Nineteen Months

Time for our monthly update!  I'm going to try not to ramble on and on, but sometimes I just can't help it.  Maybe bullets will force me to keep it short and sweet...

• Miller's vocabulary continues to grow and I can no longer keep up with reporting all of his new words.  I will share two new ones though.  The first is what runs our life right now, "outside" which he pronounces as "voss" for some strange reason.  He wants to be outside constantly.  The second is his first sentence, "I don't know" which sounds like "I-no-no" and is absolutely the most precious thing in the world.  I have it on my list to get it on video soon.

• My fantastic eater has turned into toddler who seems to survive on about 100 calories a day.  It's not that he's picky, just that he doesn't want to slow down to eat ANYTHING.  Almost every meal or snack time has become a nightmare of me wrestling him into his high chair while he yells, "voss" at the top of his lungs.  I then proceed to make him something to eat, attempt to persuade him to eat a few bites while he cries and does the sign for "finished" while whining "ish, ish" {his term for "finished"} and occasionally throwing in a "voss" for good measure.  After offering him several options to eat {which I swore I'd never do}, I surrender to the incessant "ish" and "voss" chanting and let him down.  I am not exaggerating when I say that there are days that his entire food consumption equals about a cup of food.  I know he will eat when he's hungry, but I can't help but worry as a mama that he isn't getting enough nutrients.

• Due to the above scenario, we have swapped from whole milk to 2%.  His doctor mentioned at his 18 month check-up that I could do this anytime within the next few months.  He is still sucking down his milk fairly well, so I decided that I want to be sure he isn't filling up on just milk.  Maybe this will force him to take in some calories from actual food.

• He is wearing a size 4 diaper, 18-24 month clothes, and a size 6 shoe.

• "Voss" {outside} is his absolute favorite place to be.  He would stay out there all day if I'd let him.  We do spend a lot of time outside, but unfortunately things like the washing machine and kitchen are inside.  Therefore, we must come in or be risk being taken over by laundry and chores.  He does not like this.  Me neither, buddy.

His favorite place to be while he's outside is in daddy's truck pressing every button and honking the horn repeatedly.  Our neighbors love us.

 Uh oh!   A little "wawa" surprise!

Miller loves "bubbuuls" these days.  He doesn't really want to blow them though, he just wants to put the wand in the bottle over and over again.  Oh, and occasionally spill them all over himself :)

After playing in the rain with daddy.

• To the grandmothers' delights, Miller loves to "wok" {"rock"} right now.  Before naps and bedtime he runs to the chair in his room repeating "wok, mama" over and over again.  So sweet.  He also does it after his naps occasionally, but doesn't want to rock for very long.  I still don't rock him to sleep, but it is nice to have this cuddle time with him.  He also loves to read books during this time {an activity he rarely slows down for during playtime}.

• He is getting really good at organizing and cleaning {no, I am not forcing him into child labor}.  He loves to pick up trash and announce that he's taking it to the "trash".  Dirty laundry is also "trash", but he takes it to the basket in his closet {this skill already makes him better at cleaning than daddy ;) }.  He needs reminders less often about putting things back where he found them, but is pretty compliant to clean up even if he needs a reminder.  This reminder usually comes in the form of a poorly-written song I came up with - I will spare you.  Perhaps he is getting better at cleaning up because he doesn't want to hear me sing it...

Ok, so much for short and sweet!  I absolutely cannot end this post without wishing my sweet niece a happy one month birthday {tomorrow}!  Malley Girl, I cannot believe you've been in this world for one whole month and I've only held you twice.  Not cool.   Even after only meeting you twice, Miller remembers you though.  Every time I say your name he says, "bebe".   We are so thankful for you, Malley Girl, and love you so very much!