21

Avy baby is getting old. 21 months. I know that's young, but seriously in the past month his development has been so rapid, I no longer look at him as a baby but as a full grown toddler! I'm not one to make wishes that my baby would just slow down for a second, because to be totally honest, I'm in love with watching him change. 

I was always so mesmerized when he was a newborn of all the "firsts" that he was experiencing that as an adult, or even an expectant mom, you don't think twice about: the first time outside of the womb, seeing and feeling the bright lights around him, the intensity of noises around him, being held, nursing, getting his diaper changed, crying... Really, the simplest of things. And I would think to myself "These little things are such grand exposures; no wonder babies sleep all the time, this world is far more complicated and overwhelming than the one he just hibernated in for nine months."

Now a days the "firsts" are a lot bigger and monumental, ones that you know to expect from all the baby books (or child development classes I took). And the first are happening so rapidly that it's hard to keep track. I totally get that "Cherish these moments because they'll be off to college in a blink of an eye" lecture from all of my elders. Regardless, I really look forward to each new day and the new discovery it will unfold in Avett's eyes.

These are the big boy's developmental changes over the past month:

- wears size 18 month clothing (no more 12 month stuff) and size 4 diapers

- feeds himself using a fork and spoon. He uses both hands interchangeably and really hates to get his hands dirty/use finger food. Feeding himself with silverware was a really key turning point to improving Avett's "picky eater" tendencies (knock on wood).

- goes to the kitchen and points to whatever cupboard (or the fridge) he wants to get into. Also, loves closing drawers, cupboards and the fridge door.

- just recently (so 21+ months) has fallen in love with closing the door and "locking" you out. Depending on the handle, he can sometimes manage to get the door back open on his own

- asks to get his teeth brushed (when he thinks of it). If I ask him if he wants to brush his teeth; however, it's a firm no. But if I go straight to brushing my teeth in front of him, he wants all in on the game as well!

- he climbs up his step stool and holds onto the sink all by himself!!! And to my big surprise, all of a sudden learned how to get back down cautiously as well!

- he enjoys climbing into mommy and daddy's bed and crawling all around it. The kid is a champ at getting on and off furniture. On rare occasions where Avett is having a mega crying fit and I can't get him to back to sleep and I have to work in the morning, he sleeps with me. I tuck some skinny little pillows under the grab sheet on the right side of the bed and I lay on the left edge. Like literally on the wooden frame and give him the whole middle with the sheets and blankets pulled back and just a corner of my pillow under my head and the rest of the pillow off the bed. I sleep terribly on nights when he shares my bed because I'm paranoid, but I do manage to get a few winks in.

- Avett enjoys bathtine once again. He will play in the water till his lips are blue, his fingers are pruned, and he's shivering. And then he'll scream when you try to take him out because he was having too much fun to notice the cold!

- he hates getting his diaper changed. He does not like having to stay put. 

- I attempted to do some potty training at the start of January. With the holidays, I had a long weekend and thought we'd give it a go. He has definitely been showing awareness of when he wets his diaper. He grabs hold of his diaper, or on a rare occasion, will lead you to the door to go up to his room and get changed. The problem is that he isn't aware ahead of time. And doesn't have the means to communicate the need for a potty chair. The potty training attempt was marked by having Avett walk around half naked and putting him on the potty chair every 15-20 minutes and Avett screaming every time. There was one pee on the kitchen floor and one pee that landed on the kitchen shelf that used to house our recipe box. Oy.

- Avetts language is exploding, though I know a great deal of it is only intelligible to us. He signs please (cutest ever). He says "water" (wah), "more", "car" (cah), "truck", "mater" (may), "Ramone" (moan), "Doc" (dah), mom, dad, nana, papa, all done, all gone, no, yes, down, stay, fish, brush, ball, hot, cold and bye bye. He is starting to put phrases together "go mom car" "mom car" "mommom and dada" etc. There's probably more to each but that's all I can think of in the moment.

- this baby loves animal noises. Can't say any of the animals names, but gets his point across by repeating animal sounds: woof woof, meow, neigh, bahh, moo, cluck, quack, roar, ssss (snake), ooh-ooh aah-aah, and an elephant noise

- he whispers and blows on hot food

Oh and if Avett is getting old then so are the rest of us. Aaron turned 30 today. Being that it's the middle of the week, he obviously had to work. And given our opposite work schedules, we haven't seen each other much. But he did get to open his present before I left this morning - a Bluetooth speaker. And some mint ice cream (really a present for myself)