Seventeen Months Old
Our little monkey bug turned seventeen months old today. He celebrated by having a frozen fruit sorbet after dinner, helping Mommy with the laundry, and spoon-feeding himself yogurt before bedtime. It was a pretty low-key evening, but that's just how Asher rolls.
Asher's comprehension continues to amaze me with each day. I tell him to stand up, and he stands. I tell him to bring me a book, and he'll walk over to his bin of books, pick one out, and bring it to me. I tell him to find his ball, and he starts searching the room for his ball. The other evening while he was eating some crackers, I asked him where Elmo was on the box. Imagine this - he pointed to him! This evening I was reading Parents Magazine and, of course, he started whining because I wasn't paying full attention to him. So, I leaned over and asked him - where is the baby? where is the little girl? where is the cow? - and HOLY CRAP he knew! He pointed to each one without a mistake. The best one was when I showed him a picture of a man and a toddler and asked him to point to the daddy in the picture. Asher looked around, then looked up and pointed to Stephen. Oh, Son. Sometimes I think it really is possible to be too cute.
A big reason why I think I'm so impressed and relieved and shocked by Asher's comprehension is the fact that he STILL isn't talking. I know, I know - kids all develop at different rates, and I've read a million times that some babies don't say their real first words until around age 2. Asher can say mama, dada, and papa, and he does speak a lot of his own mumbo-jumbo language, and sometimes he'll try to imitate words, but I haven't heard any concrete English words, yet. Well, supposedly a couple of weeks ago he said kitty twice, but I've yet to hear it. I know I'm just a worrier - it's in my nature to think the worst and anyone who knows me knows I have zero patience. I've been very good, though, about not expressing this concern to Asher or pushing him too much. I just try to talk, talk, talk to him as much as I can, and keep that pacifier out of his mouth as much as possible when he doesn't appear to need it. Which is another thing some people have questioned me about - OH HE STILL USES A PACIFIER?! Good grief, really? Is THAT what I need to be fretting about? I always provide the same, vague answer of you have to pick your battles, and this isn't one I feel needs fighting right now. Maybe this is because I was a thumb-sucker for many years beyond what most would consider "normal." I couldn't fall asleep without it. I was scared of the dark, scared of going to sleep, scared of ghosts, scared of burglars, scared of everything under the moon, and the one thing that brought me comfort was my thumb. So be it. My mom never pushed me to give it up and never made me feel bad about it, although I can remember I felt very ashamed and embarassed about my dark little secret. Maybe that's why I was such a good kid and never did drugs or smoked or had sex - I had my addictions fulfilled in my thumb! What really strikes me as funny is that some of these people who have given me a hard time about his pacifier are the same people who in previous conversations belittled me for my beliefs in the importance of breastfeeding or putting my newborn baby to sleep on his back. Okay, so your priority is ridding your baby of his sucking needs; my priority is my baby's safety and health. By the way, annoying-judgmental-person, did you know sucking on a pacifier can help reduce the risk of SIDS? Oh wait, you also think placing a baby to sleep on his back to reduce the risk of SIDS is ridiculous, sorry!
I'm so fired up about something so minor, and just think - this is just the tip of the iceberg of all of the unwanted advice and opinions and criticism I'm going to receive regarding my parenting skills (or lack thereof). The real issue here lies not in Asher's pacifier, but rather in how to prevent myself from committing a very serious crime.
The picky eating issue continues to rear its ugly head and gnaw on that one last little nerve I still possess. This is the current list of foods that Asher will eat on a regular basis: chicken nuggets, fish sticks, grilled cheese, oatmeal, cereal bars, cereal, bananas, watermelon, applesauce, cheese (only if it's orange in color), french fries, corn, yogurt, crackers, and chicken noodle soup. I know it could be worse and it's a fairly good list, but when you spread these foods over three meals a day, every day of the week, it turns out to not be a very big variety. We continue to offer as much variety as we can, but just getting him to try a new food - let alone him liking it - is all so very hit-and-miss that it's easy to fall back on the same old foods. We tried peas for the hundredth time tonight. He wouldn't let even one past his lips, and we were punished with spitty raspberries. Lima beans he tried and seemed to like the first time I gave it to him; now he won't even bring himself to touch them. Grapes, we've tried unsuccessfully a couple of times before, but last night we gave him some (sliced) and he somewhat reluctantly ate a few. I know it's normal, I know we're doing all we can do, but ARGH.
Child, eat your peas! Mommy is going gray over the fact that you go DAYS without eating ANY vegetables!
Despite a nasty cold and his first almost-ear infection (the doctor said he was showing signs of one starting), Asher is doing really well. Once the lump in his gums gives birth to a tooth, he'll be up to ten chompers. He's energetic, climbing all over everything he can, running from here to there and everywhere. He does whine and fuss - he is a toddler! - but he is mostly a very happy, smiley little guy. Stephen puts it best when he says that Asher makes friends everywhere he goes. He loves everyone and I think he makes the world a tiny bit better every time he flashes one of his charming, cheesy smiles to the grumpy checkout lady at Wal-Mart or waves bye-bye to some lonely old man at McDonald's. Those are the times when I could care less that he has a pacifier stuck in his mouth or has eaten chicken nuggets for lunch the past three days straight. He's happy and healthy and all mine, and that's all that matters!
Asher's comprehension continues to amaze me with each day. I tell him to stand up, and he stands. I tell him to bring me a book, and he'll walk over to his bin of books, pick one out, and bring it to me. I tell him to find his ball, and he starts searching the room for his ball. The other evening while he was eating some crackers, I asked him where Elmo was on the box. Imagine this - he pointed to him! This evening I was reading Parents Magazine and, of course, he started whining because I wasn't paying full attention to him. So, I leaned over and asked him - where is the baby? where is the little girl? where is the cow? - and HOLY CRAP he knew! He pointed to each one without a mistake. The best one was when I showed him a picture of a man and a toddler and asked him to point to the daddy in the picture. Asher looked around, then looked up and pointed to Stephen. Oh, Son. Sometimes I think it really is possible to be too cute.
A big reason why I think I'm so impressed and relieved and shocked by Asher's comprehension is the fact that he STILL isn't talking. I know, I know - kids all develop at different rates, and I've read a million times that some babies don't say their real first words until around age 2. Asher can say mama, dada, and papa, and he does speak a lot of his own mumbo-jumbo language, and sometimes he'll try to imitate words, but I haven't heard any concrete English words, yet. Well, supposedly a couple of weeks ago he said kitty twice, but I've yet to hear it. I know I'm just a worrier - it's in my nature to think the worst and anyone who knows me knows I have zero patience. I've been very good, though, about not expressing this concern to Asher or pushing him too much. I just try to talk, talk, talk to him as much as I can, and keep that pacifier out of his mouth as much as possible when he doesn't appear to need it. Which is another thing some people have questioned me about - OH HE STILL USES A PACIFIER?! Good grief, really? Is THAT what I need to be fretting about? I always provide the same, vague answer of you have to pick your battles, and this isn't one I feel needs fighting right now. Maybe this is because I was a thumb-sucker for many years beyond what most would consider "normal." I couldn't fall asleep without it. I was scared of the dark, scared of going to sleep, scared of ghosts, scared of burglars, scared of everything under the moon, and the one thing that brought me comfort was my thumb. So be it. My mom never pushed me to give it up and never made me feel bad about it, although I can remember I felt very ashamed and embarassed about my dark little secret. Maybe that's why I was such a good kid and never did drugs or smoked or had sex - I had my addictions fulfilled in my thumb! What really strikes me as funny is that some of these people who have given me a hard time about his pacifier are the same people who in previous conversations belittled me for my beliefs in the importance of breastfeeding or putting my newborn baby to sleep on his back. Okay, so your priority is ridding your baby of his sucking needs; my priority is my baby's safety and health. By the way, annoying-judgmental-person, did you know sucking on a pacifier can help reduce the risk of SIDS? Oh wait, you also think placing a baby to sleep on his back to reduce the risk of SIDS is ridiculous, sorry!I'm so fired up about something so minor, and just think - this is just the tip of the iceberg of all of the unwanted advice and opinions and criticism I'm going to receive regarding my parenting skills (or lack thereof). The real issue here lies not in Asher's pacifier, but rather in how to prevent myself from committing a very serious crime.
The picky eating issue continues to rear its ugly head and gnaw on that one last little nerve I still possess. This is the current list of foods that Asher will eat on a regular basis: chicken nuggets, fish sticks, grilled cheese, oatmeal, cereal bars, cereal, bananas, watermelon, applesauce, cheese (only if it's orange in color), french fries, corn, yogurt, crackers, and chicken noodle soup. I know it could be worse and it's a fairly good list, but when you spread these foods over three meals a day, every day of the week, it turns out to not be a very big variety. We continue to offer as much variety as we can, but just getting him to try a new food - let alone him liking it - is all so very hit-and-miss that it's easy to fall back on the same old foods. We tried peas for the hundredth time tonight. He wouldn't let even one past his lips, and we were punished with spitty raspberries. Lima beans he tried and seemed to like the first time I gave it to him; now he won't even bring himself to touch them. Grapes, we've tried unsuccessfully a couple of times before, but last night we gave him some (sliced) and he somewhat reluctantly ate a few. I know it's normal, I know we're doing all we can do, but ARGH.Child, eat your peas! Mommy is going gray over the fact that you go DAYS without eating ANY vegetables!
Despite a nasty cold and his first almost-ear infection (the doctor said he was showing signs of one starting), Asher is doing really well. Once the lump in his gums gives birth to a tooth, he'll be up to ten chompers. He's energetic, climbing all over everything he can, running from here to there and everywhere. He does whine and fuss - he is a toddler! - but he is mostly a very happy, smiley little guy. Stephen puts it best when he says that Asher makes friends everywhere he goes. He loves everyone and I think he makes the world a tiny bit better every time he flashes one of his charming, cheesy smiles to the grumpy checkout lady at Wal-Mart or waves bye-bye to some lonely old man at McDonald's. Those are the times when I could care less that he has a pacifier stuck in his mouth or has eaten chicken nuggets for lunch the past three days straight. He's happy and healthy and all mine, and that's all that matters!
Here are his pictures from the past month.
3 comments:
Emerson still uses her pacifier. We don't send it to daycare with her so she goes all day without it but she has to have it as soon as she gets in the car. And she seems to want it more when she's teething.
Kim, everyone is going to judge you about something and there will always be something you are doing wrong in the eyes of others....I've learned to just live my life and parent the way I want.
And cute pics of Asher!
I agree with Dawn, everyone will always have something to say about how others parent their children. Sloan never used a pacifier but don't tell her I told you but she sucked her thumb at night for way longer then any baby used a paci! Asher is not going to be a 30 year old man walking around with a pacifier and if it makes him happy then hello....its making him happy!!! Us moms just put too much pressure on each other!
I can't believe how big Asher looks in his photos! He looks like a toddler. :(
Rowan's still using his paci, but now mainly when he sleeps or if he's in the car or stroller. AND he's added a blankie over the past few months. The last thing I'm going to do is take all that away from him when he's going to be moving to a new house soon. But I do know how hard it is NOT to become defensive when people give you "the eye" about the pacifier.
And everything you've said about picky eating - all true for Rowan too. Stephen, Jeff and I were all very picky eaters when we were little, so maybe it's hereditary? (I think Stephen is the champ, though). I read recently this doctor's advice to a fretful mother over her kid's poor eating habits: "Is he drinking milk? Then he won't die. He's fine." Love it!
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