Friday, March 17, 2017

William: 15 Months


15 Month Stats

Weight: 23lb & 10oz (64%)
Length: 32 inches (80%)
Head Size: 18.5 inches (56%)

Eating: Everything! But, for real, nothing is really off limits. William had a couple Doritos and loved them (although I wasn't crazy about him having it). Bret gives him SMALL bites of a donut on Sunday mornings (that's our donut day!). Will doesn't have a lot of sugar as we don't give him juice, cookies, or much desserts. At this time, blueberries, strawberries, and yogurt drops are his desserts. He drinks ultra-filtered whole milk and water throughout the day. We do need to get better at giving him a variety of vegetables. Hopefully, during the summer we can get to some farmers' markets and get some fresh food for him!

Bedtime: William is maintaining a good 7:40pm bedtime right now. We have a bedtime routine down of starting a sippy of milk and pjs about 7pm, playing with low lights in his room, saying bye to Bret if it's a work night, brushing teeth after he drinks his milk, one last diaper change, a story, and prayers. He cuddles with his blanket on our laps when he is read to. Then, it's into the crib with one blanket to cuddle and one to cover up with. He is doing great at night! I wake him about 7am on weekdays and let him sleep in on weekend (& spring break), but get him up by 7:40am. I think during the summer, I'll just let him wake whenever he wakes, not go in there to get him up. Especially with just taking one nap now.

Naps: We are currently in the middle of transitioning to one nap a day. He has been on this schedule at daycare almost from day on, but taken two naps here at home consistently. I guess we aren't as exciting as daycare, nothing to stay up and watch. It makes for a long morning, but Will goes to bed about 12:45/1:00 and sleeps between 2-3 hours. He even fell asleep on me which hasn't happened in a long time. I try to keep him busy in the morning to wear him out!

Diapers: Still rockin' size 3 & moved to overnight diapers for nighttime sleep

Clothes: Will wears 12mo shirts & pants (moving out of onesies for the most part), although the neck hole is getting a little tight over his head and the pants are getting a bit short. In sleepers, he has moved up to 18mo. I wanted to be sure they weren't too tight on him while he slept. I did get out all of his 10mo clothes and wash them so we are ready for them now! I love looking at the fun clothes he has so wear!

Favorites: I am so thankful for his Aden & Anais blankets (like these)! He loves them so much!! When he is upset about anything, they comfort him almost more than Bret or I can. He also knows they mean it's time to get cozy and go to sleep. He will get them from his crib and bring them to us, letting us know he is sleepy.

He also loves household items more than his toys. His current favorites are the broom & dustpan. He had a meltdown when I took them away from him so we could get him in the stroller and go for a walk. He likes to imitate Bret and I cleaning (Dr said this is great!). He also enjoys the silicone baking pans to be worn as hats and the old tried & true, the half-full water bottle.

One of our favorite thing he has started doing is stamping his feet when he gets excited! It's like he cannot contain his excitement and has to let it out somehow. He does a little dance next to us (if we are holding what he wants) or next to they object/toy that riles him up. Usually it has to do with food, William's great love.

Dislikes: Diaper changes are not a favorite of Will! I usually try to have something ready to distract him so get the deed done. When he doesn't get his way, sometimes he throws whatever is in his hands and/or has a mini-tantrum. We do our best to ignore him & say, "You're okay, buddy, that's just not a choice right now." Again, distraction works wonders for this!

Development: William is working on communication. He says: dada (most said word!), mama, nana (banana), na (snack/food), soe (shoe), ha (hat), oof oof (woof woof, when there is a dog), and signs 'more' and 'all done'. When it's time to eat, all we have so say is, "Let's eat, get to your chair" and he runs to his high chair and smacks it until we lift him into it. He understands most of what we say to him, asking him to do/not do things. We need to point out colors, the names of random things (environmental print), and count things as well.

He recognizes more and more people, in person and in pictures/videos. He loves to FaceTime with Mila & Nellie. When he hears the FaceTime ring, he runs over to my phone to watch the video of them pop up. They always make funny faces and silly noises to get him to smile. I love that they can see each other even with miles & miles between us!!

William is a rock star walker. Walking wasn't fast enough, so he wants to run everywhere he goes! His balance is great and he moves over uneven surfaces pretty well. Will is almost always carrying something in his hands/arms, but doesn't let that slow him down.

Looking Forward To: I am looking forward to summer break with William! I know it will be a lot of togetherness & I may even regret saying that. But he has awesome grandparents that {thankfully} love watching him and give me a break from the non-stop William Show.

According to our doctor, what we need to be working on between now & his next appointment (18 month appointment): 
-teaching him the names of body parts (he has nose and eyes pretty well; and belly!)
-independent play (which he will do, but he likes someone to be in the room with him)
-can introduce crayons, but encourage them to be used on paper as opposed to being eaten!
-consistent with rules

Upcoming milestones to watch for: 
-indicate what they want by pointing & grunting instead of crying
-waving "hi" and "bye" consistently
-continuing to imitate our actions (e.g., doing housework, cooking, laundry)
-understand what "no" means
-expanding vocabulary

*Dr. Nash gave William a clean bill of health and said he is doing great in all his development areas!

outtake :)

the table is now a chair, it gets flipped daily



a little tow nail clipping with your milk

Life is fun!

slides are beginning to be exciting, not scary


Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Day off Work/Daycare = Open Gym

It was a long weekend for me (off Friday after conferences & Monday for Presidents' Day) and Will was off daycare as well. After three days of being inside at home or only out to take walks and play in the driveway, we needed to get out & go somewhere! A gymnastics place in Olathe has open gym on certain days for littles for only $5! We just couldn't pass that up!!

Will liked to play with anything he could push or pull. As soon as we got there, he found a little scooter car like he has at home. No need to ride it, he just wanted to push it around. After he was done with the scooter car, it was onto the vacuum. If only I could get him to be just as excited to do household chores at home!

'No time for pics, mama! I've got to play!!'
More chores to be done at the gym! Once the place was all vacuumed up, Will thought the floor needed some mowing. He was all over the place with that mower! He climbed up a play structure and went down the slide (the pink one in the background of the mower pic) with just a little assistance. Quite the daredevil we have here!
 

'Again with the pics, mama, just let me play!!'

He rocked the fish rocker (no riding on it) and explored tunnels as well.

Hands down, Will's favorite toy of the day was this huge green wagon! Again, he did not want to ride in it, but only wanted to push & pull it around. If he let go of it and another kid started playing with it, Will just followed them around, waiting for them be done. He was like a bouncer or mafia man, just following the wagon closely so he could nab it from whoever had it. We worked a little on redirection for this little guy ;)

Overall, Will did a great job! Especially with how many other (& bigger) kids there were there. He didn't try to take toys away from any kids (besides the green wagon stalking...) and moved around kids as they ran by him. Some of the floor were uneven, between mats, but he did a great job navigating that and popping right back up if/when he fell. This open gym has more times over Spring Break & you better believe we will be there!

Friday, February 17, 2017

Quick Visit to Lawrence

I had Parent/Teacher conferences this week (Wed/Thurs) and had Friday off, we our little family went to Lawrence & Topeka for the afternoon. The weather in Kansas has been unseasonably amazing in February so we took advantage!

First stop: Bret's favorite place to eat --> Papa Keno's Pizza. We ate there the day after we got married (and countless other times during our years at KU) so it's a special place for us. The pieces of pizza are about half the size of Will, so he shared with us. He loved watching everyone and spending time with us that he normally doesn't get with Bret's work schedule.

We also stopped by the KU Alumni Center to say hi to a friend of ours who works there and check out all the fun KU memorabilia they have. William made himself right at home and explored all over the place. He made friends will all the office ladies that were there and even introduced himself to the director.

Matching basketballs:

Family picture:

Being an avid KU fan is exhausting, good thing I can nap in the car!

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Food!

Bret and I have decided that we may need to take on more work to supplement what will be our grocery bill in our near & far future with William! When he eats, he eats a full adult-sized meal and almost always finishes everything on his plate. And you better give him yogurt bites for dessert or you will hear about it! The other day at daycare, for breakfast, he had FOUR pieces of toast and sausage :)

He knows when it's time to eat and will point to the table or his chair if it's getting a little past that time. We can say, "Time to eat, go to your chair!" and he will run over to his chair, ready to be picked up and food to be in front of time.



Hey there, got any snacks?!?

Friday, January 20, 2017

Table Fun!

Will got this activity table from his Nana & Papa and it has been a staple of fun during his play time ever since! He uses like a normal activity table should be used: pushing the buttons and making it make noise. Many times he slams other toys or his sippy cups on it (because, why not?!).

  

table being used to support his belly after eating too much food ;)

But, recently, William has learned that he is strong enough to push the table and move it all around his room, wherever his little heart desires!

'What?! I can even flip the table over?? How fun, mama!' - what William is thinking

Did you know that tables also make good chairs?

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Family Night Out to SeaLife & Lego Land

Tonight, the Kansas City SeaLife Aquarium & Lego Land had a free teachers' night to get information out about their field trip opportunities. I'm not sure about other teachers, but I just can't say no to FREE! Plus, I was able to bring Bret & Will along on the visit. With Bret's crazy work schedule, we don't get to go on many family events. This event was on a Thursday so we said 'yes, please'!!

Will loved the fish swimming all around and kept pointing to them, making sure we were seeing them as well. He ran around and looked at everything. The place is super child-friendly which is awesome! When we go to California sometime, we will have to check out the Long Beach Aquarium!




Lego Land was fun, too. Slightly too old of things to play on/with for William, but he had a good time with the duplos (large Legos).

Hey parents, we could get a dog, right??


How cool are these Lego structures? They all had lights built into them as well!

Wonderful World of Oz!
Successful night = nap on the way home!