Such a Cutie

I am writing about this because I never want to forget it.

You know that James is obsessed with cleaning the floor.  We gave him the Swiffer (and bought a new one for ourselves, which, of course, he wants) and keep it short for him.  I attached a dishtowel to it, so that it's always at the ready.

It has become really handy now that he's learned to tip his straw cups upside down.  When he does, I take away the cup and tell him to clean up his mess.  He grabs his Swiffer and goes to it.

Well, tonight he had chicken noodle soup for supper, but didn't finish it.  Evidently I left the unfinished soup too near the edge of the table, for after I got James down from his chair, and turned my back to clean his bib, he grabbed the soup and took it down.  Broth splashed all over the chair I'd been sitting in and on the floor.  I got the soup away from him and started mopping up the chair's seating pad.  James said, "broom," and grabbed his Swiffer.  I said, "Oh, are you going to clean up your mess?"  He didn't start cleaning the puddle on the floor.  He popped the Swiffer right up into the seat.  

It was so cute.  He was really trying to help!

Moo

So, James is still nursing.  Not much, though.  Just before naptime and bedtime and sometimes in the morning.  He had gotten really uninterested in it a couple of months ago, but just as I was certain that he was weaning himself, he suddenly started showing enthusiastic interest.  As in putting his hand down my shirt at bedtime.  Nice.  He's also unzipped my hoodie a few times!

 

However, he's doing really well drinking cow's milk from a cup.  He has sippy cups and straw cups.  He drinks well from both.  He's more independent with the straw cups, but he's also learned how to turn them upside down to make "fun" puddles to play with (a sure way to lose your beverage, Mister).  The sippy cups have spill-proof valves (yea!), but are also a bit trickier for him to maneuver on his own.

The best thing is that I haven't really used the pump since sometime around the holidays.  YIPPEE!!!  I mean, it is an incredible piece of equipment, and I'm so glad I had it, but I am SO GLAD to be done using it.  If I'm not around at the times he'd normally nurse, James is fine with cow's milk.  So no more feeling like a dairy cow for Mommy!

Today I'm finally getting around to sterilizing all the pump stuff to store.  Obviously I'll give it another boil when the time comes (hopefully) for James to have a sibling.  

15 Month Check Up

James had his 15 month well visit today. His doctor was so impressed with his language. As we waited in the lobby, he was chatting away-- "Hi" to the receptionist, "Baby" at the photos hanging up-- and then I heard, "Is that James talking?" and out came the doctor who was so proud! During his exam she asked how many words he has. I told her it was between 20 and 30 the last time we tallied (which was a few weeks and many words ago), and she was amazed. She says she's happy if they have THREE at this age!!! She said he's even beyond 18 months!

She was also impressed with his strength (he was moving the furniture around in the exam room) and mobility. She also acknowledged that his constant motion contributes to his weight (or lack thereof). He's up to 20 pounds now which is only the 3rd-5th percentile, but she said that gaining 1 pound between 12 and 15 months is what she expects, and that's what he did. Yea!

He measured 30.5 inches in length, although that's under dispute from me. By my observation, the line at his head was drawn too low (of course, it didn't help that he was a bit of a Wiggle Worm). Anyway, the reported length puts him around 35-40%.

His head is 45% at 18.5 inches.

We discussed his screaming at night, and she confirmed our suspicions that it's Night Terrors. Lovely. Basically, it is like sleep walking; he isn't really awake or aware. Well, that's annoying, isn't it? Dan & I are exhausted (and cranky), and James is Mr. Oblivious. (We feel really bad because we have a nice neighbor upstairs whom we don't want to torture with James's screams.) Supposedly, keeping him on a good routine during the day will help.

He got two vaccines and was a champ for each. A few tears when each happened, but by the time we walked out, he was all smiles and running down the hallway.

Barber Daddy

We celebrated James's 15 month day by cutting his hair.  No trip to the salon this time.  Daddy took the clippers to him.  Plan A was to use the high chair, but the back of the seat is too tall to be able to get to all of his hair, so we ended up putting him in his booster chair.  

It worked pretty well.  He was really angry about getting into the chair, but once he was in, he was fine.  He was not fussing at all during the haircut.  Rather, he kept trying to turn around to see what Daddy was doing with the noisy clippers.  Of course, this didn't make things very easy for cutting his hair...

The haircut turned out pretty well.  Dan said he'll do even better next time!

Working the Lines

"Pardon me, do you mind if I put you on hold?"
"Ha, ha!  You'll never believe what this guy just said to me on the phone!"
"Let's see...I need to get back to that caller on line one..."
"What?  I'm kind of busy... I'm on the phone."

James loves phones.  He also loves remote controls which he thinks are phones.

Last night, Dan brought up an old phone from the basement to be James's phone.  He LOVES it.  He's played with it for long stretches of time, and has also employed its cord for use as a pull toy (which has frustrated him a bit since the phone has little rubber pads to keep it from gliding so easily).

Today between his lunch and nap, he "talked" to Daddy on the phone.  He held the receiver and said, "Daddy, Daddy."  So cute!

Snow Day

Today there is a Nor-easter sweeping up the east coast closing schools and creating excitement for meteorologists.  There were flurries throughout the day yesterday, but we awoke this morning (three cheers for James sleeping ALL night!) to snow on the ground and falling from the sky.  It stopped for a few hours (helpful for the morning commuters like Daddy), but basically has been falling all day.

James and I went out for a bit of playing before lunch.  After a brief period of uncertainty, he really enjoyed it.  He liked watching me pat it, especially if I said, "Pat, pat, pat," and seemed quite amazed at how it collapsed under his hands and feet.  You could see him reach out to touch it and then be surprised when his hand smooshed it down.  He was actually laughing with delight as he ran around the deck, in and out of the snow.