During Rocco's first year I kept notes on my phone of his milestones because I knew I would never remember later when he met them. Soon after he turned one my notes became more sporadic and of course now I can't remember when certain words were added to his vocabulary, when he started being so funny, when he began to mimic and understand so much, and when he turned into more of a boy than a baby. The milestones do seem fewer after 1, but I would still like to remember the details of him growing up since it seems to be happening in the blink of an eye.
Size: 30lbs 34inches. He's been this size for a few months now. I think he gained a few pounds and grew an inch just before his 18 month appointment and has plateaued since then.
Newest Words: "Mine!" I don't remember exactly when this one started but it seemed to come out of nowhere! We don't call anything "mine" at home so I was surprised to hear him all of a sudden start labeling absolutely everything as "mine!" He's used the words "this" and "that" for sometime, but recently started saying "that?" about things he wants you to name or explain.
Tricks: Although it started before 20 months he still loves pointing out body parts as you name them and can distinguish between "Rocco's ___" and "Mama's ___" (hair, head, nose, ears, etc...). He knows a few animal sounds: dog, snake, lion, bear, monkey. He will still do all his old tricks: show me the money, how big are you, etc. He loves to stomp, clap, dance, and "be crazy". He will sing while rocking his rocking chair in his room. He says "yeah" to just about every yes or no question you ask.
Books/Videos: He isn't quite as into his books as he used to be...but he does like his truck book and his Little People look and find farm book. He loves watching his videos, which he calls "buh" (bus) before and after naps and before bed at night. We switch between Super Simple Learning Songs and Little Baby Bum. Both are nursery rhyme videos on utube.
Toys: He still doesn't really play on his own a whole lot at home...although it's more than he used to. I'm sure he plays on his own at daycare since he can't possibly have one on one all the time there. He almost always wants me to play with him at home and I don't force him to entertain himself. I'm sure if I pushed it more, he would, but I enjoy playing together so right now it's a non issue. No one toy keeps him occupied for long periods of time at this point. He has a race track and a v-tech bike that he plays with pretty much every day along with his vacuum. He often asks to go downstairs and gets really excited when we say yes. I keep a lot more toys down there and he really likes his slide and still loves pushing his push toys, usually while running. He has a ball pit that he plays with pretty regularly downstairs as well.
Play: He loves more than anything to play outside. He will play with his cozy coupe and bike in the driveway for hours.
Sleep: Dare I say he is (whisper, fingers crossed, knock on wood) sleeping through the night?! It's been a LONG time coming in this house. His sleep or lack there of deserves it's own post, but I think around 18 months he started sleeping through the night about 3 or 4 nights a week. Then it just seemed like all of a sudden it was getting more and more regular until it was most nights. At this point he seems to be sleeping through every night unless he doesn't feel well. This past week he had a really bad cold and ended up in our bed for a night, but was back to sleeping through the next night. He usually goes down between 8:00pm-8:30pm and gets up around 6:00am-6:30am.
He also just recently started napping better at home. It seemed as though he was always napping better at daycare during the week than he was at home on the weekends. At daycare he pretty consistently naps 2-2.5hrs. At home I was lucky to get 1 hour straight. But all of a sudden about a month ago he started sleeping about 2 hours pretty consistently without waking. There have even been 2.5-3hr naps here and there. And today I saw him sit up at one point during his nap, look around, lay back down, and go back to sleep without a peep! Progress in this house for sure!!
Food: He seems to go on kicks where he will eat the same thing for a long time and then all of a sudden completely refuse it. When he was littler it was bananas. Sometimes it was the ONLY thing I could get him to eat for dinner, then he refused them completely for a long time. Now it's yogurt. He eats a yogurt for breakfast every morning soon after waking up even though he eats breakfast again at 8am at daycare. He's been eating a yogurt each morning for months and just recently started telling me no when I offer it. He still loves most fruit: grapes, watermelon, strawberries, bananas, apples. He will eat some veggies...mostly carrots. He used to eat a lot more when he was just starting on solids. He eats a lot of pouches still which are a complete life saver since he doesn't eat a lot of solid veggies. He eats a pouch with lunch and dinner every day. He likes penne pasta with red sauce, chicken, grilled cheese, toast, veggie straws, bologna, pizza, etc. He will try most things that we offer. We finally tried peanut butter for the first time today -- I had been so nervous about trying it...for no reason really, he clearly did not have an allergic reaction, but he didn't like it either.
Potty Training: We haven't started and really don't have a set plan to at this point. Joe did pick up a potty seat to have in the bathroom but so far Rocco won't go near it. We've asked a few times if he wants to sit on it, but he just shakes his head no. We figured we will just leave it set up in the bathroom and let him get used to it.
Pacifier: Still totally addicted and I'm fine with it for now. He mostly just has it for naps and bedtime and when he's in his car seat. I don't have any plans of trying to wean from it until he's at least 2.
Car seat: He's been in the convertible seat for a few months now due to his weight. Still facing backwards. Loves holding my hand during car rides.
I feel like I struggled quite a bit as a new mom for a long time. The first few months were really hard. Each month some things got easier just in time for something new to pop up that, in the moment, seemed so challenging. It took me quite a while to feel like I got in my groove and started to have a handle on things. I have to say, once we turned the corner of turning 1 things seemed to get a little easier. We still had plenty of challenges with sleeping, illness, 2 sets of tubes, etc., but I really feel like Rocco's personality has come out so much more these last few months. I love this age (aside from the temper tantrums that I was shocked to learn started so young!) and I wish I could pause time and keep him at this age forever.
Much Love,
B.
