Michael is 18 months old today! When did this happen? When did the itty-bitty baby we brought home from the hospital who had to have weight checks turn into a booming toddler with an appetite? I would certainly like someone to tell me! I know, I know. This is just the beginning of experiencing how quickly time goes by.



While Michael is still a picky eater, his palate has expanded somewhat. Michael's favorite foods right now are: cheese, Plum squeezable pouches, strawberries, applesauce, and all sorts of bread. I'm trying desperately to get him to eat new things. The other night we tried tomatoes... but no such luck. And, as you may recall from a certain Friday's Letters, his absolute favorite thing is homemade mac&cheese and green beans. At least I know there's one vegetable he'll eat! He has taken an interest in carrots but I still need to figure out the best way to cook them. He really wants them raw, but he's not quite old enough/ready to eat them like that.

Ballons, or "boons" as Michael calls them, are one of Michael's favorite things. The only reason he loves going to the grocery store is because when we first walk in there's a huge
display of balloons. It keeps him happy until we hit the baby aisle and buy a "smoothie" (pouch). The picture is from a day we went to the park and stumbled upon a birthday party coming to an end. Michael ran up and started saying "boons" and the mom was kind enough to give him two of them.

Other new words for Michael: "eh-mo" (Elmo), "bow-balls" (snow balls), "we-ow" (meow), "church" (the "r" gets a little lost but otherwise this one is very clear), "dance"... and I'm sure there are more. He's working on saying "teeth" and "fish" but the "th" and "sh" sounds always seem to come first. It's adorable, but it really seems to be frustrating Michael. I'm hoping he can get it soon (for his sake as much as my own)!

I promise you're really close to the waffle cookie recipe!
Brushing Michael's teeth is the biggest battle. Don't be fooled by this picture. He loves to take the toothbrush, suck off any toothpaste that may be on there, and then slide the toothbrush around his mouth a few times and call that brushing. For whatever reason he hates having the front teeth brushed, so I end up having to "torture" him and do it for him. I'm hoping this will get easier as he gets older.

Although Michael's sleep schedule has been a little off these past few days, he is still napping consistently in his own bed. He even leads me to his bed in extreme circumstances of exhaustion! It's so exciting to me. I haven't started night-time transition because I know it's going to be way harder, but it's coming.

More than anything, Michael loves quality time with his Dada.


Being outside (especially if there's snow).

And... (what you've been waiting for)....

Waffle Cookies


Ingredients:

- 2/3 c flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 c butter, softened
- 1/4 c sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp maple syrup


Directions:

- Cream together the butter and sugar.
- Add the egg, syrup, an vanilla. Gradually add your dry ingredients (you don't have to premix them).
- Heat your waffle iron to the medium to medium-high heat setting. Make sure to coat it with cooking spray or butter every time!
- Drop about 1 tbsp of batter in each "square". Make sure they're semi spread out!
- Cook for about two minutes/ until golden *If they really brown it's ok they're just a little crunchier.*
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar or I think I cinnamon/sugar mix would taste good, too!

Easy and super delicious, especially for breakfast/waffle lovers!

Inspiration for this recipe came from Crazy About Cookies! For more Michael updates make sure to watch Friday's Letters.

Yep. I'm doing it again. I can't help myself. I mean... look at him!


So, our favorite thing is still to play outside.


But he has discovered getting into the kitchen cabinets, now that he's actually allowed in the kitchen.
The room becomes off limits if he goes for anything like the cat food or the water bowl. He seems to get it, though, and just sticks to trying to pull out all the pots and pans. He also loves to get into the refrigerator, especially now that he knows he can open it himself if he gives it a couple good tugs.
(Sorry for the quality. I have an old Android phone, not a handy-dandy iPhone.)

Does anyone know if they sell locks for the fridge? I would think Michael's not the only one who likes to get in there and attempt to get himself a snack.

It seems Michael is shooting up like a weed. Around his birthday he could still fit in 12 months clothes (go figure), but these days he's styling 18 months. He can still get into 12 to 18 months, and some 12 months shirts... but he's just getting so tall! Of course he's got the adorable baby belly, but that's probably from his amazing eating habits!

And we used to be worried. Michael's favorite things these days are:

1. Bananas
2. Greek Yogurt (shared with Mama)
3. Cheese
4. Frozen Berries (to help with the teething)

Anything else is a day-to-day sort of thing. One day he'll love tuna, the next day he doesn't want it. One day he'll eat a whole grilled cheese, the next day he just wants the cheese, hold the bread. Tonight I "spoiled" him with a Gerber dinner which he absolutely loved. BBQ Turkey, anyone?

Oh, and the peas phase? Yeah. It was just that. A phase. He's now squishing them like a normal baby. Veggies are more of a "miss" these days. He'll eat corn. Other than that, it has to be hidden. Like in Plum Organics squeezables or something. He LOVES those. We call them "smoothies".

Music is our thing. Michael has this lovely new thing that he does. It's called dancing. He stomps his feet or bends his knees and "bounces". It's positively adorable. It used to just be head-bobbing, but we've added actual moves to the agenda. I love playing music while I'm cleaning or we're just hanging out, because every now and then he'll just break into his dance. It makes my heart melt. The other day he even pulled out my flute. So I played for him, and then he clapped. Talk about motivation to start playing music again.

We're still teething.

(Note: I keep saying "we", because as you know everything Michael goes through, I go through as well. Sorry if it's annoying or confusing.)

Michael has four teeth working their way in up top. I can see one already that has officially broken through (along with the four he already has), but he's definitely feeling it. YAY for frozen berries! His favorite is the banana/peach/strawberry mix. He just gums them until he can eat them. Make sure if you give them to your baby, you observe/watch/monitor, though. Choking is possible (as it is with everything, I suppose).

As much as I say I want to "crib train" Michael, I can't bring myself to do it. I absolutely love my little cuddle-bug. I mean, who wouldn't love to sleep next to this?

In other news, Michael has discovered throwing tantrums. Any suggestions on how to put your one-year-old in time out somehow? I'm all ears!

Thank you for being patient on this one. We had family visiting, friends coming from out of town, and so much going on that there was no way this post would have made it up Friday or Saturday.

In case you didn't know, Michael's birthday was September 7th. I still can't believe it's been an entire year. What happens when we reach five? Ten? Eighteen?

I don't want to think about it.

I can't even remember what I put in my last post about Michael's developments. It seems I turn my head, or blink, or snap... and there he is doing something that's completely new and entirely adorable. I suppose every mom can say that about her child.

Michael's one year check up is on the 21st (thanks to doing his last round of shots two weeks late due to this and that), so I promise to share his weight and length as soon as I know it!

If you hadn't noticed, Michael's growing a little tuff of hair on top. Luna likes to lick it in to the shape of a mohawk now and again. It only stays that way with dog slobber. Water does not work. Clark tries to get Luna to bathe Michael consistently just so he can have a mohawk. Boys.
(Photo from Courtney Valentine Photography (TN).)

Michael is exploring foods like there's no tomorrow. "Tu-nana-ish" has taken the back seat to things like grapes, blueberries, spaghetti sauce, and just about anything new he can get his hands on. Oh, did I mention cake?
(I will have another post dedicated to the making of this cake.)

As always, Michael's favorite remedy for anything is to be outdoors. Now it's even better since Mama and Dada got him an awesome swing.



However, bath time has climbed the list as well now that he has some awesome new toys (thanks to Marmee and Papa, and his friend Mackenzie).

We are desperately still waiting for Michael to take those first steps. While he has taken some one three at once, he has yet to repeat that or walk across the room without help via furniture or toys. He definitely cruises on his own, though, when he has a toy or something to hold on to near by.

On his actual birthday, not party day, we went to see Dada at work and Michael got his first real boo-boo. Truly. He was crawling and went right off the edge of the climbing mats, although previously he had been cautious when going over the edge. He fell on his face, and much to my dismay there was blood. It wasn't so bad until he coughed and it went all over the place. Not to mention how much he was crying. After nursing a bit, though, he perked right back up-- but you can definitely see the swollen lip in this pic!

After this, we went and got him his first ice cream (Rainbow Sherbert) to help his lip feel better. He was very appreciative of that.

His two top teeth are officially through, although they still probably have about halfway to travel down still. We also believe his two bottom teeth are starting to make an appearance. This is due to his attitude, clingy-ness, and swollen gums as of late.

Other things that Michael loves:

1. Llama Llama books of any kind, by Anna Dewdney.

2. Interactive books (such as prerecorded books, like the one he got from Marmee and Papa for his birthday), or the Hallmark books like those you can find with Bigsby or Scooby-Doo.

3. Going to the climbing gym and hanging out with Dada.

4. Spending time in Luna's doggy bed. (No picture, sorry!)

5. Getting into anything and everything.

That's all for now, folks! Tune back in with specifics about Michael's birthday party soon!

"The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things...."

Since Michael was three months old, Clark and I have thought he was teething. Excessive drooling, a few fevers, some yuckier-than-normal diapers... but then we'd take a look at his gums and see nothing but the usual shape. No bulges, no white peaking through... nothing. So, we'd move on.

Well, the time is here.

Tuesday I was desperately trying to figure out what was wrong with Michael. Normally he only has 2, maybe 3, #2 diapers in a day. It was maybe one o'clock, and he had hit four. I just didn't understand. The day carried on, Clark took Michael for a while to give me a break, and then he brought him back and went to work.

Around dinner time, I noticed the teeth.
(I promise we weren't torturing him to get this pic!)

I read that it's most common for the bottom two front teeth to come in first, but as always Michael is breaking the trend and his top two are coming in.

It didn't seem to be that bad.

Wednesday we went on our scheduled date, although I must say I felt a little more protective/paranoid than normal. I trust our babysitter whole heartedly, but I know Michael. I just knew nothing she did was going to make him happy.

He didn't eat. He didn't want to do anything. Only watching Mickey Mouse Club on her iPhone seemed to calm him down. When we got home, it only took an hour before he went right to sleep.

For me, teething didn't seem that bad. Michael was just pooping a little more than normal, maybe not napping quite as well, but come bed time he'd just sleep on through.

Until last night.

Last night Michael was hot to touch. As in, I didn't want any covers because it felt like coals were cuddling up beside me. He had a little baby Motrin before going to bed, but in the wee hours of the morning he woke up with an awful cry.

Truly. Awful.

Poor Michael was in such pain and nothing would comfort him. No feeding, no pacifier, nothing.

On went the hallway light. Clark crawled out of bed and got Michael a little more Motrin, the thermometer, and a new diaper.

Fever: 101.

Diaper: #1 and #2

Motrin: Devoured (after a little coaxing)

He woke up again somewhere around 6:30am, but I knew he wasn't ready to get up because of the way he would keep putting his head down and closing his eyes, sitting up, and then repeating.

Fever: 100

Diaper: #1

Motrin: Not given

He finally feel back asleep and slept in until 9:45am. No joke. It felt like Saturday, or a holiday, or a day out of 1,000 that never happens. I can't remember the last time we, let alone I, slept past 8am.

So, now he's down for a nap and I'm saying a prayer that he takes a good one, because I think we'll only be able to have one good nap today, or an absolutely dreadful night (which we may have, anyway).

Might I just say, too, that two out of the four diapers he had today (that is, #2 diapers) have been the most disgusting things since his birth. He hasn't had diapers this runny since I don't know when. It's not exactly fair to compare, since in the beginning we weren't using Rumparooz, but cloth diapers with poop like this... it just isn't fun to clean.

Have any teething stories or helpful remedies? This mama is ALL ears!
(Picture from today.)