seventeen months

I love having a little boy. I think all of the people that tell me that boys aren't fun to dress are dead wrong. I think I get an almost bigger laugh about dressing him up in a button-down shirt and jeans than I do about putting tights and dresses on Renee. Plus, Cam's a lot less picky about his attire at this point so he'll roll with almost anything. As long as there is OUTSIDE! or DOWNSTAIRS! involved, he doesn't care. When his sister still throws herself on the floor if you try to get her to wear real pants (read: JEANS), putting adorable denim on him without him throwing any kind of fit at all is FUN.

Whereas she reserves her fits for clothing choices and peeing on a potty, he throws fits about everything else that doesn't involve staggering around outside reinjuring his bum foot over and over again. Seriously, the kid is going to be limping until he's fifteen at this rate. He WILL NOT sit still. Just when I think the foot is getting better he decides to climb up on the couch or up the playground and that usually ends with him crying and pointing at his foot in pain. And then we start all over again. SUCKS.

He's two teeth away from having his molars and his eye teeth out of the way. Renee still doesn't have her two year molars so I'm hoping this means we are about to get a break from the endless cycle of teething. Administer Motrin or Tylenol, pat and soothe, snuggle, snuggle, REPEAT UNTIL INFINITY. He's cutting one of his bottom eye teeth now and is NOT PLEASED about it. In fact he's been awake every hour or so all night for a few days now. He's gotten a lot better about going back to sleep but he still wakes up to check in often in the night. I have the feeling that Cameron will be wandering in to our room in the middle of the night for a long time. Like, I won't be surprised if he's eleven and still not sleeping through the night. I don't think he'll ever sleep through the night. I just don't think he's made that way. I'm finally OK with it, as long as he just needs a little reassurance to go back to sleep. He's trained us to just get over it and expect it. He won.

He eats with a fork and will not start eating until he is given a fork. He has better fine motor skills on that front at seventeen months than Renee does at almost three. I don't think he likes to get his hands dirty. He likes hotdogs, grilled ham and cheese, grapes, avocados, pears, carrots and anything sweet. I love the look on his face when I sneak him an m&m or some (eggless) banana bread. He looks so pleased with himself and right after the first taste starts making the sign for and shouting the word MORE!

His language has exploded in the last couple of weeks. My favorite words he says are Peet (Peek), Do-staaaiiirs (downstairs), Hot (emphasis on the T), A-nae (Renee), A bath (I love that he thinks the word is abath instead of just bath). I love that when we mention Nena or Rama he ALWAYS says Papa! or Grandpa! like he thinks it's a little joke he's telling by picking the dudes over the ladies. My mom was here over the weekend and he would stand at the basement door where she was and say PAPA! Even though Papa was at home and he knew damn well it was Rama down there. Little comedian. He'd get this little shit eating grin on his face when I'd tell him it was Rama downstairs.

He likes balls and driving cars and just wandering around outside. He plays with all of the toys that she never liked. It is so bizarre. He still wants anything out of reach or anything that he isn't supposed to have. It's like the grill spatula with the knife edge has a magnet pulling him towards it. He loses his mind when anyone (especially his sister) takes anything away from him.

He's always hurting himself and has not had a bruiseless face in weeks. In addition to the sprained foot we've had bloody noses and big bumps and bruises. His shins look like someone has been kicking him in the shins every day for the last month. He's too busy and curious and boyish for his own good.

We're getting ready for a trip to the allergist where I'm pretty convinced we are going to be told he's allergic to everything. We've seen a LOT of sneezing and watery eyes since spring has shown up and when you factor in the egg allergy that is still pretty obvious and the antibiotic reaction he had last month and I'm pretty sure we're going to have issues on that front. I hope I'm wrong.

I finally got him in for his 15 month well baby visit and he's 50th percentile for weight and 70th for height so he's still holding his own on that front. He's a hard baby to hold and I'm always convinced he must be abnormally large but he's not apparently. Like my mom said over the weekend, "He doesn't help you out." His chest is built like a linebacker but his actual weight and height say otherwise. I've been putting some 2T shirts on him recently to cover up his adorable pot belly.

I hold him for a long time at night before laying him down in bed willing him to stay small enough to lay on my lap for just a while longer. It's the only time of the day that he snuggles and I eat up every second of it. He grew up too fast. His dad and I go to battle every night about who gets to read him books before bed because it is so amazing to cuddle up with him and watch him say flower or duck or cup for the first time ever while recognizing it in a book and because we both know he won't be little for much longer. We love you, Bubster, C-man, Sunny, Stooge McDuck. We're glad you are ours.

Comments

[The Mommy]

What a sweetie! I like to soak up all of the snuggle time I can get, too!

Isn't it funny? My second son also used a spoon and fork WAY better than his brother did WAY earlier (and still does)!

And sleeping through the night? HA! Haven't done it in 7 loooooong years. I'll let you know when it happens on a regular basis!!

Your photos are gorgeous! And your "subjects" are so cute!! Keep 'em comin'!

[Melissa]

Too cute! I can't believe your little baby is already 17 months old. We need to get up there and visit, soon! Great post!