15 Month Summary

Warning: The title of this post reads 'summary' but it's really more like a novel. Turns out, I have an awful lot to say about my adorable son here. What did I used to blog about??????

It's  been a while since I’ve done a monthly summary of life with Forest. I love his little ‘guest blogs’ but sometimes we just can’t cram all the little details into them, so I’d like to have the spotlight to record some of my musings on motherhood and the particular stage he’s in. 

Forest just turned 15 months old, which (I  know I say every month) is just unbelievable to me. The first year crawled by but the second is flying past. Probably because it’s been jammed packed with traveling, visitors, and sickness. And also because he is changing drastically on a daily basis. During the first year you are waiting for those big milestones: rolling over, sitting, crawling, walking, first words, etc. The second year milestones are a bit more subtle, but oh-so-life changing. Climbing on the furniture. Jumping off the furniture. First sentence. First conversation. Interacting with peers in a more active way. Here’s just a snapshot of what is going on in our lives. 

Favorite book: One recent development is Forest’s obsession with books. He used to really enjoy simple books like ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear’ or touchy feely and lift-the-flap books, but now he is actually liking story books. His aunt and uncle got him a set of Thomas the Train books for Christmas and he asks me to read them over and over again. Of course, I’m a book lover so I love reading to him and watching his face light up during certain parts of the story. 

His other favorite is Rumble in the Jungle which we read every night before bathtime. Our nighttime routine is book, bath, bed instead of the more common bath, book, bed because Forest will just get too excited to have storytime before bed that he takes longer to fall asleep that way. 

Favorite Toys: By far his favorite toy is his roller Dino by Orange Tree Toys. 

I found this at Homegoods before Christmas when I went to buy a few things for Toys for Tots. I bought one of these for the charity but couldn’t resist picking one up for Forest too, especially since they were only $7 (!!! Homegoods has the best toys!!!). Anything that rolls or has wheels is a hit with Forest, but this Dino is definitely his one true love.   

Favorite Foods: Cheese. No question. Peanut Butter Sandwiches are also high on the list. We are lucky that he also really enjoys most veggies, especially green veggies. Weirdo. 

Schedule: AH! His schedule is a bit of a nightmare right now simply because it changes every day. He is still in the purgatory of ‘needs 2 naps but will sometimes only take 1’ but he’s definitely getting closer to transitioning. He can skip his afternoon nap and not have a total meltdown in the evening so that is progress. I’m hopeful that in the next month or so he will be taking one midday nap instead of two one hour naps, but for now we are still limping along with a 2 nap schedule. Usually our day goes like this: 

6:15-7:15: Wakes up. It’s totally inconsistent. Our rule is that we don’t get him out of bed until 6:45 no matter when he wakes up but we will let him sleep as long as he wants:). Forest is really good at staying quiet until we go in and get him out of bed. I'm sure once he's in his toddler bed this will not be so easy. 

7/7:30:  Breakfast. I feed him right after getting him out of bed. Right now he usually eats oatmeal mixed with pureed fruit, a cup of milk, and cheerios.   

10:30ish: Morning nap. I am still putting him down for a mid-morning nap usually between 10-11. He will nap anywhere between 1-2 hours. If he naps longer than 1.5 hours, he usually won’t take an afternoon nap, but anything less than that and I usually try to set aside some time in the late afternoon for him to at least have some quiet time in his crib. Again, Forest is super compliant with quiet time which is a really awesome trait.   

11:30/12ish: Lunch. I feed him right after he wakes up from his morning nap. Lunch varies from day to day. Sometimes we will have leftovers from the previous night’s dinner or sometimes I will make him something specifically for lunch. I usually try to give a grain, a fruit, a veggie and a protein along with another cup of milk. 

Boy loves his milk and usually drinks a full sippy cup (8 oz) at each meal. His favorite lunch time meal is for sure peanut butter sandwiches. I usually get whole grain English muffins and serve them open style and cut into bite size pieces. It’s quite a mess but he loves it and yay for no peanut allergy! After lunch we will usually run errands, go to the park, or meet up with friends for a playdate. We are both up for anything as long as it gets us out of the house! 

2:30: Snack time! Snack time is pretty flexible but I’ve been trying to have it around 2:30. We don’t want to encourage constant snacking so he gets one formal snack a day and we make it like a mini-meal with 2 or 3 food groups included and another small serving of whole milk. We usually try to have him sitting in his high chair for snack time to cut down on eating on the go in the car-seat or stroller. It’s all very French. :) 

3:30: Afternoon Nap. I usually put him down in his crib at around 3:30 for ‘quiet time’ for 30 minutes. He will fall asleep about 75% of the time but usually doesn’t nap for more than 45 minutes these days, though every once in a while he will have a whopper of an afternoon nap which is always a nice surprise. After his nap we almost always go for a stroll before dinner time. If we have time he gets to play at the park but sometimes Jon and I just go for a long walk, especially if Forest hasn’t napped that afternoon so 30-45 minutes in a stroller at least gives him some additional restful time. 

5:30: Early Bird Dinner followed by Bedtime activities. Dinner is served between 5:30-6 and Forest generally eats whatever we eat, altered into a baby safe self-feeding form.  Forest is not the best at remembering to chew so I still have to cut his food into bite sized pieces. He’s getting better at using a spoon and a fork though so he is almost completely self fed, with a little spoon assistance from momma from time to time. 

After dinner we usually play and read in his playroom until bathtime at 6:30 and Forest is generally in bed and asleep by 7 pm. His nighttime routine still consists of bathtime, a massage with lotion and then a few minutes listening to lullabys while being rocked in the glider. 

Jonathan puts Forest to be almost every night which is a welcome break for me to be able to clean up the kitchen and the playroom. Once Forest goes to bed, Jonathan and I usually spend about 2 hours just chatting, watching TV, etc before we head to bed ourselves. 

Stats: At his 15 month well-check appointment last Monday, Forest weighed 23.75 lbs (down 8 oz from 2 weeks before at his appointment for the flu) and measured 32.75 inches. The doctor remarked that she is positive his weight will bounce back up soon but for now he is around 50% for weight and ********95%********** for height. He’s basically a string bean! 

 
He’s too tall for 18 month pants yet he’s so thin that 18 M pants usually will fall down while he plays so he’s definitely not ready for size 24 Month pants just yet. For now he is rocking high waters until we can fatten him up a bit. 

I bought him a pair of 24 month pants and cinched them all the way at the waist. They literally fell all the way off of him.

His head circumference is still hovering around 40-45%. The doctor is not too concerned about that since it’s remained kind of in that window since he was 6 months old so it’s likely he’ll just have a small head. Jon and I both have tiny heads so it makes sense! 

Words: Ok, y’all, I have a confession. Around 12 months I really started to freak out about Forest’s lack of talking/gestures. Around 10 months he started waving, clapping, and saying a few words (dog, go, momma and dada) but at around 11 months he sort of stopped and didn’t seem too interested in resuming despite my prodding. Anytime a baby regresses it can send up red flags. Plus he was pretty quiet and would often play by himself in the corner when we went to playdates, despite being obviously curious about the other babies and mommas.

Now in hindsight I realize that he went from cruising to walking to running all within about a 5 week span right around the same time time which was a major physical milestone explosion. It’s actually pretty normal for babies who are growing exponentially in one area to sort of neglect another skill set for a while.   

At about 13 months he started really interacting more socially which set our minds at ease. 

And now at 15 months he is adding to his vocabulary every day and is right back on track for his age. Currently his vocabulary consists of up to 19 words: Momma, Dada, Yea, No, Dog, Cat, Duck, Cow, Down, Car, Tree, Uh-oh, Cup, Socks, Shoes, Fox, Hi, Hot and Cheese. Momma and Dada are actually the hardest to come by but he is quick to point out every Dog, Car, and piece of cheese that meets his sight. #priorities.

 
He understands much more than he speaks and will follow simple commands like ‘bring that to momma’, ‘put the book in your basket’, ‘no touch’ etc. He also will repeat certain things that I say (so  I have to watch my language;) even though he may not say them spontaneously yet. For instance, today I said ‘zipper’ and clear as a bell he said ‘zipper’ right back. So cool! 

Physical Milestones: It’s hard to keep up with these. He is really mastering so many physical things right now. I guess the biggest things recently are eating well with a fork and a spoon and also sitting on his tooshy and scooting forward to go down a slide. 

Observations: Forest still seems to have introverted tendencies but is becoming more outgoing all the time. He takes a bit of time to warm up and always cautiously approaches new people or situations, but once he gets the picture he is full of smiles. 

He has been loving the gym daycare lately which is such a relief! The other day he tried to hide when I came to pick him up which is a major change from the days of him crying off and on the entire time I worked out. 

He is also turning into a very affectionate and gentle little guy. He is all boy in most aspects but he's surprisingly passive in his interactions with other kids and animals. Occasionally he will accidentally run over another baby because he has a habit of not looking where he's going but so far he is pretty good about sharing and taking turns. I'm sure that'll change as he gets a bit older;) 

But I will say that he's been doing great with Samson. We work with him daily on petting Samson 'soft' and he obliges. Occasionally he gets carried away and pats him a bit harder than we would like, but all in all I think he's pretty trustworthy with such a small pup. And he's been able to apply the concept 'soft' when we are around babies younger (or simply smaller) than him too.  Also, he loves to climb into my lap for a cuddle and will often hand me a book before climbing aboard for a story. 

He also loves his stuffed animals, especially his fox which he snuggles with daily. We usually know when it's nap time or bedtime because he will start carrying his fox around with him.

My biggest challenges: Exhaustion and Discipline. Forest is really independent which can be nerve-racking and exhausting when out in public. I met a friend and her son at the park the other day and I couldn’t hold a conversation with her because Forest was constantly running out of the park and needing to be redirected. 

Meanwhile, her boy was content to actually play on the playground. Imagine!

We’ve been really digging confined spaces recently otherwise it’s just a constant game of momma chasing baby around. He’s getting better at holding my hand in public but when he sees something he wants to chase or explore, he quickly let’s go and makes a dash for it. 

At this age, all toddlers are little scientists. Their jobs are to explore and gather info and test boundaries and our job is too enforce appropriate boundaries within which to let them freely explore. Sometimes I feel like I don’t have the energy to be consistent when Forest tries to splash in the dog’s water bowl for the hundredth time that day, but I know that as soon as I let him do it once then I am sending him the signal that the rules don’t always apply, and that’s a slippery slope. 

The other day we were out at an outdoor mall and I asked Forest to hold my hand. He did for a minute before trying to wiggle away to go explore. While we were in a safe spot for him to roam a bit, I didn’t want to ‘lose’ the argument to my 15 month old that he needed to hold my hand in this situation. So I had to endure the temper tantrum that came when I picked him up to carry him (consequence for not holding mom’s hand). 

When he’s a bit older I think he’ll be able to understand more about what’s appropriate in different situations and hopefully he will follow a command when I tell him to stay by mommy, but for now that’s just a bit too much to expect from him. So we march on with being consistent and consequently extremely exhausted.  We hope that our consistency now will pay off in laying the groundwork for obedience in the terrible twos/threes. We’ll see I guess. 

Ok, that was a really long winded post. Things are just changing so fast these days. I want to write it all down so that I have some sort of record for remembering. Thanks for following along!