James at 17 Months...

James was 17 months old on Sunday. The magic number I keep hearing is 18 months. If you can just make it through 18 months. I am certain that I'm already seeing a taste of what this "magic number" is about but I also don't think that 18 months is where it ends, folks. Whew. We are just getting geared up! He is so sweet and fun, but I will tell you - he is testing his boundaries every. single. day.

But the good things...

* James is somewhere around 31-32 inches tall and weighs 25-26 pounds.

* He still wears a size 4 diaper, a size 5-ish shoes, and wears anywhere between 12 month and 2T clothing. His legs are short so 12 month shorts fit but tops and one-piece outfits need to be larger. :)

* His eating got a little better this month. Still lots of baby food fruits and veggies. He loves chicken, goldfish, milk, desserts of any kind, and Italian food. He has also REALLY liked potatoes (especially if he's given a plate and fork so he can feed himself) and deli turkey this month. He usually has either a waffle, half of a whole wheat mini bagel, or apple sauce for breakfast and almost always has a piece of cheese. (This is always with a cup {or two} of milk.) For lunch he has fruits and veggies with chicken or turkey, a cup of water, and maybe either goldfish or part of whatever we're eating. After his afternoon nap he usually has milk and some finger-food (goldfish, Cheerios, crackers, etc.). Then he has fruits and veggies again while our supper is getting cooked and then tries whatever we're eating. He usually has another cup of milk before bed. I feel like we eat all. day. long.

* He LOVES to play outside. I'm pricing different water table options right now. I'd like a sandbox, but I've seen lots of water tables and I really think he'd like it (and it wouldn't matter if he put water in his mouth...he's still at a "taste everything" stage). They are SO expensive, though! I wish the Easter Bunny brought larger gifts or that Santa had thought about it last year. Oh well!

* I don't think he's added any new party tricks this month. He still winks and flaps his "wings." All the time.

* He can tell us what a dog, cow, elephant, fish, and monkey say.

* He still motions his hands to be held or to hold something.

* He still signs "more," "milk," "eat," "all done," and "no, no." He has not attempted to speak any of those words at all.

* Speaking of speaking...James says several words through his nose. It is the WEIRDEST thing. He says "shoes," "socks," and "cookies," through his nose. If you listen carefully it sounds exactly like the word, but he doesn't open his mouth at all.

* I won't be able to list all of his words, but a few are: Mama, Da-Da, Cacky, Poppy, YaYa, (Grandmama and Granddaddy just come out Mama and Daddy...he did call Mr. Tommy "Doodle" not too long ago...totally unprompted but that's what Mr. Tommy's daddy was called!), Sassy (CC), Dixie, hey, bye, ball, bobby (cup of milk/bottle), paci, and diaper (it was biaper, but is now also bobby). He added poo-poo to the lineup this weekend when he wanted his dirty diaper changed. He also said "bobby" when he wanted just a wet diaper changed.

* He is obsessed with shoes. He wore his new Sperrys this weekend and they are PRECIOUS. However, shoes = outside so we can't wear them all the time. Otherwise, we face a meltdown!

* His TV lineup includes Mickey Mouse, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Arthur at night while we wait for Daddy to get home. He couldn't care less about other TV shows.

* He is a dancing machine!

* He still loves to splish splash in the tub! I imagine we'll have a fish this summer who wants to live in the pool, ocean, or lake!