No-no-no

Here's a video clip of Micah's favorite phrase this week. 

No-no-no

I think I said no-no-no-no too many times yesterday as I was keeping Micah from unfolding the laundry I was trying to fold. Now he'll look back at me and say no-no-no-no shaking his head from side to side whenever I say it to him.

17 months

I'm a little late getting this up (and skipped last month) but better late than never.... 

I am loving this stage. I think it's one of my favorites. Micah is a joy to be around. His little personality is really showing and he's so much fun! He plays with you and really knows when he is being silly. He loves to 'help' even if it means I end up folding the laundry 4 different times after he unfolds it to try to put it away or put it in the laundry basket. He'll sort the laundry with me then take it out to do it again and will help me put things in the washer and dryer but also tries to close the door before I'm done. I may be biased but I just think he's so smart! He has started to love doing crafts with Abby and I and seems to really enjoy them. Very little gets by him so don't try to sneak things thinking he won't see them. He loves to play with sister and doing things that she does. He really loves playing with cars and stuffed animals. When it's time for bed Abby has to go get an animal to sleep with and Micah will fussy until he also gets to go get something to sleep with just like big sister. (That's in addition to his blankie that he sleeps with!) I just love my little itty bitty! 


Mastered Skills 
16 months 
• Turns the pages of a book
• Has temper tantrums when frustrated
• Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object
17 months
• Uses six words regularly
• Enjoys pretend games
• Likes riding toys


Micah has certainly mastered all of the 16 months skills - months ago for most of them. He loves carrying his soft muslim blankets when he is tired or upset and is rather attached to them. He certainly can turn the pages of a book and throw a tantrum when he doesn't get his way. 
He has more than 6 words he uses regularly. I'm not sure if you'd call it pretend or not but he will follow Abby around crawling and pretending to be a puppy like her and will 'pretend' eat when she tries to pretend feed him from food in the playroom. He does love his riding toys and his rocking toys. 


Emerging Skills 
16 months 
• Discovers the joy ofclimbing
• Stacks three blocks
• Uses spoon or fork
• Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., the telephone)
17 months
• Feeds doll
• Speaks more clearly
• Throws a ball underhand


Micah love and has totally mastered the climbing thing. He can climb onto all chairs and then on to the table when he wants to. He can stack blocks and has been using a spoon for a while. He knows what to do with a fork but isn't great at always getting something on the fork. He loves to 'talk' on the phone. 
He isn't speaking much more clearly - though that may have something to do with the whole two teeth thing... hmm maybe? Throwing he usually does overhand and I haven't seen him do underhand yet. He does feed the puppy dogs does that count as far as feeding baby dolls goes? 


Advanced Skills 
16 months 
• Takes off one piece of clothing by himself
• Gets finicky about food
• Switches from two naps to one
17 months
• Dances to music
• Sorts toys by color, shape, or size
• Kicks ball forward


Micah can removed his shoes when he wants and also his pants - though the pants are likely the ones that fall off him anyway? He is also really good at taking off his diaper when he wants to. Even the g-diapers that have the velcro on the back. He isn't any more finicky about food than he was before (ya know the whole only wanting fruits, veggies, cheese and yogurt and not so much the meats and bread) if anything he's actually gotten better and is eating more foods. Yay! He switched down to one nap a day around 11 month. I'm hoping he won't be like Abby and drop his naps completely early like she did as well. 


Micah has loved to dance to music for several months now and loves to turn on the music on the iphone and dance with it. He will kick a ball a little bit but doesn't show any interest on sorting toys. 

Vocabulary list {October 15th}
mama
dada
dog
duck
helicopter/car noises
frog
ball
boo
splash 
hi
dat (that)
bye-bye
Bubba
hot 
oven
uh-oh


New additions: 
MINE - his current favorite word - it's replaced 'dat' as a give that to me word. I hear it thousands of times a day. Abby didn't say mine nearly this early. 
'down' - as in touch downs with his arms up
thank you 
moo (as in the cow says moo - usually said when playing with the cow puzzle piece)


Gigi says she heard him say - jump the other day but I haven't heard it yet. 


I think I'm forgetting one or two right now so I'll add them when I think of them. 

Vocabulary list {October}

Vocabulary list {October}
mama
dada
dog
duck
helicopter/car noises
frog
ball
boo
splash 
hi
dat (that)


New additions: 
bye-bye
Bubba
hot 
oven
uh-oh

New words {September}

New words Micah has added to his vocabulary recently:

Boo (as in peek-a-boo - he'll peek around a corner, furniture, blanket and say boo)
Splash - copying sister splashing in the pool and tub

tooth!

Micah is {finally!} at 15.5 months getting his first tooth. He's very reluctant to let anyone look in his mouth though. However when he gets angry or upset he'll open his mouth wide and it's clearly visible that his bottom gum has a bump on it and you can see the line of the tooth that's about to come through. 

I had my camera nearby so I tried to get a picture of his soon-to-poke-through tooth while sister was getting buckled in the car but you can't see it too well in the picture. You can see his beautiful very blue eyes though. He wasn't too happy since it was past his bedtime and normally I wouldn't take pictures of a crying baby but I couldn't pass up a chance to possibly get a picture of his tooth and I just loved the sparkle that his eyes have to them in this shot. 

Dat!

We've entered a new stage of development about two weeks ago. At first it was adorable. Now I'm starting to hope for a language explosion. See this stage we've entered is Micah learned to say "dat" {that} and it's become his favorite word. He knows that we know he wants something when he says "dat" as he points to what he wants. Sometimes however he says "dat" and points and it's to a group of things so you have to figure out which it is he wants. The worst is when he says it just because he wants something but even he doesn't really know what he wants. So for now until we hit a language explosion we are stuck in the land of "dat." 

15 months

Mastered
• Plays with ball
• Uses three words regularly
• Walks backward
He's got the ball thing down - he's got a great arm and loves to throw them to you or carry them around in his hand if they are the right size (like a golf ball.)
He uses mama, dada, hi, bye, duck and dog usually on a daily basis. 
As for walking backwards... hmm... I can't say that I've seen him do that. I mean he's stepped backwards to get out of the way if I'm opening the fridge or something if that's what they are talking about but if they mean more than two or so steps I can't say that I've seen him walk backwards.


Emerging
• Scribbles with a crayon
• Runs
• Adopts "no" as his favorite word
He can and does enjoy scribbling with a crayon - usually copying sister coloring. 
He can run and has gotten much better about not going to fast for his feet so that he trips but it still happens on occasion. 
So far 'no' is not even in his vocabulary. He does know what it means but we don't always use the word 'no' sometime we interchange with danger or simple redirection without using the word 'no.' 

Advanced
• "Helps" around the house
• Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh"
He does help around the house. He loves to shut the washer and dryer doors - maybe a little too much as he tries to do it before I'm done switching the laundry. He will do his best to put something in the washer or dryer if I give it to him. He will help clean up when we are picking up legos or crayons and put them in their container. He's getting to be a good little helper! 
He doesn't say "shh" but that's not something we do often around here so it's not something I would have expected him to pick up. 


Vocabulary list: 
mama
dada
dog 
duck
helicopter/car noises


recent additions (as of 8/23) that I think I've heard him say recently but can't be certain of just yet:  
frog 
ball

Peek-a-boo

Micah playing peek-a-boo with Gigi and I in her new house a couple weeks ago.

Climbing

I officially have a climbing monkey on my hands. As of a couple days ago he figured out how to climb up onto things. He can climb onto the chairs at the kitchen table, the ottoman in our bedroom, he could already get into the little chairs on in the playroom but now he uses those as a step to get on the little table. Eeek! 

And tonight he's decided to practice his skills about an hour past his normal bedtime because he decided he wasn't quite ready for bed. He was fussing with my trying to put him to bed but now he's happy as a clam to empty the drawers of my night stand and play with some toys on the floor. He's currently playing with a toy while lounging on his boppy pillow.

Duck

As of last week we can add another word to Micah's vocabulary list. His list so far is: 

Mama

Dada

Hi 

Bye bye 

Dog

bssspt (helicopter noises) 

and now: 

Duck 

This little duck has become his favorite carry around toy. He's been clutching it almost all the time for 3 days now. It started with him seeing sister with it. The next day he woke up, found it, said proudly "duck!" and I let him keep it for the day after that. 

He even made us some duck soup with it. 

14 months

Mastered Skills 

• Eats with fingers
• Empties containers of contents
• Imitates others


All good here. He's gotten all of these well mastered. He not only loves emptying containers but also really loves filling them back up as well. Does that mean he's advanced? He also does really well imitating others and it's so cute to see him do it. 

Emerging Skills

• Toddles well
• Initiates games
• Points to one body part when asked

• Responds to instructions (e.g., "give me a kiss") 


Pretty good here as well. He walks practically runs so he does more than just toddle well, he loves to initiate a game of peek-a-boo and responds really well to instructions. He will give you a kiss, high five, tell you where a toy he was playing with it and go get that toy. The only thing he doesn't do so well yet is his body parts. We've been working on them but he doesn't know them well yet. 

Advanced Skills 

• Uses a spoon or fork
• Matches lids with appropriate containers
• Pushes and pullstoys while walking


Micah does well using a spoon and can usually get some beans, applesauce or yogurt up to his mouth. He gets the idea of how to use a fork but can't stab the food yet to get it up to his mouth. He's also been pushing/pulling toys while walking for quite a while. He started using his push toy around 11 months soon after he started walking and shortly after started pulling his string duck around. 

stacking/ late 13 month post

{Copied this first part from the family blog to have her for reference later as this serves as Micah's baby book}

Maybe I'm biased but I personally think Micah's pretty smart for his age. He was playing with his stacking toy yesterday and while he may lack the finer motor skills to get the rings onto the stacking pole (though he can get them on the larger classic Fisher Price one at church) he tried his best to get them on. 

What about that is so smart you ask? Well after he failed to get the red and purple rings on - he took his arrowroot cookie that is shaped similarly to the rings - round (well the cookie has scalloped edges) with a hole in the middle - and tried to stick his cookie onto the stacking ring toy. 

I failed to do a 13 month post when Micah hit 13 months so I'm going to go ahead and add it here: 


Mastered Skills 
 Uses two words skillfully (e.g., "hi" and "bye")
• Bends over and picks up an object
Micah has had these skills mastered for a while. Though in the last week or so I haven't heard him say hi or bye like he used to..... hmm.... not sure what to think about that. He used to say them on a fairly regular basis. 


Emerging Skills 
• Enjoys gazing at his reflection
• Holds out arm or leg to help you dress him
Micah does enjoy looking at himself but not usually for too long because if he's looking in a mirror most times it means he's being held which means he can't be busy so he wants to get down. Though he does enjoy looking in the low mirror in Abby's room - but then he also tries to take that one off the wall. 
As far as holding out and arm or leg - not so much. Usually when getting dressed he is trying to wiggle away as fast as he can. He will however sit down next to the shoe closet when we are sitting there getting out our shoes to put on and stick out his feet to put his shoes out. I think that should count right? 


Advanced Skills 
• Combines words and gestures to make needs known
• Rolls a ball back and forth
He doesn't combine words with gestures but he does point - point - point and whine/screech/make known that he wants something until you get it for him (or otherwise distract him if it's nothing something he should have) He's gotten super demanding and not shy about making his wants known in the past couple weeks. 
He doesn't roll a ball back and forth but he will roll his cars somewhat and he's got a pretty mean arm and will throw a ball and throw it pretty well. He will spend a good long while throwing a ball, picking it back up and throwing it again when he's in the mood. Daddy and Abby were playing catch this evening with a ball and Micah found another ball and was throwing it around as well. His throwing is not limited to balls though. He was throwing the toothbrush we were buying out of the basket at Target the other day repeatedly. I'd no sooner give it back than it would be coming back at me/out of the buggy again - and beware of the loud whining if you didn't pick it back up and give it to him. 

Pedi appointment

We had our pedi appointment to see what she had to say about Micah's weight today. He lost 4 ounces since last week (I knew based on his eating that he wouldn't have gained this week but I was at least hoping he didn't lose - but he did.) She looked him over and then gave us orders for the lab so we get to have blood drawn (5 different tests) and an x-ray to check for his bone age. If he bone age is low that's actually going to be a good thing she said because that means he's just growing slowly. She also said she commonly sees a slower growth in babies that get teeth later. She also noticed a little bit of fluid in his right ear but as he had some congestion she thought it could be from that. She went ahead and gave us a prescription for an antibotic just in case he spikes a fever, gets grumpier, acts like it's bugging him and has turned into an ear infection so we don't have to go back so soon if it does come to that - hopefully it won't though.

spiky hair and weight check round 2

After Micah showered this morning I played with his hair after fixing my hair. Beau wasn't too impressed. It's a little long to be able to spike it in the back and not quite enough in the front. 

We had Micah's second weight check this morning exactly a week following his previous weight check.... only this time instead of gaining 8 ounces... or gaining anything... he lost an ounce. So now we go back to see the pedi next week. My feelings are he's just super active. He's one of the busiest little ones in the Church nursery whenever we are there, always moving at home trying to keep up with sister. We'll see what the pedi thinks next week. 

Weight check

Micah had his weight check (bright and early at 8 am - meaning we had to leave the house before 7:30 which is early for Abby who is only awake at that time 50% of the time) 


He gained 8 ounces in the past two weeks. I'd say that's a pretty impressive gain as that's double the gain he had in the previous 3 months. 


The nurse just plugged his weight into the computer and plotted it on the growth curve and he's still not where he needs to be according to that. 


So we were given two options. 
1. Make an appointment with his pedi or the nurse practitioner and possibly end up with blood work to make sure there isn't an underlying problem (which isn't likely.)
2. Make another weight check appointment for next week, see if he's still gaining (which means another week where I try to stuff him as full as he can get at all times) then if he shows another gain it's likely we can just make his next appointment for his 15 month well check. 


I chose option 2 because I know how active his is throughout the day and there are days where he is just too darn busy to sit still and eat a good meal. I've added some new snacks that seem to be helping him put on some more weight so I'm confident that he's just busy busy busy and that's why he isn't gaining on the curve they want to see him on.  

Menu plan

With the lack of weight gain in the past 3 months on Micah's part (well I haven't gained any weight either for that matter but I haven't lost it at the rate I'd like to. Maybe I should take Micah's approach to eating and activity?) I've been paying a lot more attention to what he eats, finding lots of new things to try and analyzing (or maybe over analyzing!) everything he eats or doesn't eat in the past 10 days since his appointment. I read a post by another blogger with all the foods her little one eats and I'm now going to borrow the idea and use it here. 


So here's a run down of what he likes to eat. I usually feed him the same things we are eating, with maybe a few different things thrown in if he can't eat some part of what the rest of us are having.


{Breakfast}    
pancakes 
waffles 
toast (whole gain - occasionally made into cinnamon toast)
fruit 
yogurt (I've started feeding him Greek yogurt as it has more fat than whole milk yogurt) 
cereal (cheerios - not a favorite anymore though as he's tired of them!)
granola 
cereal bar (the more natural kind with no HFCS ect) - for mornings we are more rushed


{Lunch} 
these tend to be pretty basic most days
turkey 
homemade baked chicken tenders
pasta 
peanut butter roll up (peanut butter thinly spread on a tortilla rolled and sliced)
leftovers
yogurt 
yogurt melts
fruit
veggie
baked Alexis brand oven fries
raisins 
applesauce
cheese (he usually eats shredded cheese the best)


other things I've tried that don't go over as well: quesadilla 


{Dinner}
Pieces of what we are eating including: 
chicken
pork chops/tenderloin
steak
hamburger
meatballs 
pasta 
home made pizza
veggie 
cheese 
rice




{Snacks}
goldfish (I've started buying the garden veggie kind - makes them a little healthier right?)
Just Tomatos or Target brand freeze dried fruits
graham crackers 
fruit 
peanut butter on crackers
string cheese 
New things I've found and added: 
Plum Organics mishmash - basically pureed fruit like baby food but it comes in a packaged with a closable top that can act as a straw/squeeze thing so Micah can feed it to himself, it is healthy (fruit puree), easily portable. 
PlumTots fiddlesticks - easy for Micah to hold and eat on his own and he seems to really like them

I know the snack section seems pretty big compared to the meals but since Micah doesn't always want to eat his meals I do like to give him a snack in between when he starts to get fussy because I know he is probably hungry and because I need to get some calories in him. He's so active and so doesn't aways want to sit at meal times and eat that I need to feed him when I can so I try to make sure the snack options are pretty healthy as well. 

{Fruit}
strawberries 
apples 
grapes (cut in half) 
clementines 
pears 
watermelon
cantaloupe 
pineapple 
blueberries 
blackberries 


{Veggies}
broccoli - possibly his favorite 
green beans 
peas 
corn (not as nutrient packed as others but we all love it around here)
potatoes (regular and sweet potatoes) 
squash 
carrots 


Yesterday he ended up having an excellent day for him eating wise and ate a lot (for him) without leaving a big mess. See usually if he doesn't like something or decides not to eat it he'll spit it out of his mouth where it will then usually fall down into his lap or on the bottom part of his high chair. Yesterday there was hardly anything down on the bottom of his high chair. Today not as good. He ate a bunch of strawberries for lunch but no pasta or any of the Jammy Sammy that I bought for him to try (like a cross between a sandwich and cereal bar exactly not quite as bready - which he's not huge on bread so that's good - and not as sticky as a cereal bar with the filling can be.) Then dinner all he wanted to eat was the corn - no chicken, potatoes, crawfish.... 

climbing

Watch out! 

Micah expertly climbed up in the little chair that goes with the little table and then onto the table without a second thought. Like it was second nature - yet I'd never seen him do it before? How'd that happen? 

1 year well check

Micah had his 1 year well check today. It didn't go quite as well as normal. Normal they look at him, see how active he is and say we'll keep an eye on his weight. Today they decided we get to come back for a weight check in two weeks. Not sure what will happen at that point. 


Weight: 17 lbs (only a 4 oz gain from his 9 month appointment) 
Height: 28.3 inches (He did gain quite a bit here which was good because he didn't gain much in height between 6-9 months)

Presents

Micah was a little tired but enjoyed opening some presents. After he got his little hands on one of his toys though he was done opening more and ready to play again. Thanks everyone for spoiling this little guy so much!