19 Months

Another month older, the time goes by so fast. Bryce is doing great. He had a very full January, with two trips to the snow, two weekly playgroups, and the start of his Music Together class.

Bryce has continued to expand his vocabulary, both through sign and speech. He now signs music and water. He also made up his own sign for spoon/fork and up. He has added bawr for bar (meaning fruit bar), and baa for bath.

I'm working on weening him. I think I have it down to twice a day now. I've been able to cut out the morning feeding by distracting him. Sometimes I can also skip the nap time feeding, but he still won't budge on the nighttime feeding, unless I'm not around. He is drinking milk from a cup regularly and really likes it. He asks for it often.

The past week he has been on another nap strike. When I put him down he cries for a few minutes and then just stands there until I come and get him. I've been leaving him in his crib for 1-2 hours so that I have a break and can get some work done. It also gives him a rest even if he isn't sleeping. I hope this is just a short strike because he gets a little cranky at night when he doesn't take a nap. He did fall asleep one day, but only for a few minutes. When I went in to check on him, he was asleep standing up. I couldn't resist taking a picture and the flash woke him up.

I'm taking him to see the doctor this afternoon. He has had digestive issues for the past 3.5 weeks (i.e. lots of potty). I'm really hoping he doesn't have a food allergy and that the doctor will tell me it is normal. We'll see.

He still really enjoys pushing around his trucks. He has to have them with him all the time. If we are going upstairs he goes and gets both trucks and gives them to me to carry up the stairs. Likewise, if we are upstairs, he finds his trucks so we can take them downstairs with us. He also loves playing with the blocks Pawka made him for Christmas. Another favorite is laying on the fold out couch he got for Christmas. He likes to sit down on the couch when he has his milk.

When we are driving he notices every big truck he sees. He gets excited, points, and says "tra".

Haircut

I gave Bryce a haircut. I decided paying $22 wasn't worth it, that I could do it myself. Nathan distracted him and watched him play in the sink while I cut his hair. Surprisingly it turned out just as well and when I took him to a professional to get it cut.

Painting

Bryce is really enjoying painting. It is a good thing they are non-toxic and washable.

Tahoe Vacation

We spent a week in Tahoe with the Beaman side of the family. We had a great time. Bryce really enjoyed playing in the snow.

In the picture of Bryce sledding with his Pawka he is doing the sign for more. He really liked it.

The following weekend we went to Tahoe with the Husen side of the family. Once again we had a great time.

18 Months

Bryce's last three eye teeth came in. We'll now get a break from teething until his 2-year old molars. Yeah!

Bryce got sick a lot in December. He had a cold, then got a flu shot and a few days later was throwing up. Once the flu was over with he got another cold. He is finally healthy. None of the illnesses slowed him down much.

He is now saying Tru from Truck, Moo for Cow, No-No (his favorite), and Zat for What's that. He has also added sorry to his list of signs.

Consistently for the past month he has been taking one, two-hour nap a day from about 1-3 o'clock. I love that for the most part I can count on a 2 hour break so I can work or get stuff done around the house. This really helps my sanity. Most of the time he is still sleeping from 7 pm - 7 am without waking up, although 5 or 6 nights out of the last 10 or so nights he has woken up in the middle of the night wanting to nurse. The last two times he did this I let him cry himself back to sleep. Since I plan on weaning him soon I don't want to continue nursing him in the middle of the night to help him fall back to sleep.

He loves to go bye-bye. He asks to go all the time. Maybe he inherited my trait of liking to be out doing things.

He has gotten more and more into reading. He likes to point at pictures and say Zat until you name the object. He also still loves pushing his trucks around. Recently he learned that he can tickle Mommy and Daddy, which he loves.

The last few weeks Bryce has become more affectionate. He hugs his Lovey, cuddles with us more, and gives kisses to the dog, us and his baby. He can also make a kissing sound rather than just always giving us the wonderful open-mouth kiss.

Christmas

Bryce had a wonderful Christmas. We did our traditional Christmas Eve at Nathan's Dad's house, had Christmas morning at Nanny and Pawka's house, and Christmas afternoon at the Husen's. Bryce opened his presents on Christmas Eve, but on Christmas morning he only made it through a few gifts before deciding rolling in the paper was more fun. We saved the rest of his gifts from Christmas morning for the next day. He also opened most of his gifts that afternoon from Grammy and Grampa, but wasn't that into it. Some of his favorite new toys are his tricycle, block set, couch, and truck. He was a very spoiled little boy as you can see from the picture of all of his gifts. He got more gifts than he knows what to do with. Our family room is packed with toys.

17 Months

Bryce's vocabulary has really started to expand. He now says Daw for Dog, BaeBae for Baby, Meow for Cat and can sign hurt. He knows how to say Dada, but when Nathan asks Bryce who he is, Bryce will say Mama and laugh. Bryce thinks it is funny to call Nathan Mama.

His lower left eye tooth has finally come through. We're still waiting for the other three. He has been drooling like crazy for several weeks now, so hopefully they'll come through soon and we'll be done with teething for a while.

Bryce is starting to get more and more opinionated about what he does and does not want to do. He's had some pretty good fits. He's even hit me a couple of times when he is really mad. I try to stay calm and tell him it is not nice to hit Mommy and then redirect him. Sometimes when he has a fit it is really hard not to laugh.

Daddy set up Bryce's train that he got for Christmas last year. He loves watching it go around the track.

Bryce found Mommy's scarf and thought it made a great toy.