A late 16 month update

We have been out of town on vacation for what seemed like forever but things are finally starting to settle down again.

Weight: He loves to play with the scale, but won't sit on it. I think around 26 pounds. Still plenty big.

Eating: Cheese is his favorite. I get nervous about the amount of cheese the kid eats but he does well. He is also loving all of the fresh berries & melons. He recently discovered condiments (ranch, ketchup, BBQ sauce) and loves dipping everything in it (even cheese). He always wants to use a fork or spoon & is pretty good about getting it into this mouth. However, he knows that it is much easier for me to load up the utensil for him.

Words: He talks non stop. I'm not sure what new words he has added and I wonder how many words someone else might think he says. He is very good at pointing out things & following commands like "Go into the bathroom" or "Pick this up"

Toys: His favorite toy is his see n' say farm thing. And his pull behind puppy. And the Mega Bloks. And the tractors.

Books: I bet I spend at least an hour a day reading books. His favorites right now are a little people farm book with flaps (he pretends to eat the berries, it's so cute!), Where's Spot (another flap book from the United Way); and the old stand by flap book Peek-a-booo i love you. He spends a bulk of his day hauling books around and looking at them.

Sleeping: He's still sleeping good at night & is down around 8pm. We are slowly maybe possibly moving the wake up time back a little bit (6:45ish now), but probably not. Naps are pretty hit and miss. I try to put him down by 1pm but the length can range anywhere from 1/2 hour - 2+ hours. If I decide to do something productive = 45 min. If I decide to wait it out, 2 hours.

Other fun stuff: We have been enjoying getting outside. Charlie loved swimming lessons & I'm hoping to take him again in July just because it's cheap, indoor fun in the pool. The neighbor gave us a frog sandbox that we use as a little pool here. The other morning I filled it up & he crawled right in, clothes and everything. It was FREEZING! The kid loves the water.

Another cute thing he started doing is blowing on his food. Grandma must have taught him that last week. Whenever I put something in the microwave he starts blowing. The other day he even blew on his bowl of watermelon & raspberries.

Tyler tried teaching him how to jump last week. He hasn't figured it out yet but does a little dance trying to and then he will show off his replacement trick which is to stand on his head (think yoga downward dog). He thinks it's hilarious.

The not-as-fun stuff: Charlie went through a screaming/screeching phase in June. I hope he's over that. He also decided one day he can climb stairs. A couple of gates have now put a stop to that. But now he will throw things over the gate & then cry because he wants it back. Solution: put gate up high enough that he can't throw stuff over the top. This also prevents Erik from getting down from his office :)
I don't have many pictures because we haven't been around, but here's a few.Also, I don't know whats up with blogger, but I can't see the pics, only the html so hopefully this works.