Tuff-man's 16 Month Update

16 months is a strange and incredibly wonderful time for us. It's only been a year and 4 months since I've given birth to my precious angel, yet, it feels like ages ago that we brought Tuff home for the first time. I can't imagine our home ever without him.

Now for my man's update... When mom's say it happens fast, boy does it! Here are my top 5 milestones for 16 months:

1. "What's that?" I have heard this phrase for a month a million times a day. When I pick him up from school, he immediately starts pointing and wanting to know what everything is... The flip side is that he also wants to show mommy everything. "Mommy, 'yook... 'yook mommy..." Another question that is specifically clear is "Where’d it go?"
 

Of course, adding to the dramatic faces that I receive with each question (not sure where he gets that from???) is very extravagant hand gestures. The pointing finger, big arm circles (when explaining something very important), clinched fists (when something really exciting happens) and a little bit of sassy-hands (imagine Bon-Qui-Qui at 16 months old).

2. "Do you want to help mommy..." Never did I know it would be so much easier to get a toddler to do what you want them to do if you ASK, rather than TELL, them to do it. Nugget-man loves to follow directions, but he gets an attitude when he is tired or isn't into what is going on. However, I've noticed that if I ask him to "help mommy wipe your nose, please" he stops refusing and actually takes the washcloth or Boogie Wipe and wipes his face and nose. Instead of fighting with a tired baby to put night clothes on, I ask him to put in one foot or hand at a time, and he stops crying and lifts one leg… then the other… and then slips his arm into the sleeve, and when his fingers pop out it cracks him up every time.

Watering plants and herbs

 

 Swiffering the kitchen

 

Yes, I know, simple concept... and while in extreme conditions this doesn't always work, it's about

95% effective which is about 95% more than I expected. I'm positive the first time I asked the question out loud, it was directed to Jesus in prayer... maybe he gave me my answer! "Ask and you shall receive"

3. Chow hound! I can't help but be so proud of my kid’s eating habits. He eats everything but white potatoes (and that's just fine with me).

He loves to eat. The biggest milestone with meal times is probably his determinedness to use the spoon/fork to feed himself (and anyone else sitting within utensil-reach). He will actually pick items up with his hands and put them back in the bowl so he can try to spoon them out again. If he’s really hungry, he will let you spoon feed him… but most times he wants to do it himself, or all hell breaks loose!

 He totally fed all those fries to the dog, and opted for avocado instead :)

Water day at school

 

4. Sparkler Free Zone! July 4^th was a fun day for us. We played in the pool outside, drew on the walls with chalk, ran through the sprinkler, cooked on the grill and popped fireworks… that last activity was not Nugget’s favorite. My husband was so excited to get him some sparklers and was overly confident Tuff would be AMAZED (me, not so much, but what you gonna do).

Brock started out with the little smoke bombs and whistling chickens, Keegan was not impressed. Out come the sparklers, and while my hubs face was alight with joy, my sons face was flooded with tears of fear! As long as he was sitting on someone’s lap, we were cool. Otherwise, he wanted nothing to do with the fireworks. He much rathered trying to fix my car with his toddler pliers or spraying the dog with the hose!

5. Ascent! I’ve read so many stories and seen so many pictures of toddlers climbing, but they do not prepare you for the moment that you turn your back for 5 seconds while your child plays quietly on the floor with a dinosaur, only to turn back to find that he has fashioned an entire step pyramid out of toys so he can reach atop the back of the couch to get the remote control. He has also started to climb in and out of the bath tub, and will any day be able to seat himself in his highchair.
 

 

I love how much fun he is getting to be. Watching his personality evolve amazes me every day! He picks up on things so quickly (good and bad) and sometimes I think he teaches me more than I am teaching him.