noah update (16 months)

I haven't done a general update on Noah in a few months, so I thought that would be fun. Probably not for you, but I love being able to record all of the little things and how he's progressing. Feel free to ignore this post...it is mostly just for me:)

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Noah will be 17 months old on February 16. He is about 33 inches tall and weighs about 31 pounds. He comfortably wears 2T clothes and a sizes 6-7 in shoes. His growth has really slowed down compared to how he used to be, but he is still progressing as he should. I think at his last well visit he was in 97 percentile for everything, which is a big fall from the consistently well over 99 percentile for many, many months!

Winter has not been kind to Noah. He has been sick quite a bit this season, which was a new experience! He has always been extremely healthy, but has had 3 ear infections, croup, and a nearly continuous cough/runny nose all winter. Noah has stayed his spunky, silly little self throughout it all. Still, we will all be VERY glad when spring arrives!

Cloth diapering has sadly been put on hold. After the latest round of sickness, in combination with our move, Noah developed a nasty rash that just wouldn't go away. After trying everything I could think of to treat the rash/fix the diapers, I ended up switching to Seventh Generation diapers just to see if it would make a difference. The rash cleared up in a day, which makes me think the cloth diapers were mostly the culprit. So (for the time being hopefully) Noah is in the "healthiest" disposables I can find.

**But just in case any CDing mamas are reading this, do you have any suggestions for getting Noah back into cloth?

Noah is probably the best toddler-age eater I've ever seen! It scares me to think of how he'll be as a teenager...he already about eats us out of house and home! He very rarely doesn't like something, and has many favorite things but I won't list them all because there are so many. Here is a sample of a typical day's meals:

Breakfast: breakfast grains and yogurt

Morning Snack: cheerios

Lunch: pasta wee-one, half a banana or cup of applesauce

Afternoon Snack: pretzel sticks and hummus

Dinner: small portions of whatever we're eating (usually some meat/chicken, two veggies, and a grain)

As you can see, I'm a BIG fan of the website Weelicious! The recipes there are healthy, easy, and great for the whole family. I cook quite a bit from there, and have only found one or two things we all haven't loved. I highly recommend it:)

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On to Noah's development...

Noah's language development is great! He is just beginning to really mimic things after we say them ("parrot" talk), but his vocabulary impresses me already! Here is a running list:

Words he says consistently

Hey/hi/hello

Bye (with a wave)

No no no! (with a finger wag!)

Oh yeah!

Uh oh

Yum-yum

Good (guh)

Yuck

Milk (mik)

Drink (dink)

Bite

Book

Dada

Mama

Granny (a-nee)

Patch (atch)

Pete (eete)

Train (rain)

Mickey Mouse (me-ee)

Mine

I read

Look!

Football (foo-ba)

Words he says on occasion

Papa

Mimi

Hug

Done

Ball

Booger (boooooooooger..SO funny to hear this one!)

Go go go!

Truck (ruck)

Broom

Blue (boo)

Green (geen)

Red (reh)

Even though Noah's has a large vocabulary for children his age, the majority of his non-stop talking is grunting and pointing. I'm really working on getting him to say what he wants the first time rather than having to drag the words out of him. I know it will come in time though. But, Noah understands language amazingly well. He is very good at following even complicated directions when using words he is familiar with.

Gross motor skills are progressing nicely for Noah. He is getting much more coordinated in running and climbing, which are two of his favorite things to do. In fine motor skills, he amazes me. He demonstrates so much skill in doing tot school activities that incorporate these.

Noah's "knowledge" (for lack of a better word) is growing by leaps and bounds! He seems to know several colors pretty well (red, green, and blue) and really enjoys color activities. Noah is very interested in numbers, and loves to read number books, but doesn't "know" them yet. He does do number correspondence well on occasion, so I think he at least understands the concept of numbers. He hasn't shown any interest in letters and very little interest in shapes. But I know all of this will come in time:)

In practical life skills Noah is very proficient at using a spoon and fork (and LOVES to use them). He loves to make choices, particularly with his cups and utensils. He is beginning to show interest in making choices in clothing now as well, but he doesn't seem too interested in independently dressing himself. He does help a lot to get himself dressed though.

Tot school continues to go VERY well! I absolutely love doing these activities with Noah each week, and he really seems to love them too. He knows where the activities for the week are kept, and often asks to complete his favorites. Usually, I try to spend at least 15-20 minutes a day on the activities I have planned for the week; we don't tend to do these daily...4 days a week is about the average. Really Noah does tot school type activities all throughout everyday, but I try to spend this focused time on those things I have specifically in mind for that particular week.

Some of Noah's favorite tot school activities include pouring, small spaces activities, spooning/transferring, and art projects/crafts. He usually does very well with matching, and also loves to stack and nest things. He also does well with drawing/scribbling, though these aren't a favorite activity....he far prefers to use paint over markers or crayons.

I have seen so much progress in Noah in doing these things with him consistently, and am so proud of all he has accomplished in such a short amount of time!

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On to some of Noah's favorite things...

His favorite shows/videos are Thomas the Train and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. At this point, the two are actually pretty evenly matched. He will occasionally watch other Playhouse Disney shows, and has other learning videos he enjoys, but Thomas and Mickey are really the only two that he will sit and watch all the way through without losing interest.

Noah loves to mess in the kitchen drawers. He has a strange affinity towards kitchen utensils and loves to carry them around for hours on end. It is not unusual at all to find a random spatula in the bathroom at the end of the day!

Noah loves to be affectionate! He gives BIG bear hugs and open-mouth, sloppy, spity kisses...much to our delight:)

Noah still loves his paci. We are beginning to lose the paci during the day as much as possible. I'm okay with it at night for a while longer, but I definitely think it needs to go whenever he is awake! I think this contributes to his tendency to grunt/point first rather than use words to communicate. We'll see how it goes though...I think Noah will rebel on this one!

Noah doesn't really have a "lovie" like a bear or blanket. Noah's lovie is my hair. Though he can and often does go to sleep on his own, he goes to sleep best whenever he is snuggled up to me and can rub my hair.

Noah LOVES to talk on the phone. Anything and everything even remotely resembling a telephone in the house becomes one for him to babble on. He also loves to wear his daddy's phone belt clip....Noah thinks he is very big when daddy lets him borrow it:)

Noah loves to help us clean. He makes a beeline for brooms whenever he sees them and will happily sweep until you direct him otherwise.

Noah (unfortunately!) loves to throw a tantrum. Okay, so he doesn't really throw them that often....but when he does, watch out! He is a screamer. Enough said. He has most definitely inherited his daddy's temper and my lack of patience, so I think we'll be in for a long road with tantrums. . But he is usually easy to calm down. I just hope he'll stay that way!

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Noah is such a precious and sweet little boy:) His little personality is absolutely infectious and immediately commands attention whenever he enters a room. He captures hearts wherever he goes, and is going to be a heartbreak someday! And even though he can try my patience at times, I am so proud of his independence, knowledge, and abilities!

I feel so incredibly blessed to have this special little man in my life!!