16 months

Neil turned 16 months on May 29th.

Well, Neil got his first black eye. He got it running into the corner of the piano bench, and the corner hit his eye. Surprisingly after an intial huge scream he didn't really react a whole lot although we gave him Tylenol at bedtime. He scratched both of his upper and lower eyelids, and had a nice black and blue spot on his cheekbone. Pictures don't really do it justice.

This picture was taken the day he got the black eye (coincidentally it was mother's day)
and it looked worse the next day.

Since then, it seems like he always has some kind of injury/bruise/cut. It seems like this is just going to be normal for awhile. 

Neil seems to like to climb a lot and is getting even more active. I don't know if I would say he actually runs but he can move pretty quickly at times. He's getting pretty steady on his feet and can walk up and down our hilly driveway and yard fairly well at this point.

We went on our first bike ride, on Mother's Day. Dave put the infant bike seat on the bike, and we have an infant/toddler sized bike helmet. In order to get him to wear it, I put mine on as well and we were walking around our yard with bike helmets on. I'm sure our neighbors were probably wondering what in the world we were doing. Neil liked the bike ride at first but I think I took it too fast down some of our hills. This also made me realize just how steep and hilly our neighborhood is. It's actually harder to bike up them than it is to run them. Anyway, when we got back he had tears streaming across his face from his eyes watering, and when I took him out of the bike seat he clutched onto me and wouldn't let go for a little bit. 

Memorial Day weekend I took Neil for another bike ride on a flat path along the river and we ended up next to Heinz Field in downtown Pittsburgh. He seemed to really love it and was pointing at this as well as babbling/talking behind me. I'm really looking forward to more bike rides together.

Last month I said I thought Neil was getting his 3rd and 4th teeth- actually it was 3-6 teeth! He now has 6 teeth, well kind of. When he got his 4th, I thought it was the upper middle but it was off to the side, which worried me. But then I looked and realized it was actually the tooth to the side of his upper middle and that both side teeth were coming in. The 2nd upper middle was actually his 6th tooth to come in, and that happened mid-month. He did get pretty clingy and made motions at his mouth which we figure were saying his mouth hurt. Two of the teeth are barely in but they're there!

I don't really have an update on the eating front because he's been eating pretty much everything we give him. He had his first hot dog, at a Pirates' game. He ate the hot dog but wouldn't eat the fries. It's really hard to get anything healthy at a sports stadium.

I'm still nursing morning and night and per doctor's orders we stopped the bottle. We were only feeding him from a bottle in the morning with what I pump before work and it was more because I pump into bottles. Now I put everything in a sippie cup for him. When we did that he got upset and started taking that sippie cup to daycare and drinking it along with eating yogurt. The first 2 days he threw a little temper tantrum for Dave because he associated the sippie cup with cow's milk and wanted my milk, not cow's milk.

As far as temper tantrums, we're getting to the point/stage that I'm not sure we can take Neil out to eat. If he doesn't want what we give him he starts throwing fits. I'm also disappointed that he's kind of turning bratty (I hate even saying that). At daycare one day, when Dave dropped Neil off, someone else was in "his" high chair. Now this was also the first day we took away the bottle so maybe he just didn't want changes. But the girl in his chair, it was her 1st birthday, so the chair was decorated and everything. Neil threw a fit because he wanted to sit in his chair, to the point that they took the birthday girl out of the chair (this is where I'm pretty dismayed about his behavior). Then he threw a fit and didn't want to get in the chair. I'm hoping this is just a normal phase. He still has a good disposition if he's getting what he wants but we're working to try to teach him that you don't always get what you want. I'm wondering if he's old enough to get it yet.

I hope we're doing things right though. One day he threw a temper tantrum for no apparent reason. I was cutting up apples for him for daycare, and Dave was the one dealing with it. Dave left him in the living room and joined me in the kitchen. I finished what I was doing, with Neil screaming the entire time. Then I went into the living room and I sat down a few feet away from him. I didn't say anything or do anything, just sat down. I did look at him but didn't stare or anything. He fairly quickly stopped crying and came over and sat in my lap. I wanted to show him that if he was willing to calm down we could deal with things and show him I wasn't going to swoop him up and "fix" things and that he would have to take action. So those are the kind of things I'm trying to do, without being mean about it. And when he came over to me, more calm, I gave him a hug and told him I love him.

Neil has been saying phrases as well as words. He says "I don't know" now and has said "Star Wars" a few times, to Dave's great delight. He also says banana instead of just "b" and sometimes adds an extra "na" on the end but I'm surprised he's talking in multiple syllables - potato is another multi-syllable word he has added. 

It can still be hard to differentiate some words if they start with the same consonant but sometimes we can figure it out based on context. I'm really proud of him. The doctor said at his 15 month appointment that this might be partly because of us reading him books and partly an indication that he's smart. (Also, my time to brag- at the doctor appointment he said we were answering "yes" to a lot of the 18 month questions even though he was only 15 months.)

This month Neil had his first donut (at Oakmont Bakery) and saw his first parade on Memorial Day. He loved the fire trucks and motorcycles and they gave him a little flag to hold as well as a lollipop.

Neil also copies things that we do. Dave was putting air in our neighbor's bicycle tires and Neil was trying to help with the pump. When Dave was done, Neil tried using the pump himself. He actually put the right part on the pump up to to the stem pipe (or whatever it's called) on the bike.

Neil trying to put air in my bike tire a few days after Dave put air in our neighbor's bike

Just some random things- Neil will say tick tock when he sees a picture of clock and move his head back and forth. He also figured out that he can push the home button on our phones to see the screen. So I had to password protect my phone. I never thought I'd have to do that for a toddler. Neil has some "my first word" type books and he is pointing at most words and saying them "hat", "airplane" with two syllables, "duck", etc. He also says the names of some animals and then the noise they make. For example, he points at the baby chick, says "chick" and then "bok bok". I think this is pretty advanced for his age based on what I've been reading and seeing. 

Deja vu from last month, right? - but every time we go to church and Dave plays, Neil wants to play too.

Stats:

Diapers – size 3
Clothing - Same as last month. We tend to put him in 18 month tops/onesies/pajamas but he still needs 12 month size in pants, and even some 12 month pants are falling down on him. I'm realizing that even the 18 month tops are a bit big on him. Oops, bought a bunch of 18 month summer clothes figuring 12 month would be too small... Hopefully they'll fit better at the end of summer?

Weight - Neil actually stood on our bathroom scale by himself and it said 23 pounds. It only goes to the half pound.

Height - I didn't try to measure his height myself.

Yes, he is responsible for this mess.

Citrus Lane May 2014

This is the 5th month we've gotten a box from Citrus Lane. We received a box for free and then bought a six month subscription, $126 total (no additional shipping cost) so each box is $21. It was a toss up for me whether I liked this box better or the February box. 

Neil had another crying/clingy day so he actually didn't want to open the box himself right away. I'm thinking Mondays are worse because he misses me more and gets more clingy when I pick him up from daycare. (We received this on a Monday.) I really wanted to take pictures and he didn't want to open the box unless he was sitting in my lap. I almost gave up and had Dave take pictures of the two of us opening the box. Maybe I should do that next month. 

After having the items for this box for about a week, I like this box more than the February box, although I definitely loved both boxes.

Here's a breakdown of the items and how much they would cost on Amazon as of today:

Playground Ball from Crocodile Creek 

This is the first month we didn't get a book in our box. I thought that was kind of a staple. That would make me think I didn't like this box as much but Neil does have a LOT of books. Neil carried this ball around most of the night we got the package so this was definitely a win. Also when he opened the box he pulled the ball out and didn't really care to see what else was in the box. In fact, he had taken out the honey graham sticks and put them right back in so he could play with the ball.

$9.99 on Amazon and eligible for Amazon Prime (free shipping for me since we belong) The price ranged on this product based on what was on the ball so I picked the same one that we received and listed that price.

Snack Container from Goodbyn

This is definitely a score. I've been trying to figure out what containers to use for Neil for daycare. I need to see how much I can fit in this one but I'm thinking it would be perfect for lunch since it has two sides, so I can put in his main meal with protein and then a vegetable or fruit to go with it. If I like this I'll be really tempted to buy some more products from Goodbyn. (And they included a coupon code that's good through the end of July.) I have used it once at daycare and there's a reason it's snack size. It was REALLY nice though to pair two things together and assume daycare will feed him both at the same time. I'm seriously considering buying one of their bigger storage containers for actual lunches.

$11.90 on Amazon and eligible for Amazon Prime.

Stacking Cups from Green Toys

This is the 2nd month we've received something from Green Toys. (Last month it was a car). Neil really liked the stacking cups when I managed to wrench the ball out of his hand and show him that there were other things in the box. The description says that they are volumetrically accurate so they can be used to teach math skills (much) later on. I guess to show that the contents of cups 1 and 2 together would fill cup 3. There are 6 cups and Neil had the hang of stacking them pretty quickly. I showed him that they make a great noise when you bang them together as well. Since opening the box Neil keeps playing with these. I put them in with other toys and he pulls these out before anything else. He really seems to like figuring out how these fit into each other.

$10.99 on Amazon but on sale for $9.99 and eligible for Amazon Prime. 

Fresh Feet Wipes from Jasmine Seven

I'm put these in the diaper bag and I'm sure they will come in handy. Neil is still a messy eater and he also likes to pick up dirty rocks among other things. (The actual package says use for hands or feet even if they are called feet wipes.)

$7.22 on Amazon and eligible for Amazon Prime.

Honey Graham Sticks from Back to Nature

These are really good. They have turned into a "dessert" for Neil at the end of meals and he really likes them. 

$1.00 on Amazon. I could only find this in packs of 32 of these bags, not for individual sale. If I bought a whole box, it's 32 for $29.99 so I just put $1.00 with no shipping as the cost.

Crocodile Creek, Goodbyn, Green Toys, freshfeetwipes.com and Back-to-Nature at Vine.com included coupon codes as well. There was an offer for 25% off VineMarket.com that I will look at but probably won't use. Finally, there was also 20% off my next purchase at Citrus Lane (only valid in the shop, not for subscriptions) in honor of mother's day.

Overall counting the "sale" prices on Amazon the value of the box was $40.10. I really liked this box. As I look at the list I do kind of wish that they had included a book but I wouldn't have given up the ball, snack container, or stacking cups for another book. This is definitely a very good box and I am happy with it. They gave a lot of coupon codes as well as some really nice products. I probably won't use the coupon codes- Dave and I are noticing since having Neil that we definitely spend more and unfortunately I need to cut back and not spend on extra things. This might also mean I do not renew our subscription for Citrus Lane after our 6 month subscription is up. We'll see though. I really like getting these boxes and I think Neil does, too.

Citrus Lane April 2014

This is the 4th month we've gotten a box from Citrus Lane. We bought a six month subscription, $126 total (no additional shipping cost) so each box is $21. My favorite box we’ve received so far is still the February box. This post is a month late just like last month's was (starting a trend I guess) so I can talk again about what/how we've used things from the box.

Neil really likes opening these boxes and it makes it hard to get pictures of the items, haha. I have a few pictures of his little hand grabbing whatever I'm trying to take a picture of.

Here's a breakdown of the items and how much they would cost on Amazon as of today.

We All go Traveling By from Barefoot Books 

Neil still really likes books and of course started flipping through the pages on this one right away. It came with a CD, which we still haven't tried yet and should. I had to put the CD away because Neil kept trying to grab it.

$9.99 on Amazon but on sale for $8.99 and eligible for Amazon Prime (free shipping for me since we belong)

Race Car from Green Toys

Neil does like cars but he hasn't really played with this. It seems like the theme this month was recycled and this car was made from recycled material (plastic milk jugs).

$8.99 on Amazon and eligible for Amazon Prime.

Snack Bowls from Green Eats 

This is my favorite item this month. Neil liked the bowls, too, and wanted to play with them. So the first couple of times I gave them to him with food in them, he tried dumping the food and playing with the bowl. But he's learned to eat OUT of the bowl. These are also made from recycled plastic milk jugs.

$9.51 on Amazon and eligible for Amazon Prime. 

Lemon Verbena Dish Soap from Mrs. Meyers Clean Day

We got dish soap I didn't use a few months ago, and this is more dish soap. We're actually running low on Dawn, which is what we use regularly, so I might use this if I'm too lazy to go out and buy more. We use a dishwasher for most of our dishes, so we don't go through dish soap very quickly. Even a small bottle like this could last quite a long time. I guess we'll see how it works on things like pots and pans.

$3.57 on Amazon +$6.99 shipping.

Green Toys, Green Eats, and Barefoot books included coupon codes as well.

There was also a Greeting Card Offer from Treat which I haven't used. It expires the end of June. I will probably try it out but I don't really like sending greeting cards without at least my handwriting on it. Maybe I'm being an old curmudgeon. Looking at treat.com, this would cost $3.49 (not sure if there are fees or anything else).

So overall counting the "sale" prices on Amazon the value of the box was $41.54. This includes the value of the free greeting card. They had it listed with a picture so I think they consider that one of the box items. I'm actually surprised that it added up to this much. I was thinking this was a cheap box and honestly this is one of my least favorite. We did read the book once but haven't since (I need to go find it). Neil doesn't seem to care too much about the car. I don't really want more dish soap... But spoiler alert, as I post this, the May box and the February box are now ties between which I liked the most. (We got the May box on Monday of this week.)

15 months

Neil turned 15 months on April 29th.

I think we have a daredevil kid. This kid has no fear. He loves to go down steps (thinks he can) and twice now we’ve accidentally left the gate open at the top of the stairs, and he’s made a beeline straight for the stairs to go down them. Both times I caught him, the 2^nd right as he was stepping off. This kid is going to give me a heart attack one of these days. (Both times he headed for the stairs my heart was racing for a few minutes after I caught him.) 

We also had our first bloody injury. Neil is starting to carry (kid sized) chairs around. It’s so cute. He drags it around (and through areas that it doesn’t fit but somehow he finds a way) and sits in it. One day while sitting in it he leaned over and tipped the whole thing over, falling in the cat’s food dish. He ended up with a small black and blue mark on his chin and also bit his lip enough that it was bleeding. I’m sure this is just a preview of what’s to come. 

And as most kids are (from what I hear) he manages to find whatever we have out that he ISN’T supposed to have. We are learning very quickly what is baby proofed and what is not. 

Neil got his 3^rd tooth this month! And I think a 4^th is coming in. He got the top right tooth. I don’t have pictures of any of this teeth. For the most part teething doesn’t seem to affect him too much. He seems to get a bit more clingy but I honestly can’t tell if that’s from teething or just him being clingy. We give him Hyland’s teething tablets if it seems like he’s pointing at his mouth or something like that. 

Neil still eats like a champ, with the same preferences. We try to vary what he gets but I know sometimes kids prefer having the same thing over and over again. We tried making Kraft Macaroni and Cheese one day out of laziness and he didn’t like it. I will say, though, that he does seem to get into a mood for certain types of foods at times. My big “dilemma” right now is daycare lunch. They have asked us to bring in food for lunch that doesn’t need to be heated up to give the kids more time to play outside. But we just give Neil some of what we had for dinner the night before. He doesn’t really like sandwiches. So I’m trying to think of ideas for him. Often lunch is his biggest meal of the day, so I want to make sure he gets protein and good food. 

Starting to feed himself with a spoon. It's pretty messy.

I’m still nursing morning and night although my supply is continuing to drop. But he still wants it and it’s still time to bond together so we’re continuing. I have a feeling as my supply continues to drop he might eventually just say forget it. 

Sitting at the drums at church

Neil is definitely a musical kid; he’s been dancing from a young age. Now he is “singing” to the alphabet song, and likes to play the piano when I play it. At church, Dave was playing the drums. They have practice before the church service so we were there for that. A few times between practice and church, and then after the church service, Neil headed up to the front of the sanctuary. It took me a couple of times to realize he was trying to climb up to the drums. Before the service, I put him in the seat (in my lap) and he actually grabbed the drum sticks and started hitting both the drum and the cymbal. Dave was so proud! (So was I of course.)

 

At an Easter Egg hunt. He just grabbed an egg in each hand and then watched everyone else.

Neil is still throwing temper tantrums and I just ignore them. Actually, sometimes I have to admit I cause them. He thinks when I say “ouch” it’s funny and sometimes hits and pinches me (and has even bitten nursing a time or two but I think he’s just testing me there). Each time now I take him and put him on the floor, which to him is the worst thing in the world and starts a temper tantrum. I leave him for a bit and then pick him up and tell him not to hit anymore. Sometimes I feel mean but hopefully he will understand that “ow” isn’t funny. He still laughs anytime I say “ow.”

 

In the morning at daycare

Neil is talking up a storm and his vocabulary is just increasing. It’s still hard to understand most of the time, but he still signs along with some words, especially “please”. He says please a lot, because he’s realized it helps him get what he wants. We try to not always respond to please with a yes though, if it’s something he doesn’t need. Most of the time though he says please and it’s for something appropriate. He continues to repeat things, to the point that he says phrases back. He has started saying “hot” a lot and he knows if something is hot you blow on it (so he blows out).

We got some outside toys- a little trike roller thing, a cozy coupe, and a quad with a battery and a pushbutton instead of pedals. He doesn’t like to sit on the trike, but pushes both the trike and cozy coupe. He likes to open and close the door of the cozy coupe. So far he doesn’t like the quad at all.

 Stats:

Diapers – size 3
Clothing - We tend to put him in 18 month tops/onesies/pajamas but he still needs 12 month size in pants, and even some 12 month pants are falling down on him. He can still fit 12 month tops but I put a bunch of them away when I pulled out the 18 month clothes.

Weight - 22 pounds 4 ounces

Height - Not sure. At the doctor's they measured him as LESS than at the 12 month appointment which isn't right. I meant to measure myself but just never got around to it.

This picture is from Easter Sunday at my mom's church.

Boys Behind The Blog May Edition

This is the last month that there will be a blog link up. I really liked these posts (and so did Dave), and I found some new blogs to follow when I actually have time to read other blogs (haven't been recently). I've been neglecting my blog more and more lately, and this post is later than I would normally post it because I actually gave Dave the questions last night. (He complained he didn't get much time to answer them, oops!). This month has is just flying by. Anyway, I will miss these posts but here is the last installment. The introductory paragraph below is from Dave.

I'm really kinda bummed that this is the last time for these...  I really liked doing these.  Maybe if some of you still want to know more, you could ask and I still could do these monthly.  I know of at least one question that was asked of me previously that I could answer.  

1. What was your first job? My first job was a paperboy. I did that for a number of years throughout middle school and jr high. Then I was a dishwasher at a local restaurant for a few years during jr and sr high. Then McDonalds for I think 6 or 7 years during high school,college, and even while I had my first real job for just about a year. That first real job I was a temp working as an accountant for a local steel company in the Pittsburgh area, then they hired me full time. I can't remember exactly when I quit Micky D's, but it was around when they hired me full time.  
2. What is the biggest risk you've ever taken? Getting married? Having a kid? lol! Geez... I dunno... I've never really thought about it.  
3. What is one thing you can't live without?

Jen and Neil. and well... technically air, food, water, etc... Maybe music, especially from Rush. (you know I had to throw in a Rush reference this one last time).
4. What is your least favorite food? My least favorite food would probably be sauerkraut. I used to love it. Mom used to make kielbasa and sauerkraut, and I used to eat it all up when I was a kid. Then I got sick one time and actually threw it up. Not sure if it was the sauerkraut or not, but I've never really eaten it since. It just turns my stomach now. Blah! But I still like kielbasa, I just pick around the sauerkraut.
5. If you could time travel, where/when would you go? Hmmm... First I'd go back to the old west, seek out Mr The Kid, play some cards, and get in a bar fight. Then to ancient Greece to philosophize with Socrates (pronounced so-crates). Then maybe to England, 15th century, suit up in some medieval armor while hitting a dude with a bone (he's a total bone head), then get threatened by some royal ugly dudes with the iron maiden (Excellent!) and execution (bogus), then escaping in the nick of time to the early 1900's for the start of some extra credit: "How's it going Fruud dude!"  "Want a Twinkie?"  "Candy gram!"  It would be a most excellent adventure!