year in the life.

19 months

Beckett,

the thing that i have absolutely loved about this last month is how you love to give kisses. you make a the "muah" sound when you kiss it so adorable and you will just kiss us and your elmo doll and other stuffed animals, over and over. we love it. on the other hand, when you get mad, you get mad. you head bang, scratch yourself/us and hit. i guess they say this is normal. we don't like seeing you hurt yourself. we will put you in your bed for a break and then your mood seems to reset. you have really had a hard time sleeping this last month. we aren't sure what it is but you were waking in the middle of the night and waking real early around 4:45 or so. we referenced our book "healthy sleep habits, happy child" and decided to make your bedtime super early. sometimes even 5pm and not go to you until 6am even if you were crying. it seems to be helping. you no longer wake in the middle of the night and are starting to wake a little later. sometimes 5:45a.m. but for the most part around 6 or 6:30am.

foods you've been eating:

you fluctuate. sometimes you eat a ton and sometimes i think you are surviving off air.

19 month stats.

phasing out the size 3 diapers
size 12-18 month, size 4 shoe
height-31.25"
weight-17 lbs 9oz
12 teeth

likes.

you love movies, singing along with songs, love music, love to play hide n seek, love to climb on anything, your new love is elmo. you say "momo" and you love to watch him and play games with him on the computer. you take the mouse and shake it back and forth. you move your fingers over the track pad.

favorite song.

twinkle twinkle little star, ABC song, you sing to the elmo song, really anything (you swing your arms and dance), songs on happy feet the movie.

things i don't want to forget.

• how when we went to pick out a christmas tree you just ran around touching all the trees
• how when we put it up you would touch it and lean over and *sniff sniff it (blowing in and out of your nose)
• how much you love the christmas tree (you just stare at all the lights and the top star and say "sa sa")
• how when we wash your hands, you will dry them with a dish towel
• how you will open the drawer in the refrigerator and help yourself to whatever you want for a snack (usually grapes or strawberries)
• you have this sound machine that is also a projector. you love to play with it and point to all the things on the wall. if it's too light in the room and you can't see it, you just look and look for it
• how you love to be on the computer
• how you can drink perfectly out of a cup, by yourself. although, supervised.
• how when you get out of the tub sometimes you just like to run around naked
• how you like watching yourself go #1 in the bath tub or bathroom floor (geez)
• how you can climb anything. including the kitchen chairs and you get on the table.
• how you like to sit on my lap while i sew and try to help
• how you want to help with everything
• how you point to your bowl and say "nemo"
• you put the balls into your toy
• you can point to the color orange
• you love legos
• you repeat things over and  over
• love to shower
• you type on the keyboard
• you laugh any time you burp or fart
• you can pull your pants down
• you lay down to put on your diaper and clothes
• you don't want to be watched when going #2
• you climb out of the tub
• how you like the electric toothbrush
• how you lean on you rocking sheep and watches tv
• how you will just randomly crawl
• how you can almost do a somersault alone
• how you sit on your feet and bounce
• how you can balance on one leg
• how you say:

"momo"=elmo

"emo"=nemo

"uce"=bruce, the shark on nemo

"ok"=okay instead of saying yes

"ookie"=cookie

"owf owf"=woof

"gawg"=dog

"uck"=duck

"ahh ahh"=baa

"ilk"=milk, you'll go to the refrigerator and point and say "ilk"
        "car, moo, woof, quack, oink, dad, mama, ball, cold, go, ok"

we love you beckett, to the moon and back. you are so fun. i just love watching you grow!

18 months.

Beckett,

Wow, what a difference a month can make. a week for that matter. you are now 18 months and oh my goodness, you are coming into your own. you make us laugh everyday. you understand everything we ask of you. now it's just going to be you learning to communicate it and that you are starting to do. you walk to to the refrigerator and say "ilk" for milk.

foods you've been eating:

you love chips, greek yogurt, peas, graham crackers, cheese eggs with pepper, you chug veggie/fruit smoothies, coconut water, tortellini, raisin bran, quesadillas, you love blueberries, fig newtons, pb&j, turkey, spaghetti, string cheese, sharp cheddar, tomatoes, clementines, grapes, corn, pretty much anything, if you are in the mood for it.

18 month stats.

phasing out the size 3 diapers
size 12-18 month, size 4 shoe
height-approx. 30"
weight-approx 17.5 lbs
head circumference-
12 teeth- g came in therefore, you now have a, d, e, f, g, j, k, d, n, o, p, q, t

dislikes.

when we take you away from something you aren't finished playing with etc. when we talk to you when you are mad.

likes.

you love movies, singing along with songs, love music, love to play hide n seek, love to climb on anything.

favorite song.

twinkle twinkle little star, ABC song, really anything (you swing your arms and dance), songs on happy feet the movie.

things i don't want to forget.

• how you have an electric toothbrush and you like it
• how you stand at the window and wave when one of us leave
• how you will give us a surprise face and then squench up your face and eyes and show your teeth. over and over and over
• how when we are reading "where's my mummy" you say "ahh" when we turn the page to the when the mummy screams "ahh, a mouse"
• how you are pushing all your cars (hot wheels) and trucks
• how you know all your body parts and you love saying "eyez" while pointing to your eyes and any eyes
• how you finally transitioned to one nap (for the most part)
• how well you traveled to WI and TX (and you finally didn't seem to mind going to anyone in the family, and enjoyed everyone)
• how hard and fast you rock on the sheep
• how you don't mind water in your face at all. you will just stand and let it drip all over your face
• how you love to type on the computer keyboard
• how when you weren't sure if you wanted to sleep or not (overtired) you would just bang your head on your bead. you got a bruise. i felt so bad
• how you will take floss out of the dispenser and wrap it around your bottom tooth (only once) and turn your head
• you love to sing
• how i spent six hours on your 2nd halloween costume (superman entire outfit: cape, pants, undies, shirt) and you got sick and didn't get to wear it. except for the 5 minutes you were lying on the floor with daddy and then you fell asleep on the couch. first time ever.
• how when we were driving home in a snow storm from our WI trip, 1 o'clock in the morning, you vomited everywhere. and screamed until 4 o'clock in the morning.
• how i showed you once how to blow kisses and you picked it right up
• how you pick up the chapstick on the nightstand and pretend to put it on
• how you will take a kleenex and pretend to blow your nose
• how you will take a cloth and pretend to be cleaning the floor or furniture
• how you dance around real fast and stomp your feet. your dad calls it "happy feet." we only say "happy feet" and you will start dancing around
• how you raise one leg and swing it around and try to balance, sometimes holding on to something.

we love you beckett, to the moon and back. you are so fun. i just love watching you grow!

17 months.

Beckett,

you are now 17 months old.

17 month stats.

size 3 diapers
size 12 month clothes, some 18 month, size 4 shoe
height-
weight-
head circumference-
11 teeth- so as we were waiting on #d and #g to erupt, your molars decided to come in. ha. one day you were laughing and i was like what the heck, that looks like a tooth. it was #t first, then #a, then #k, then #j. following the molars #d is barely erupted and we are still waiting on #g but it won't be long.

dislikes.

when i won't let you sit on the counter if i'm cooking. but i'm scared you will fall.

when i won't let him watch tv.

likes.

you love movies, singing along with songs, love music, love to play hide n seek, love to climb all over his rocking sheep. (my papa made you this sheep but it was a solid state and you wanted to rock, so we paid bruce, the neighbor to turn it into a rocking sheep), love to wrestle (and aggressive),

books we are reading.

where's my mummy?, chicka chicka boom boom, he loves dr seuss's hand, hand fingers, thumb, old macdonald had a farm pop up book

favorite song.

twinkle twinkle little star, ABC song, really anything (you swing your arms and dance)

words you've been saying.

you were saying a lot of words and then you just kinda quit saying them. i think it was because you were teething or something. i think it won't be long and you will be saying everything. i've been trying to make you use them but you like grunting. ha. you definitely have "dah," dad, down though.

things i don't want to forget over the past month.

• how you will be playing and then just run over and throw your hands around me and hug and kiss me
• how you know how to give a nice tight hug
• how before you go to bed you give rounds of kisses to everyone in the room
• how you throw everything in the trash can
• hide your milk and pacies in the cabinets
• how i was looking for some tissue paper and found your pacie in the closet in a bag
• how you blow bubbles in the bath tub
• how you went down the slide all by yourself
• how you like to have the faucet dripping the tub so you can go over on your tummy and get a drink (in which always makes you cough)
• how you like playing in your car seat
• how you can climb on anything
• how you chew on your molars

we love you to the moon and back.

a year in the life.

16 months.

(i'm going to start writing these entries as letters to beckett. i feel like he is getting so much older and i started thinking about him possibly reading these. i like the idea of it being focused towards him instead of about him!) so, here goes.

Beckett,

today you are 16 months old. my oh my, how time is flying by. i look back at last month and remember thinking how much more of a little boy you were becoming. this month you are even more of a little boy. all boy for that matter. you absolutely love being outdoors. when i say it's time to go inside, you shake your head and say "no." it's so funny. any time we go outside to walk to the car, you grab a hold of my hand, walk down the front steps and run for the yard and not the car. i have to beg you to come to the car and then eventually, come and pick you up and you say, "no" and arch your back and stiffen your legs. you hate your car seat when i initially put you in it. thankfully, you don't have to be in it for too long. considering, it only takes five minutes to get anywhere in our lovely town. (i love that) you don't even know how lucky you are to not have to be in it for 45 minutes to an hour like you would if we lived somewhere else in the country.

foods you've been eating:

blueberry pancakes, gelato, craisins, whole strawberries, blueberries, english muffins, bagels, cream cheese, bowtie pasta with peas, carrots, watermelon, nectarines, french toast, vanilla bean ice cream, pinwheel pasta with cheese and chicken, cheese eggs, greek pineapple yogurt, turkey sandwiches, pbj, loves honey nut cheerios (constantly pointing and asking for them and looking for them in the lazy susan), bran cereal (weird, i know), spaghetti with meat sauce, bananas, he will eat anything. amazing what he can chew with only 4 teeth.

16 month stats.

size 3 diapers
size 12 month clothes, some 18 month, size 4 shoe
height-
weight-
head circumference-
6 teeth- #q (august 22nd), #n (august 29), #d and #g are on their way (we can see them)

dislikes.

you absolutely hate getting your diaper changed, getting dressed, getting out of the tub, having to come inside from playing

likes.

singing along with songs, loves music, loves to play hide n seek, loves being scared, loves dragging towels, clothes, blankets, etc. like linus, sitting on the counter while i'm in the kitchen, twirling around, shooting hoops, getting into the refrigerator, singing in the microphone

books we are reading.

where's my mummy?, chicka chicka boom boom, he loves dr seuss's hand, hand fingers, thumb, old macdonald had a farm pop up book

favorite song.

twinkle twinkle little star, ABC song, really anything (you swing your arms and dance)

words you've been saying.

• "fis"-fish
• "quack"-i say, "what's a duck say?"
• "moooo"-i say, "what's a cow say?"
• "this"-this
• "chees"-cheese
• "mama"-mama
• "oooo"-oooo
• "awe"-awe
• "soos"-shoes

new words you are saying.

• started as "awt," now it is "hot"-hot (you know exactly what that means. if you touch anything warm, you say it)
• "kikds"-kids (one day i asked you if he heard the kids outside playing and you repeated the word)
• "col"-cold
• "kweek"-squeak
• "swee"-i interpreted it as sweet. ha. you said it after i handed you your pacifier one day.
• "cooka"-cookie
• "dah"-dan or dad. not quite sure on this. dan says it's dad, i say what if it's dan? since i refer to him as dan. dan gets mad and says, "don't teach him that." never the less, dan will leave any room and you will walk around and say "dah" looking for dan to respond.
• "too"-2 (you love to count)
• "sis"-6

things i don't want to forget over the past month.

• how you grabbed a nectarine out of the grocery cart when i wasn't looking and started chowing down on it
• how you crawl around in your play tent and roll around grunting
• after dad set up your basketball net, you needed no instruction on how to slam dunk it. you just did it.
• how you took a #2 right during shooting hoops and then right after, you slam dunked it and grunted
• how you brought me the "robots" dvd case, handed it to me, and walked over to the dvd player and pointed
• how you mimic counting and always say two and six in the correct order
• how you will stomp one foot real high sometimes when you are walking
• how you like to walk backwards
• how you walk on your toes
• how you now have to duck your head to go under the kitchen table. you learned that real quick
• how when we read dr seuss thumb book, you always holds your thumb up
• how you says "shh" and puts his one finger to your mouth
• how you have became a little climber (you hang off the dishwasher and the stove)
• how you blink real long sometimes and i can see you raise your eyebrows and roll your eyes around
• how you mimic blowing your nose
• how you blow out your mouth when you are smelling anything. especially flowers
• how you opened my swimsuit drawer and pulled all of them out and was trying to put them on over your head. (ive decided to make you a cape soon)
• how you have this hilarious fake forced laugh
• how you will go into the kitchen, open the cabinet door to the lazy susan and grab the cereal box and help yourself
• how after bath time, you love to lay your head on my shoulder and cuddle while you are wrapped in a towel (i wish it never had to end)
• how your soft spot is almost completely closed
• how when you get overly tired you will head butt your head on anything
• how you still sleep with one pacie in your mouth and one in the other hand
• how you squint your eyes and smile while showing all your teeth
• how your soft spot is gone :( you're getting so big

everyday is so much fun. you laugh all the time and are doing so many things to make your dad and i laugh. you are just an angel from heaven here on earth and we are so blessed to have you as our son. we love you to the moon and back.

14-15months.

this shirt is soaking while i type. (fingers crossed, bad idea)

oh, i feel so bad because i didn't post 14 month stats. so i'm just going to do 14 and 15 together. between summer and traveling, the last couple of months seem to be so crazy. we went to mexico with my family and we had a blast. beckett and i bought a ticket to mexico and dan flew standby. beckett was amazing on the flight. he was just like a little adult and never cried one time. he just nursed and then slept almost the entire flight. when he wasn't asleep he was just looking around and playing with the toys i brought him. he ate snacks. i was so worried about him getting sick, i brought all of his food in a suitcase. i was even able to bring organic milk with us for the entire week. it seemed a little extreme and over protective maybe but i'm so glad i did it. we all ended up getting ecoli poisoning upon return, except for beckett. that was what i was worried about and the fact that if he got sick there wasn't anything that could be given to him. so it was all worth it. our room was absolutely gorgeous and right on the beach. it was a perfect location, right by the pool. we had a huge checklist of things to bring and one of them was the monitor. we managed to bring the charger, the video recorder, but not the monitor. at the last minute i switched bags and forgot to grab the monitor. we were so bummed because we wanted him to nap in the room and turn the video on while we were on the beach or at the pool. at first i just sat on the balcony while he napped and watched dan snorkel, boogie board, swim, kayak, etc. but by the third day. we decided to stay close enough to see the door to the room and check on him every ten minutes or so. by the end we had it all figured out. we had such a good time. i definitely realized how things are so much different once you have kids. the minute we walked into our beautiful room, we started re-arranging furniture to make it more kid friendly. there was a ledge off the stairs that we had to cover in pillows. the cleaning lady, i'm sure was wondering why we kept doing this. one day we came in and she had moved everything back. and of course beckett fell off the ledge. i was so mad that she had moved it all back. we just finally quit having her come to clean. the trip was a blast. made us even more excited for our wedding in costa rica. the travel home was not so great. i decided to try standby on the way home. which ended up being a huge mistake. we made it to dallas no problem. we landed at 10:30a.m. and was going to try and catch the next flight to denver. supposedly there was a bomb threat on united and all the flights were re-routed to AA. therefore, we didn't get on. nor did we get on all day. at 8:30p.m. we finally decided to buy a ticket on frontier. we actually got a really good deal on the price and said let's just do it. we then got a hotel for the night in dallas. did i mention that we didn't have our luggage. it was in denver. no clothes, no diapers, no wipes, no hair brush, no toiletries (toothbrush), no baby food, no car to obtain any of this, nothing, nada, zip, zilch. we ordered a pizza to the hotel. the people at the front desk were the most amazing people we had met all day. it restored our faith in people. the lady at the front, gave me three diapers that she had in her car, a comb from the front desk and a toothbrush and toothpaste. you would have thought we died and went to heaven. at midnight we finally got to sleep. the longest day ever and beckett was again, AWESOME. it was like no big deal for him. until, midnight. he woke up screaming at the top of his lungs. i know he was sooo tired. and i felt so terrible for him. i felt like i let him down. it was horrible. the next day we made it back to denver then drove 3 hours to steamboat. it was such a long trip home but never had it felt so good to be back. beckett just made us so proud and we feel so lucky to have such a wonderful little boy! he is the best.

the last month or so he has been transitioning to one nap. although, some days he still needs two. we are still nursing morning and night. i have a feeling this is coming to an end, so i'm enjoying the last bit of it. he has yet to be sick, (knock on wood), and i accredit his health to the nursing.

he is starting to throw tantrums when he doesn't get his way. oh man, and it begins. we just say, "beckett, it's okay, you don't need to scream to get your point across." and "that kind of behavior isn't acceptable." hopefully, someday he will get it. :)

he is definitely understanding things we are asking him to do. every little thing i ask him to do, eventually he will do it. i.e. if i say let's take a bath he walks to the stairs and looks up to the bathroom, if i tell him to brush his teeth, he walks to the bathroom by his room, if i ask if he's hungry and wants to eat, he walks to his high chair. if i ask for a kiss, he will lean over with his mouth wide open. (he loves giving good night kisses to anyone that is around at the time) he is a sponge and is really starting to communicate.

i'm trying to teach him his body parts, he doesn't seem to be cooperating with that.

we have been coloring and trace his legs and hands. he loves that. he also loves to eat the crayons.

foods he has been eating:

blueberry pancakes, gelato, craisins, whole strawberries, blueberries, english muffins, bagels, cream cheese, bowtie pasta with peas, carrots, watermelon, nectarines, french toast, vanilla bean ice cream, pinwheel pasta with cheese and chicken, cheese eggs, greek pineapple yogurt, turkey sandwiches, pbj, loves honey nut cheerios (constantly pointing and asking for them and looking for them in the lazy susan), bran cereal (weird, i know), spaghetti with meat sauce, bananas, he will eat anything. amazing what he can chew with only 4 teeth.

15 month stats.

size 3 diapers
size 12 month clothes, some 18 month, size 4 shoe
height-will post
weight-will post
head circumference-will post
4 teeth. #e (june 28th), #f (june 30th) finally came in

dislikes.

hates getting his diaper changed, getting dressed, and getting out of the tub

favorite song.

twinkle twinkle little star, calliou theme song

words he is saying.

• "fis"-fish
• "quack"-i say, "what's a duck say?"
• "moooo"-i say, "what's a cow say?"
• "this"-this
• "chees"-cheese
• "mama"-mama
• "oooo"-oooo
• "awe"-awe
• "soos"-shoes
• he says a lot of random things but these are the most consistent

things i don't want to forget over the past two months.

• how he pretends to talk on the phone and how he will use anything as a phone, but prefers the real thing
• how he likes to walk blindly, with a towel or something over his head
• how he likes to back up and sit on your lap
• how his face looks when he is trying to do something difficult or requires a lot of strength (it's somewhat of a wince and a growl)
• how he blows his nose with toilet paper
• how he wraps his hands around his head and rubs his hair
• how he likes to pull the boxes of toys out of the storage bench meme and papa made
• how he stands on the train and rocks back and forth
• how he likes to climb anything. the one time i turned around and he was standing on the diaper box
• how he likes to climb the stair gate and turn the light switch on and off (although it scares me that he will lose his grip and fall backwards on the tile)
• how i say, "let's go brush and floss your teeth" and he walks straight to the bathroom
• how we use burts bees orange wow toothpaste and he loves it
• how he loves to spin in circles, he just laughs
• how he changed his laugh to deep sounding laugh (sounds so fake)
• i asked him what him and daddy did and he started throwing his hands in the air and making an explosion sound. when i told dan he said that was crazy because he holds the duck in the air and makes that sort of sound
• how one day he was mimicking "whoa"
• how he can feed himself with a fork and spoon. he loves to dip it and then eat it.
• cleans furniture, floor, clothes, animals, everything with wipes
• how he lays on his belly in the bath tub and just hums
• how he strums the guitars and hums
• how he will randomly laugh at something on the T.v.
• how he puts his face under the water faucet while it's running
• drinks the tub water (i hate that)
• how he knows to shake his head no
• he he has started to shake his head yes (the first time was august 6th. in the tub i asked him if he wanted this glass candle holder he always points to, and he shook his head yes)
• how he just loves to read
• how he loves knocking blocks over
• how he knows how to make the top spin
• how he opens the pop goes the weasel box without turning the handle (although he knows how to do that). he just releases the latch like, "duh, this is a lot easier."
• how he can open and close the windows (one day some kids were playing outside and he was getting ready to go to bed but was opening and closing it and talking to them)
• how he loves stuffed animals
• how he took the keys to the door knob and to pretend he was unlocking it
• how he loves to open the lotion bottle
• how he pulled out the bottom tray on the stove and sat in one night
• on july 26th, he actually handed me his water bottle and asked for more water by pointing to the water dispenser in the fridge. i filled it up, handed it back to him and he took it, smiled, and walked away.
• how he kicks the basketball
• how he wrestles with his sock monkey. he just talks to it and throws it on the ground and rolls around with it.
• how he loves to play in his room
• how he loves to roll around on blankets and pillows
• how we started coloring
• how all of a sudden his feet touch the ground when he sits on the train
• how he knows how to get off the couch
• how i was testing his walking downstairs skills and he did a flip and i caught him in the air. he had no idea what happened and was like "what?" not quite there yet
• how we taught him how to throw his diaper away and decided that wasn't a good idea because he was throwing everything away
• how he insists on pushing the cart at the grocery store
• how he says "ooo" and "awe"
• how he swings this long straight tent rod around like a sword (all boy)

Beckett, everyday i look at you and am amazed. you are constantly learning something new. you make me laugh every single day, if not every single minute your awake. while your asleep, i look at you and smile. i have to say that the best thing that ever happened to me was your dad, because it gave us, you. thank you for being the little man that you are. we couldn't have wished for a better son. i love you to the moon and back and will never stop telling you.