19 month update

* Jack seems much older recently - he clearly understands pretty much everything we say and makes some funny confusions with words too. I read a book with the word "rubble" and he said "ufufufuf" which is his word for dog. The confusion is my mom's dog is "rebel" which does sound a lot like rubble! He can follow simple orders - "throw this in the trash"; "go get your milk in the kitchen."

* He still isn't much of a talker, his rep is only mama - dada/daddy - truck - throw - "uh-oh" - wow and noises for dog, monkey and elephant. He also says "ice" which actually is "i see." I think he is working on "I want" - great. However, he does "speak" in what sounds like complete sentences (1-3 in row) in English. Also sometimes he says words in context, I swear, but then won't repeat them - frustrating. Steve and I think one day next month he is just going to start talking like a 3 year old.

* He has continued to make up signs though - he has one for train now in addition to those he created for hair brush(ing), drawing/writing, and toothbrushing. This is in addition to the 20 odd that I taught him.

* I have to have his weight checked tomorrow or early next week after his major loss due to sickness. I don't think he still weighs all that much, but did put back on what he lost. He is about 33.5" tall and I would guess 24 3/4 lbs.

* He won't really eat meat for some reason (hasn't for awhile) so we are trying to force other things with protein and iron down his throat. Consistent favorites are grapes, blueberries, watertmelon, mac&cheese, pasta w/ tomato sauce, avacodos, olives and eggs. He also almost always will eat a lot of peas, corn and tomatoes. We offer him whatever we eat and doesn't seem at all "scared" by ethnic dishes or things that are slightly spicy.

* He often eats with a fork (quite well) but still doesn't like anything that needs to be eaten a spoon. He sometimes wants more than the fork can hold and so resorts to his hands again. No rush!

* He is finally weaned. He hasn't nursed in over a week and before that it was sporadic for about 2. Consequently, he finally drinks a substantive amount of milk.

* Nightime sleep is pretty consistent - about 8:15p - 7:45-8:30a. He sometimes wakes up whining, but goes back down on his own. His naps are now a big mess though! He often doesn't at all. If he does, it is only very late in the afternoon on my lap or in the car - ugh. We are working on this!

* He still loves loves trucks. Trains are also a hit, but regular cars and planes are tertiary. He loves Thomas (we do let him watch some TV now). Then again, he rarely sees other things than that so I guess I am not suprised:) It is slow enough that he can follow it, at least somewhat.

* He likes books, knows which way is up and can turn the pages my himself. He does sometimes flip back to front . We can even given him books with real pages (not board books) and he won't rip them. However, with those he skips pages a lot since it is harder to turn the pages.

* He is much more cuddly and a lap-sitter than he had been in the fall. He offers kisses.

* He can run much faster - much closer to a true run. He also climbs a lot - all over our living room furniture.

Technical Issues

Once again my hard drive is nearly full. Luckily a bigger, upgraded one is on the premises, hopefully to be installed this weekend. Once that is done lots of new pictures, I promise.

I will do a 19 month update this week though!

Must be smiling because of the train...

...I doubt it is the prospect of sharing our time with a new baby. I am guessing he will be a little shocked come this summer (as will I!). As most of you know, I am pregnant, due in very early July. I figured I should make it "official" on the blog. I am now 14 1/2 weeks (just started my second trimester). So far is all going pretty much to plan. I have heard the baby's heartbeat 2 times - at 8 and at 12 weeks. I had to miss my NT Scan aka First trimester test (an optional prenatal screening test) as Jack was in the hospital, so no pictures of the baby yet! We do plan on finding out if the baby is a boy or girl, when I have my "big" ultrasound around 5-6 weeks from now (mid-Feb.). We certainly will keep you posted (literally)...

Rody

Truck Museum!

The day after Christmas Jack's Great Aunt & Uncle (Debbie & Steve) brought us to the Golden Age of Trucking Museum. It is about 20 minutes from where I grew up, though I had no idea it was there as it just opened a few years back. Jack thoroughly enjoyed looking at all the antique trucks, but even more enjoyed the play area. It was pretty amazing as an "add-on" to the place.

Steve & Steve enjoyed playing the lego videogames too:)

Christmas

We - strangely - took very few photos on Christmas! Not sure why, ok, well probably because we were too busy visiting with so many relatives and opening so many presents!


Jack's favorite toy so far is his Hess truck from (Great) Aunt Debbie & Uncle Steve. He also loves his new truck books from Grandma & Grandpa (Anne & Peter). The books might be my favorite too, as I was about to scream from reading his other truck books so many times each day.

For the Hoaglands..

Packing up the family gift to be sent off to the next "lucky" recipients...