Mac is 20 months old!

Dear son,


Today you are 20 months old! I’ve gotten to be so much worse at doing these updates, mainly because life is pretty chaotic these days! I don’t have the spare time to write down every note I used to about how you’re changing and what you’re doing, so most of what I write now is from memory. I wish I could keep up the detail and specificity I used to, but I’d rather savor the moments with you as they happen than worry about jotting something down. Every moment we have spent together is tucked away in my memory and in my heart and that is most important to me.

I do, however, want to keep up these posts because I do love reflecting back on date specific data. One day you’ll learn how anal retentive I can be.

Here are some of the things I can specifically recall from this past month of your life:

Potty Training:

I started doing some “Elimination Communication” work with you just after your first birthday. That went well, but I became really lax with that and let that fall by the wayside. You were having so many developmental leaps in other areas, so I decided that I’d wait to get more specific cues from you before pushing the potty training any further.

These days you can tell us when you’ve dirtied a diaper. More than that you will announce it as it’s happening. You don’t actually have as much patients for sitting on the toilet as you once did, but we’re working on it and I think we may even be able to have you on your way out of diapers before your baby brother arrives!

Help:

Lately, I’ve noticed you becoming frustrated when you are unable to do something on your own. In those instances you seem to recognize that you need help, but we never demonstrated the word, so you would just whine or scream or get mad.

I picked up on that and in those moments, I will ask, “Son, do you need help?” Most times you would say, “Uh huh” and nod your head in which case I would direct you to say, “help, please.” Its so sweet to hear you say “ep!” now versus just getting frustrated.

I should mention that we don’t always go through that song and dance. Sometimes I just have to rescue you from yourself when you’re in a particularly worrisome predicament!

Sleep:

For the entire first year of your life, you did not sleep in our bed – not even once! I was proud of that because I felt it was important for you to learn to sleep independently, but then we all moved into one room and it was hard to keep you out of our bed when you can see us across the way in the middle of the night.

I’ve come to really enjoy having you in bed with us. You’re such a sweet little sleeper and it’s great to have extra cuddle time with you. I also still rock you to sleep because I really love that time with you as well.

Unfortunately, one sacrifice that will have to be made before your brother arrives is to get you falling asleep without my rocking you. I have struggled with this one for a while. It was one of the things I was most conflicted about, but one night as we sat in the rocker you asked for your bed. Since then, I have started sitting with you while you drink your last serving of milk and then after your teeth are brushed we lay in your toddler bed.

As time goes on, I’m hoping to inch my way out of the bed and have you falling to sleep in it on your own. I do still plan to be nearby in the rocker, but I’ll be rocking your brother instead. We’ll see how that goes.

Stats:

You had a doctor’s appointment on your 20 month birthday because you were not feeling well. You had been running a fever for 3 days and so I was told I should bring you in. It turned out to be a regular old stomach bug and Dr. C told daddy we were doing everything right and not to worry. The nice thing about the appointment was that you got weighed again and we know now that you are 27.5 lbs! You’re such a big boy and getting bigger every day!

You’ve totally outgrown all of your 18 month shirts, but your pants still fit ok because they are the adjustable waist kind. Thank goodness too because even though we shop wisely, a new wardrobe can be costly!

These days I don’t hesitate too much to buy stuff because everything we buy for you will one day be used for your brother, so I feel like I’m really only spending half the price!

You love to put on our shoes and walk around that way and you also now put your own boots on! The first time you did it, you put on the boots and then said, “Mama I ‘side” which means “Mama, I want to go outside.” Even though I was in the middle of something, I had to reward you with a trip out to play!

Since it’s Christmas time, we wanted tried to do a lot of holiday activities with you, including watching holiday cartoons, taking a walk through a neighborhood that does an annual Christmas lights display, and teaching you about Santa. You love Santa which I wasn’t quite sure of this year. You say, “Santa, ho ho!” and love to see pictures of him or play with blow up Santa decorations. You have made this holiday season so fun by being so enthusiastic about it.

I could go on and on about all the things you do that amaze me. There has yet to come a day when I’m not thrilled beyond description to be your mommy!

Love,

Mommy