if you spot the banana on the counter!
8:45pm--We rock for about 10 minutes and put you in your crib awake. You go straight to sleep without a problem 90% of the time.
9pm--Mommy crashes on the couch, throwing caution to the wind about housework. It will be there in the morning!
You are a BUSY, BUSY boy! We get that comment about you whenever we're in public! You must be quite the looker as well, because people always go out of their way to come over and compliment on how beautiful you are! We love it! Your blue eyes never cease to gather comments from stangers. The ladies will love that when you're older. (I don't like the thought of that now that I've said it...) ;)
With age comes personality, and with personality comes stubborness and determination to get your way! You little booger. You'll go up and grab something that's a "no no" and say, "Na, na, na" as you bring the item to me. Or if you see a dot of milk somewhere you'll smear your finger all through it saying, "Na, na, na." You do the same thing with the fireplace and test us to see if we're watching and will follow through on disciplining you. A lot of times when you're doing something you shouldn't, you'll look at us and smile mischeviously. I so desperately want to laugh sometimes! We try to always follow through, but you're one stubborn cookie! Unforunately, you've bitten me several times. I was praying I wouldn't have to deal with this issue with you! You haven't bitten anyone else and you only have tried to bite me when you're mad or playing with my hand. Needless to say, we're cautious of our hands around you now! Of course you can throw some mini-tantrums at times. I've definitely seen worse, but you've got a little temper on you!
Someone suggested time out, but I'm not sure if that will work at this age. I've read several doctors/psychologists say it doesn't, but we might give it a whirl and see. You hate being confined so time out might be the trick for you. It certainly doesn't phase you to get your hand or leg spatted!
Overall though, you're one happy little dude! You spend the majority of your day laughing and playing like no one's business. You love all things "non toy," especially toiletry items. You still love your vacuum and use it more now that I broke down and put new batteries in it.
You understand so much and say so little. :) That's okay though because I know you're going to explode with language one month and knock our socks off. You try to say "touchdown" and throw your arms up. You imitate a dog, but it doesn't sound like "woof woof!" You say, "Ho ho ho!" when we talk about Santa Claus. I love it!
You sometimes understand more complex sentences. (Ex: Go get your milk and get in your chair.) You take things to different people, as instructed. You love putting on and taking off shoes and taking off socks. You can point to lots of different animals and objects in books, but you don't care to repeat their names or sounds unless you really want to.
We're trying to teach you to move your feet to be able to ride your ride-on toys, but you'd much rather us push you. You're ALMOST able to climb up on the couch by yourself and you're this close to being able to reach the door knobs. Ah oh!
Mainly, you are just SO much fun. You make me laugh 'til I can't breathe sometimes and you are always pushing me to be more creative in finding ways to entertain you! We are really looking forward to this Christmas season with you since you were so little last year. I am really looking forward in years to come about teaching you the true meaning of Christmas, of sharing God's love for us with you. Isn't that my main purpose as a parent? What a responsibility, yet a joy to do!
We love you, Drew dude! Don't grow up too fast. We're having way too much fun!
Love,
Mommy (& Daddy, too)
3 comments:
sweet post!! don't they just grow sooo fast?!! its mind blowing!
Jack is so difficult when it comes to eating meals too. he's so picky. he won't eat veggies. so i've started giving him one of 3 things to get the veggies in his little body:
1. gerber carrot & apple juice. its a combo juice & you can find it in on the baby aisle. its like $2 or $3 a bottle. so its not the cheapest, but Jack loves it.
2. v8 fusion. the fruit/veggie drink. i buy the strawberry banana flavor & jack loves it! i do cut it with juice. but its a full serving of fruits & veggies with every 8 oz they drink. so i try to get that in Jack if i can. its usually not very hard.
3. stonyfield yogurt makes those 3 in 1 yogurt meals. i can only find them at walmart (which i hate) & walmart only sells one kind. the pear/green bean flavor. sounds terribly gross, i know it, but Jack loves it.
hope this helps. i am considering trying another option, but i just don't know if i have the time. have you heard of Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook called Deceptively Delicious? well its a bunch of recipes that teach you how to hide veggies in all kinds of foods. like a cauliflower chicken nugget. supposedly it tastes great & kids don't know the difference. you puree & freeze a ton of veggies & then hide them in different foods. i would love to do this but i don't know how realistic it is for me considering i'm about to have another baby.
anyways, merry christmas! drew is a cutie!
LOL.....you could have written that about Jessica!!! Well, except the food part....if you give her any kind of dip (yogurt, ketchup, b-que sauce, etc) she will dip her veggies, fruit, crackers, etc in it! Oh and on the time-out thing...Jessica does NOT respond at all to swats BUT time-out is the most AWESOME thing in the world...if you do it right! If you decide to give it a whirl, ask me exactly what we did with Jessica. We started time-out at 12 months when she got into the fireplace (sound familiar?) and to this day she doesn't get in it anymore (and trust me...I bet she is every bit as stubborn as Drew)!!!!
Audrey--What great suggestions! How could I not have thought of using juice as a means of getting in the fruits/veggies. Genius! Thank you!
Amy--I'd love to hear your time out advice! I'll take whatever I can get!
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