16 Months

Grant turned 16 months in May!  I can't believe he is almost a year and a half.  He amazes me with how smart he is and how quickly he can learn things (all kids are amazing in how they learn!).

A few things he has been doing lately:

• Will use a fork to pick up food and eat it
• Going through a picky eater phase.  He doesn't want to eat a lot of the time and will throw all his food on the floor or spit it all out.  It takes forever to feed him and we still worry he isn't getting enough food.  He has gotten small obsessions with junk food that we are trying to phase out (goldfish crackers, french fries, etc...when he sees them, he will scream till he gets it and won't eat anything else...oops!).

• Shake his head back and forth and say no, no, no ("N-n-n!")
• Shake his finger back and forth and say no, no, no ("N-n-n!")
• Loves playing with cars.  He will carry them around all day, placing them on different surfaces, lining them up, and pushing them around.  He loves them so much that he won't let go of them at night, so often he goes to sleep clutching a little car in his arms.  Instead of a blanky or lovey, he clings to his cars (PS ignore the dirty outfit, lol).

• Likes to put things on his head.  He like to put toys on his head like hats and put shirts or fabric on top of his head.  It is very funny.  He also loves to steal Daddy's hats and put them on.  He gets the hugest grin on his face when he has accomplished getting a "hat."

Here is is getting upset when his "hat" won't stay on. 

• Likes to put things on his arms.  He wants to wear things as "bracelets."  Here he is wearing mine.  He also has rings that stack and he puts them on his arms a lot, too.

• Says dad, dog, duck, no, and light, and will point to many other objects that he can identify
• Runs everywhere!  He love to get where he's going fast 

• Laughs a lot and often copies when people are laughing or clapping (even on TV)
• Loves being outside.  Here he is begging me to let him out on the porch (I was doing laundry).

• Will talk to himself while playing with his cars and reading his books.  It is very sweet.
• Getting a little bit of separation anxiety.  He gets very upset when we leave the room, especially with James.  James calls Grant his "shadow" because he follows him everywhere.

• He LOVES his shoes and often brings them to us to ask us to put them on.  He loves wearing shoes!!! He will stare and study them and pull at them. He will often walk around with one pair of shoes in his hand while wearing another pair, giggling in delight while running around with them.

•   We started taking Grant to nursery at Church (they start attending at 18 months) to get him used to it. James will stay in there and watch him.  They blew bubbles one Sunday and Grant went crazy, he LOVED it!  It was too cute to watch.  I wish bubbles brought me that much excitement!

 My love for him grows every day.  I am just amazed by this kid.  Even though he is getting bigger, he is still my little baby and I love those moments when he will slow down and let us cuddle together (getting rarer and rarer).  Usually I am home with him at night when James is at class so Grant and I have a pretty good routine down, so I put him to bed most nights.  I really love putting him to bed and having that quiet time together.  We have had a much better bedtime routine since we moved into our townhouse, since the bedroom is upstairs.  It is much quieter.  I will bring him upstairs, let him play with his toys for a little while, then turn off the lights and rock him in the glider and nurse him to sleep while singing to him.  He cuddles so close and I love looking at his sweet peaceful little face.  He's just so precious.  It makes the exhaustion of being a parent so worth it.  Each new phase brings new adventures and although it's never easy, we are loving it.  :)