20 months

Neil is 20 months now. He in general is still a good kid although he of course has his moments as all kids do.

Neil is still tentative on the stairs and always wants to hold our hands (and the banister with his other hand if possible). I'm really surprised how tentative he is but this could also be a blessing just because he's not running around jumping off things and stuff (yet).

Foodwise Neil still seems to prefer chicken over beef, and I still make fish type stuff for Dave and him at times. (I don't personally like seafood.) Neil doesn't really eat sandwiches, unless he has fish and I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Then he decides he wants what Mommy has. Go figure. With the fall, he is eating slices of apples (not boiled/steamed- the first time he didn't want it because it wasn't soft but since then he's been fine), as well as peaches. We introduced him to the song Peaches by Presidents of the USA and he will now yell "Look out" when he says peaches.

Every so often daycare mentions Neil biting but as usual he doesn't really do it around us so I'm not really sure what to do. We do say no biting. And I think they put him in time out when he does it at daycare.

Speaking of daycare, I am very happy with how things are going there. Since it's smaller they let the kids somewhat set their pace and they allow Neil to sit in on preschool classes even though he's too young. He brings home papers (just kind of colors on them) and actually wants to sit and learn; he even sits in on the Spanish classes! He has started spelling his name although I'm not sure he made the connection that N-E-I-L is Neil. But if you ask him to spell his name, if he's in the mood, he now spells it.

Neil also loves music as usual and sings a lot. He is always walking around and singing various songs. His favorites at the moment are No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Ring Around the Rosy, Happy Birthday, and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. If I start the ABC song he will sing it all the way through. And he sings along with me when I sing Working on the Railroad. Those are just a few that seem to be his favorites- he also sings with me when I play Raffi songs on piano.

We have hit the no stage. Is this part of the terrible twos? Neil loves saying no. To everything. Neil, do you want to go outside? No. (As he is running out the door.) Neil do you like to read? No. (Um yes he does.)

I think that naptime is shorter now. It used to be that he would nap 2-3 hours on the weekends for us but now it seems to be closer to 2 hours most of the time.

I am done nursing! I did wean Neil of the night session and it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought. At first I just kept telling him that mommy's milk is almost gone. Then after a bit of that I started singing the ABC's and telling him when the song was over we're done. After a bit of this he actually stopped asking one night so I didn't offer. That was it. He did ask once a few nights later and I just said no, and he hasn't asked since. Kinda bittersweet but it's also really nice. Now instead of nursing he and I read a book together. He LOVES to read with us so he doesn't seem to mind. And he walks to his crib, giving Daddy a hug and kiss on the way.

Stats:
Clothing - We put away the summer stuff and pulled out fall/winter and with that put away all 12 month clothes. 12 month paths fits his waist but are too short so we're just dealing with 18 month pants.

Diapers – size 4 
Shoes - size 5

Weight - 25.5

Height -  I did not measure this myself.