18 Month Update

It has been way too long!  I've been a horrible little blogger lately.  I really hope to get better at posting more often soon so if anyone is still out there reading...thanks for still following along :).  The first few months of 2011 are flying by with keeping up with my busy little guy, napping during henry's naps (my former blog time), enjoying this sweet baby and pregnancy, doula clients, and lots of sickness!!!  We are all well right now, and I pray that it stays that way for some time...we need a break.  But so thankful that all we've had to deal with are things like stomach bugs, colds etc and nothing more serious. 

Now to talk about my little man :)...there is so much to say that it is hard to know what to even include in this blog post.  I have found 18 months old (he's almost 19 mo now...eek!) to be the perfect combination of the cutest/sweetest age mixed with the most challenging age yet!  Let me explain. 

First the cute....Henry is talking up a storm and everything that comes out of his mouth is about as cute as it gets.  He is also showing quite the little personality lately with the way he interacts with us, and it is just adorable.  For instance, he will say "oh no" while holding his cheeks and just yesterday he struck this little pose while asking if he could see pictures of babies that had me laughing so hard (it is hard to describe but put your chin on the top of your shoulder and you might be able to tell what I'm talking about).  The other day at the bookstore, Henry saw two cute little toddler sisters and turned on the charm big time with a cute dimple smile and said "hey girls!" really loud.  He just never stops amazing us at the stuff he comes up with every day.  One of his favorite things to do righ now is to make "a mess."  He will go around the house looking for how he can make a mess while mommy cleans.  As much as we sing the cleanup song, and I try to demonstrate putting away toys etc...he has absolutely no interest....he just wants to make a mess.  And so I will hear him around the house saying "oh no!  a mess" or just "a mess!!"  Henry loves all things boy...his favorties right now are still choo choos but he is also getting more and more into "race cars."  I can't believe how much he can distinguish between vehicles/construction equipment...he will see a jeep, sports car, race car, backhoe, crane, fire truck etc and tell me what he is seeing.  It is so fun to see his little brain just soak up as much information as he can.  He has also started singing some of the songs we sing like twinkle twinkle, row row, splish splash, old mcdonald, shake your booty....is there a sweeter sound??  He can even him the thomas the train theme song!  Henry also loves to talk about what belongs to who like "mama's shirt, dada's pants, papa's trucks"  We will even be going down the road, and he will say "samuel's shirt" (his cousin) or "micah's shirt (his friend).  Naps are finally wonderful.....woooohooo!  He goes down at noon and takes usually a 2 hr nap (even a 3 hr the other day!!).  He also is getting better about not being as cranky when he wakes in the morning or from his nap...he will cry for just a minute and then he will yell for me as loud as he can so I hear him across the house "mama!!."  I love waking up to that ;).  So now sleep gets to be in the cute category for Henry...if y'all have followed me from the beginning...I bet y'all are all shocked...me too :).

Now for the challenging part...I've heard that some toddlers start the twos a little early, and I think that is the case for our sweet Henry.  I've wondered if maybe because he is talking so much that might be why he is starting so soon.  Tantrums are very frequent at our house right now.  It could be he couldn't get a toy to work like he thinks it should or that I didn't do something they way he wanted etc.  The funny thing about Henry is that he gives us a pre-warning of his tantrum by saying "uh oh" and then he proceeds to throw himself on the floor.  I ignore the tantrums for the most part and just walk away because I've heard that is the best way to teach them that they don't work.  I don't think that he is trying to throw the tantrum to get me to change his mind...it is more of an involuntary response of his body to the frustration he is feeling so I almost feel sorry for him.  I have really come to accept that this is just part of being 18 months.  He thinks he is capable of doing so much more than he actually is so it is very frustrating for him and as a mom there is very little that I can do to reason with him logically at this age which also makes it challenging.  I really just recognize this as a stage, but it does make for some long days sometimes.  Another issue we have with our sweet Henry is some very aggressive behavior...pinching, pulling hair, biting etc.  And I'm going to vent for a second because this is one of the reasons I like to blog :).  This is probably the most challenging issue I've faced yet with behavior with Henry because it involves others.  It makes me so upset that he would hurt other children and me and his daddy but at the same time it is hard to deal with being told your son is so awful all of the time.  It starts to really get to a mama when every time I pick him up from nursery/mother's morning out etc...I get a report on how my little guy has "beat up" on all the kids in the nursery (and yes Henry I know you are laughing about this if you are reading this twenty years from now :).  I get all of the advice at the nursery door about saying no, time outs, spanking etc, and it just gets hard to hear.  I'm glad that they are giving him timeout and being consistent and that some kids are scratching him back etc because that is how he is going to learn.  But I'm being consistent at home too!!!  Just because your child has a behavioral problem does not mean the mama is at fault :).  I got so sick of it on Sunday that I told the nursery worker (who was a fill-in so it wasn't the nursery worker that Henry and I love and know well) that "well I guess you will understand one day when he is a nfl football player."  How hillarious is it that I said that?  I'm so hormonal right now that sometimes things just come out of my mouth especially when they are talking about my baby :).  I also get it from other mamas too.  And yes I know it is not fun to see your child to be pinched etc, but if you don't like it then remove your child from the situation.  Moms need breaks too, and I can't watch Henry every second when we are at a social function.

But the good news is that the cuteness far outweighs the challenges!  So blessed to have my sweet little guy, and I'm so enjoying this time with just him.  He really is about as precious as they come :)

first juice box by myself

so proud!

so happy and cute...and yes I love this shirt on him :)