17 months

Time is flying by. Connor has transitioned to the walker room at daycare and seem to be a little overwhelmed by the room and all the kids. He is by far the youngest in the room and the smallest and while he doesn’t cry when I leave he just has wide saucer eyes and walks around staring at everything and everyone. He was never much of a paci or lovie fan, just using them in the crib and naps and bedtime. That has definitely changed. He takes the paci and lovie (favorite is the white one) out of his crib each morning and carries them around with him. He takes them in the car and to daycare. He is allowed to sit with the lovie in the morning but at some point during the day they put the blanket in his cubby. The minute I pick him up he starts requesting the lovie back and cuddles up with it. 

He is now using a spoon and fork to eat and seems to be able to get food in his mouth this way most of the time. He ends up giving up towards the end and using his hands but they have been working with him in the new room at daycare and he seems to be picking it up well. 

Words – this month he added book, shoe, nose – letting us know when he needs it wiped (he loves baby wipes) & poop – letting us know when he needs to be changed about 50% of the time. The first 2 new words are also 2 things that he has become very interested in this month. He continues to dispense a lot of gibberish with the occasional word that is understandable. He has a lot to say when he first sees you and while in the kitchen for whomever will listen. 

Shoes – he is obsessed with wearing everyone’s shoes. In the morning and evening he will take shoes off the mat and wear them around the house. In the matter of minutes he can try one and walk around in at least 5 pairs of shoes. He does not appear to care who’s shoes they are, just so they are not his. He will wear Luke’s, Hunter’s, mine, or a combination of different shoes. 

Books - He has also finally started to allow us to “read” books with him while he sits on our laps. Instead of actually reading the story we just point out the pictures on the page. He likes the animal books and is able to roar at the pictures of the lions and tigers. So far his only animal sound. 

Sleep - It's still the same, I tried to transition him to 1 nap a day but that resulted in only a 1-1.5 hour nap instead of two 1-1.5 hour naps so I added the morning nap back in. This week he has been waking at 5 or 6 for the bottle instead of 4 so hopefully that early morning bottle will come to an end!! 

Connor still loves being downstairs with his brothers any chance he gets, and can hold a hockey stick and hit the puck if he is playing with them. He has gotten better at going up and down the stairs but still needs to be spotted going down since he slides down so fast and sometimes still tries to turn around. He loves to dance, which consists of picking up each foot rapidly and shaking his hands and take bathes. The water has to be running the entire time so he can play with it, drink from it and dunk his head under it. If I turn it off, he can now stand up and turn it back on. He still hates the car and diaper changes.

16 months

Wow, its already time for your 16 month update.  The biggest change this month is your ability to get your point across.  You shake your head no when you don’t want something which makes it a lot easier to figure out what you need.  You bang your hand on the door to the basement or on chairs to let us know you either want to go play downstairs or sit somewhere.   You love to play downstairs by the way.  We took you downstairs for the first time on Thanksgiving and you are now obsessed with playing there. You are also our little pianist.  You beg to sit on the bench and play or bang the keys.

Words – you have added a few this month: agua, apple, hi, ma for milk & more, go and uh oh.  You love to drop things and say uh oh.  You have destroyed a number of sippy cups by cracking them as they crash to the floor.

Connor is still taking 2 naps – morning and afternoon, but I think we will be down to one pretty soon, the morning nap is getting later and later.  The bedtime routine is still the same as last month, down at 7pm and up around 4am for a bottle, then back down until about 7 or 7:30.  When it’s time to go up to bed, he says night night to everyone as he is being carried up the stairs, so cute.

We have finally dropped bottles during the day, he only gets one for bedtime and at the 4am feeding.  He is eating everything we are now and seems to be pretty easy to feed.  He isn’t a huge fan of veggies but will eat a few with meals.  Loves fruit – blueberries, mandarin oranges, apples, mango, strawberries…..Pasta is the easiest meal since he can feed himself and loves it. 

Connor has been pretty healthy (knock on wood this winter). We had to take him to the doctor right after Christmas, his eye lids were very swollen. He had an infection called cellulitis which thankfully was cured pretty quickly with amoxicillin.  Still no ear infection!! A miracle. 

As you can see from the picture, Connor loves helmets - football and hockey and wears them every chance he gets. He runs around all day long and never stops.  Puzzles and most toys have yet to hold his attention. 

Christmas 2013

Christmas this year came and went in a flash.  The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was short this year and being busy with three active boys didn't help.  Maybe next year we can fit in more baking and crafting but we did get the important things done - our annual trip to Santa and shopping.

Hunter and Luke are both huge DC sports fans so their gifts revolved around the Caps, Redskins and Nationals.  In addition they both received Kindle tablets, legos and video games.

Connor is still too young to get caught up in toys but he received this years Hess truck and a Little People farm.  He was pretty excited by all the paper and boxes.

After breakfast we went to Gigi and Papa's for more presents, brunch and dinner.

My parents bought Connor and Liam a spherovelo ride on toy which was a huge hit.

Trying to contain Liam and Connor in a house that wasn't child proofed made for a challenging day, but there was minimal crying from either of them and they both managed to nap.

A Zeoli Christmas

The weekend before Christmas Kelly and Darin brought the boys up to visit and exchange gifts.  As usual, the boys got along great and had a wonderful time together.