19 Months: A true toddler

I can't believe it. All remenants of our baby boy are almost gone. He's so independent. He's been a serious handful lately. He was mostly sick the past month (strep followed by an ear infection, poor guy) and so it was hard to judge his character. But now that he's back to normal, his tears are usually tears of frustration for one reason or another. I would definitely call him a problem solver but his solutions usually get him in trouble. Many times I'll catch him standing on a chair (that he moved) getting some water from the counter, but then that results in him getting into everything else on the counter. *sigh* He makes discipline an interesting thing. My goal is to be consistent and not to yell (but to whisper when I feel the urge. Ha! It works half the time).

Carrying his trusty stool to some other place to cause mischief.

K1 is now a pro at throwing tantrums. Loud, long, head thrashing tantrums. The root of most of these tantrums stems from that fact that he has regressed in his speech. From 17 to 18 months, his vocabulary boomed and he used many of the words frequently. From 18-19 months he stopped using at least half and now has resorted to yells and screams and pointing. I'm not worried about it because our doctor said that kids frequently go through verbal phases and motor phases at different times. Anyways,his lack of communication and our inability to understand what he wants/needs usual results in tears and frustration (sometimes from both parties).

Reading the Truck book. Man he loves that thing.

There have been some happy things too. K1 is very good at helping with chores around the house. He's good at handing me dishes when emptying the dishwasher, carrying laundry to to washer and putting it in and carrying the clean laundry to the couch from the dryer. We've been training him to walk to and from the car, which is quite a distance, especially for someone his size (not to mention the 4 flights of stairs). Some trips are harder than others, but he's just teaching me to budget more time to get out the door and to be patient with his pace. In turn, he's getting better at following directions, or I'm getting better at motivating him :)

Doing a puzzle on the toilet. No he's not toilet trained yet, but he doesn't mind sitting on it from time to time.Playing with his cars in the window sill.

K1 is a great eater. That is one aspect I've never complained about. He does have foods he doesn't like (mushrooms[honestly, I didn't like mushrooms until recently]) but he'll eat most everything. He also converted himself from a sippy cup to a normal glass. One day he started refusing the sippy and insisting upon drinking from our glasses. I eventually got him his own Nalgene because it has a small lip and makes it easier for him to drink AND has a lid. I swear he and I and the floor were sopping wet for about two weeks but now he hardly spills at all. If only we could get him to feed himself with a utensils without playing with his food....

Wearing the pig apron Cooking with Mama

Playing with his two favorite things, cars and blocks.

The last major change that we're making right now is converting to a toddler bed. Tonight's bedtime will total 7 'sessions' in his new bed (3 naps and 4 bedtimes). The first night was great, I laid him down, he only came out once and then went right to sleep. His nap the next day was a different story. I felt prepared because I had read up on 'tactics'. When he got up, I walked him right back to his bed and tucked him in without saying a word. We did this for 30 minutes in about 30 second intervals. He thought it was great! He was laughing and thought it was game. I knew this wasn't working and that my window was shrinking for when he would take his nap. I decided to sit next to his bed and not look at him and if he got up, I'd help him lay down and resume. This way he wasn't moving so much and his heart rate would slow down. He fell asleep within 5 minutes. I didn't know if I liked the method I chose because I want him to fall asleep without me there, but I figured I'm helping his get comfortable with his bed first.

(P.S. I'd REALLY love some FEEDBACK from you seasoned mothers out there. Don't be afraid to say, MC, you're an idiot and doing this wrong, try this. I'm open to just about anything)

For the next two nights and next two naps, I did similar things. I usually allowed 2-3 'back and forths' and then end up silently sitting in the rocking chair not making eye contact. The time it's taken for him to go to sleep has shrunk every day (Ex. Naptime- 35min, 15min, 10min). Tonight I mixed it up slightly. I stayed in his room from the get go. He never tried to get out, or even sit up. I sat in the rocking chair 2 minutes, stood in the middle of the room for 3 minutes, and then stood by the door for 5 and left. I'm pretty sure he was asleep by the time I left. Anyhoo, I don't want to put him back in the crib at all because I don't want him to think it's an option. He hasn't seemed to want it though, so that's good.

The only real issue that's arisen with the conversion to the toddler bed is mornings. Normally K1 wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30 and we give him a bottle of milk and then put him back to bed for 30min to an hour and half. Now when we do that, he doesn't want to stay in bed... I guess I'm just going to have to lose some precious sleep training him to stay, but I'd love some pointers on that one.

Haircut beforeHaircut After

K1 is a sweet boy. He really is. We definitely have our tough days, but it makes me appreciate the really good ones. I know he's going to be a helpful older brother. I'm so blessed to have his happy, adventurous spirit around.