Collin James is 19 Months

Yes, I am starting to deal with the fact that my child is getting closer and closer to being a two-year-old.  Still no signs of anything “terrible” but he has been known to throw a temper tantrum here and there.  Here are his most recent stats:

Height – 30.5 inches & Weight – 24 pounds

He is talking more and more every day, and now frequently puts together phrases.  I wouldn’t call them sentences yet, but they probably will be soon.  Some of my favorites:

“shoes car store” = Put on my shoes, let’s get in the car and go to the store.

“cookie beau-beau” = Can I give Beau a dog treat?

“Dada car” = When is Dada going to drive home in his car?

He is also realizing that if he adds “please” to the end of a request then mommy is much more likely to go along with it…such as “up please” or “cookie please” or “outside please”.  Too cute & too hard for mommy to say no to!!

He is still a sleeping champ, although it is really hard for me to get everything done during the day now that he is only taking 1 nap.  We do bath time around 7 or 7:15pm then he is asleep in the crib by 7:45 or 8:00pm.  He is up some time between 7 and 7:30am then usually naps around 1:30pm but rarely sleeps for more than an hour.

He is becoming more and more picky with his eating…I have done more and more research on toddler eating, and Son and I have had numerous discussions on what is right for our family.  We are trying to find a happy medium between one extreme “You eat what we eat or you don’t eat” and another “You can just eat your favorites all the time”.

It’s tough and it’s been really hard trying to decide what to do and balance my tendency to be more strict, with Son’s tendency to be more lenient.  So for now we have compromised with serving Collin a plate at dinner time with us that has a portion of what we are eating, plus one other healthy item (usually a veggie) that we know he will eat.  It’s not perfect but are just learning about this as we go and trying to do the right thing :)

Collin’s favorite activities involve anything outside.  One of his favorite things is trying to throw his bouncy balls up on the roof, or catching them as they roll off after Son has thrown them up for him.  He also LOVES going to the park…if we even drive by a playground of any kind without stopping he points out the window and starts whining “play play play please” in a really sad voice.  He is starting to learn to jump and he thinks it is hilarious!

“I love drawing with Da-da!  Especially early on Saturday mornings when we both have crazy hair :)”

Some of his favorite toys are cars, crayons, books, and balls.  If we are in the store I swear he can see a car or a ball 3 aisles away, and starts saying “car car please” or “ball ball please”.  This is one of those times that, unfortunately for Collin, “please” usually does not work.

He also LOVES watching “Elmo’s World”, “Yo Gabba Gabba”, “Singing Babies” from cousin Lilo, and a “Bible Songs” DVD that is slowly growing on him.  He asks for “Elmo” “Gabba Gabba” and “Babies” constantly but we limit it to one video in the morning after breakfast while mommy is cleaning up & drinking her coffee, and then he can have them on in the background while we are playing after dinner/before bedtime.

I think we have pretty much decided to move him up to a “big boy bed” in January…or at least give it a try.  Even though we have a sleeper sofa, I just hate the thought of giving up our guest bedroom, so what I would like to try is let Collin keep the full-size bed when we move him into that room…if we push it into the corner where he has less space to fall out, then add a bed rail, I think he can do it.  A few months ago I was convinced that we just needed two cribs for a while, but Son has now convinced me that Collin is ready, and I think he is right :)

We also found out for sure that Collin will have to have surgery in January.  It is a very very minor outpatient procedure, but he will still have to be put under general anesthesia, and it will be about a 2-week recovery.  I am not looking forward to seeing him in pain for those 2-weeks, and I think the most difficult thing will be just to see him hurting and not be able to explain to him why or that he will be better soon.  It’s not a super-urgent thing, but the surgeon told us that around 3 years old is when they may start remembering things like surgery, so we are just going to take care of it now while there is no way he will have a memory of it.  And also before baby #2 comes so that I will be able to devote 100% to him during that time.

“But Mommy, I want to be in the bump pictures too!”

So that’s the latest on my little man :)