elijah 15-16 months

playing in the sandbox with pepaw

New words:
Blue
Mail
Hat
Grandpa
Oma
Nanny
Pepaw
Memaw
Off
On
Light
Truck
Car
Bear
Panda
Knee
Nor nor for nori paper
Bottle
Broc broc for broccoli
Quinoa
Latke
Nana for banana
Ladder
Joo for juice
Block
Davy, as in crockett
Broom
Jah jah
Beard
Med Med for medicine
Mitt mitt for mittens
Boots
Door
Bible
Down
Star
knock knock
thank you

elijah signing his version of 'uncle'

New signs:
Green
Yellow
Red
Uncle
Aunt
Bear
Bath
Brush teeth
Rainbow
Hat
Sorry
Please (makes all the difference!)
Thank you
Duck
Bird
Hot
Cold
Love
Cracker
Cheese
Light
Shoes
Socks
Stars
Dirty
No
Yes
Down
Happy
Bike
Banana
Water
Flower
Boat
Moon
Down
Pear
Seal
Boots
Elephant

signing 'hat' and saying 'hoo-hoo' like an owl

Animal sounds:
Moo
Baa
Neigh
Ruff
Meow
arr-arr-arr! (rooster)
Hoo for owl
Elephant sounds
Ribbit
Rah! (really quietly!) for lion
Arr-arr for seal

Dog-Dog?
i cant tell you how obsessed my boy is with dogs. i mean, we have never been the ones to push the 'boy and his dog' stereotype on our son, when in fact we are more cat people. and while he does LOVE kitties and other animals, he is just crazy about dogs. every time we go outside or look out a window, he asks, 'dog dog??' like, where is he? isn't there always a dog outside?? same thing with going to other people's houses. they must have a dog, right?? it's hilarious! he is very gentle with dogs and other animals and just loves the way dogs get up in his face and lick him and pant. i think its gross but just go with it. he's on cloud nine!

sweeping oma's porch

'clean up, clean up!'
i was so pleasantly surprised when elijah started to help me do things around the house and followed simple instructions! i've been trying to teach him to put his toys inside the chest and books where they go, and one day, he actually did it! granted, he didn't do it perfectly, but it was progress! i was so proud of him! by 16 months he had it down, but we still have to help him out a little. sometimes he gets defiant and says no, but a little swat on the thigh helps remind him to be obedient. one of the cutest things is he started 'helping me' with the laundry by putting socks and other things i dropped on transit from the washer into the dryer. when we go out on the porch, he goes to the closet and says please and does his hands in a sweeping motion and says, 'broom!' despite how big and heavy it is, he actually handles the large wooden broom pretty well! he loves to sweep for me, and the best thing is, when you are outside of our apartment, looking at our closed in porch, it looks like i am mary poppins or in fantasia with a dancing broom controlled by my magic powers or something! haha i always get weird looks and smiles, so i try to be sure to look down every now and then and say 'good job sweeping elijah' so they dont think im a witch or something. :)
have i mentioned elijah loves vacuuming?? he begs to use the upright and the handheld, although the handheld shark is much more to his proportions. he's actually not bad with it! :) it will be great when he is older and can help and actually be helping. but for now, i love his sweet efforts to help and make me proud. he looks up at me with that, 'look mom! im doing it!' smile and my heart just melts!

this month he has been trying his hand at climbing more than ever, and anything low lying is fair game. the couch, ottoman, suitcase, laundry baskets, boxes, stools, etc. he has finally mastered getting down safely, feet and bottom first and is proving to be a very cautious boy and not much one for taking risks. so far!



i have them all memorized
my boy is a veracious 'reader' and spends so much of his time just looking at books. while he is still giddy for anything with noah, animals, and rainbows, i noticed he was particularly enthralled with these books:
-'the Jesus storybook Bible' by sally lloyd jones (THE best kids Bible!)
-'little blue truck' by alice schertle (great for learning animal sounds and helping others)
-'the very busy spider' by eric carle (i dont really care for this book)
-'the foolish tortoise' by eric carle (this book book is okay and teaches to be yourself and appreciate the special way God made you)
-'thank you pooh' by ronne randall (this book is great for teaching thank you as well as ingenuity and recycling!)
-mother goose nursery rhymes
-'little gorilla' (we had lost his original and thankfully oma saved the day and bought another! i love this book.)

No!
And so it begun, early in his 15th month. My sweet little baby turned into a defiant, boundaries testing boy whose default answer is no, even when he really means yes. on the bright side, he says it in a really polite, high pitched voice. But despite his tone, he is practicing his independence & testing authority. So I give him what he wants and needs: a loving parent who is in control & acts consistently. I don't flip out or yell at him, or spank him angrily or without warning. He responds very well to our discipline and happily obeys the next time! Overall, elijah is a very sweet & obedient boy and behaves well as long as he is fed & rested. I'm thankful for older friends & mentors who have set such a great example of living their children through training them and showing the gospel & grace through their parenting.

elijah's first time to celebrate chanukah

will i ever sleep again?
elijah is still a delicate sleeper that we wish would cuddle with us, but despite our attempts to co sleep in the same room, much less the same bed, he just has to sleep alone. we have had hellish nights in hotels & family's houses trying to sleep in the same room with him, and I'd rather give him the room & sleep on the living room couch or floor than listen to him scream & be woken up every couple of hours. we are hoping & praying that our next child doesn't have such sleep issues & that they can share the spare room in our cramped apartment. Please God!

going to town on mama's raw avocado chocolate pudding

baby gets his greens!
On a, lighter note, elijah is still a healthy eater, who has yet to eat goldfish crackers or sweets, although they are offered by people everywhere! Haha! In addition to getting his 'mama milk' 3-4 times a day, elijah loves freshly pressed cucumber, celery, ginger & apple juice which we do as an occasional family treat, any green vegetable including salad, eggs, fish, chicken, lamb, and all fruits. he doesn't like potatoes, cheese, pasta, or bread and we are okay with that, since they aren't the most nutritious foods anyway. One thing we wish he'd warm up to are beans since they are healthy, vegetarian, and inexpensive. Maybe one day I'll get a bean in that boy, but for now I'm thankful he likes to snack on seaweed, begs for more fish oil, and washes down his broccoli with goat milk.

matching hats

brusha, brusha, brusha!
my boy must have the cleanest toddler teeth, (he's got 8 with 4 on the way) because he loves to brush his teeth! several times a day he goes to the drawer with his brush and asks please and does the sign for 'brush teeth.' i tell him no a lot, but we end up actually brushing about 3 times daily. he has always used the same tooth powder we do, which is fluoride free & anise / licorice flavored. just this past month we've gotten into flossing with the disposable flossers and he doesnt mind that too much. i've only recently gotten into flossing nightly and want to make it a normal healthy thing we do in our family. when you don't have insurance (and even when you do) you need to do as much preventative care as possible.

favorite toys right now:
a chopstick that he uses to dig and stir up dirt with, anything from the kitchen, his eco fire truck from daddy, his toothbrush, he's got a frog toy really similar to this one that he loves to have 'chase him', this poor puppy gets dragged around behind him, a calculator, tape measure, see-and-say, and this last one pains me:the discovery house by leapfrog. the discovery house by leapfrog. he got that last one as a gift and even though it's plastic and electronic, i keep it because he just loves it and it really buys me some time when im cooking or doing a task.

the cousins as christmas. yep, that's my boy with the tape measure.

Music Man:
he's still very musical and loves to open his box of instruments and play a diddy here and there, complete with bouncing dance moves. sometimes we get a twirl or marching in place! he's recently pretty interested in playing the harmonica, drum, bells, and recorder, sometimes 2 instruments at once. he's a one man band!

having a blast wrestling with and tickling daddy!

M-A-I-L:
so i guess we are already at that stage where we have to spell things out because elijah just gets too excited about the word mail. it is probably one of his favorite parts of the day. we get all suited up in shoes, jackets, hats, and 'mitt-mitts' and go on the trek to the apartment mailbox area. once we made the mistake of going there and there was no mail. wow, he let us know he was not happy. now we always carry a piece of junk mail in our pockets so that in the unlikely chance it is empty, we hand it to him and he carries it back home with such pride.

so far his interests point to him being a mailman, dog walker, chef, musician, or Bible scholar.

we'll see!