Diet: He eats what we eat, however he is starting to be a little more picky. There aren’t many vegetables that he will eat now, and he is not real big on meat except fish. Carbs are still his favorite. The squeeze pouches are like crack to him. He goes NUTS when I pull one of them out. Most days this is how he gets his veggies…He will always eat oatmeal and bananas. We gave him peanut butter for the first time after he turned 13 months, and he was in love. I think the teething has gotten in the way of his appetite, but I have also read that their hunger evens out as a toddler. Things are definitely interesting because one day he will eat something, and then the next day we will eat the same meal and he won’t have anything to do with it.

Clothes:  He is safely in 12-18 months. He does still wear a lot of 12 month clothes. He is still in size 4 diapers, and we just recently moved into size 4 shoes. We are trying to wear shoes everywhere since George is wanting to walk everywhere. We even walk from the car to the babysitter’s…very slowly.

Sleeping:  For the most part, he is sleeping from 7:30/8pm until 5am, give or take some minutes. These past two months have been a little rough if I am going to be honest though. Seriously these two teeth are the worst. We have had many more days than I am ok with that George wakes up at 4 am. I think he is also starting to protest the second nap, so we may be pulling that soon. We have serious issues when we travel. He doesn’t like sleeping in new environments, so it takes us a lot of work to get him to sleep when we aren’t home. He sleeps on me a lot when we are traveling.

Likes: He loves to make noise. He will bang anything on the floor. He loves our racquetball racket. He is usually carrying it around the house at all times. He has started to climb, so he wants to get to the highest point possible whenever he can. He likes the dog food and is always trying to sneak it before we can put the bowls up on the counter. He loves to sweep. He gets somad when we try to take the broom away from him. He is more reactive to music, and he even dances now. He likes to sleep in our bed. He really enjoys taking every toy out of it’s crate or box. It’s a toy minefield in our house. He loves to play “up down”, which is going up and down stairs or over floor ledges. This would be great if he actually could do it by himself safely. Usually we are holding on to him when he is on the stairs. He also really likes to get in all the kitchen cabinets and pull everything out. He is also fond of putting his hand in the toliet. I never thought I would have to say, “George, don’t chew on the toliet seat.”

Dislikes: He does not like it when I leave him alone. He has started his separation anxiety and screams when we leave. He does not like to be told what to do. Car rides are not his favorite, although I have found the trick of just giving him all the pacys. He does NOT like to sit still. I cannot take pictures of him by myself anymore, which is a sad sad thing.

Milestones: He is trying to run, which is the best thing to watch ever. There is a hop step that happens as he waddles trying to catch himself when he goes faster than he realizes he body can. He dances now which is so cute. He has started talking. This happened the day of his 12 month appointment when the doctor said she was concerned he hadn’t said anything yet. He said “mama” that night just to prove her wrong. His words are “mama, dada, woof, and dah (dog). He points (he points with his middle finger sometimes…). He shakes his head no. He is much more consistent on waving goodbye. He throws things. He thinks everything is a ball. He makes faces now, and we can definitely see his personality coming through. He is generally a happy guy who loves to explore and be around us.

Quirks: He is really shy now, even around people he knows. He will run to us and hug our legs and burrow his head in our knees.

We parents are:  Things have been busy. Tom has been on the worst shift this past month with hardly any weekends off so we have hardly seen him. I am excited that he is off this weekend, and we have no plans except to stuff our face with Halloween candy.

The dogs are: doing wonderfully. George pets the dogs now. He just lights up when he sees them (except when they lick his face). I am not surprised one of his first words was dog. He also gives them hugs on their back. He lays his head on their back and pats them. He is only not gentle on their face. He grabs and pinches their jowls. He also loves to play fetch with their toys. And luckily the dogs are really gentle when George takes them back away to play the game. Watching their relationship is so enduring.

Look how much Gdubs has grown! Look at his legs!

We are having such a great time discovering what it means to be a family of 3 (5 including the dogs). We are loving seeing George’s personality develop even more every day into a sweet little man.

How in the world do we have a toddler?