Hello, 17 months.

Hearing my Outlook "ding", I glanced at my inbox to see a new email message from BabyCenter titled "Your 17-month-old: Week 1".  Can you believe that?!  The "baby" is 17 months today.

Here are some of the highlights of his development:

• Definitely getting more vocal; really likes to copy the words & sounds we make
• Most popular words we hear daily:  "oun ball" (round ball), "bah bah" (bye bye), "ma ma", "da da" or "pa pa", "buh buh" (up, up), "puck" (cup), "sss" (shoes)
• Running like crazy
• Loves to "walk" up steps, not crawl
• Still fascinated with animal sounds - especially "fff" (woof) 
• Uses a fork &/or spoon; has a hard time "stabbing" with the fork still though
• Drinks out of a cup without the sippy top - even thinks he can get his own water out of the fridge. We keep it on for milk during meals though...I'm not ready for lakes of milk on the floor...
• One nap from 12:30-2:00ish (school); 12:30-3:00/3:30 (home)
• In bed at 7:30
• Knows his daily routine & loves to help getting ready in the morning & for bed at night
• Is still a good listener & easily re-directed if doing something he knows he's not supposed to
• Favorite toys: bouncy balls, books, blocks, tool box

Happy month-day, CJ!  It's been a blast watching you explore this last month.  Looking forward to what the next month has in store for you!

Holtercise!

We indulged in Great Grandma Rau's Snack Buns (think ham & swiss cheese on a bun with a melted butter/mustard/onion/poppyseed mixture) for supper tonight so we had a few extra calories to burn off before bedtime.  Enter: exercise ball - or as Colin knows it, BIG round, green ball.  The kid will not sit still if any type of ball is within sight.



First you have to stretch...



Then bend down & work your arm muscles.




When the ball is out of reach, you must prepare to run for it.




Lastly, it's time to bounce...




& bounce!



Monkey see, monkey do

Open house preparations were in full swing when we came home from our weekend ski trip on Sunday.  Check out how this little man was helping:

He sure enjoyed helping Grandma, complete with vacuum noises & all.  What a ham!

  

"Mountain" shredding

John & I took advantage of some great (& free!) babysitters last weekend & hit the slopes outside of Alexandria.  It was a getaway to celebrate Valentine's Day & our 30th birthday's.  The weather was perfect & it made us long for Big Sky that much more.  Hopefully next year...

Thanks again, Mom & Dad for spending the weekend with Colin!  It was great to enjoy a weekend - just the two of us.

Be Mine, Valentine

How lucky am I to have these two cute boys as my valentines?!

Splish, splash

Weekend fun & photo overload

We had a busy weekend full of family & fun.  Grandma & Grandpa Holt & Ross & Kelly came to town.  After some playtime at home on Saturday, we all hit the pool at the Ramada. 

Colin had such a blast in the water.  He loved splashing & swimming in the big pool with mom & dad.  Of course it helped that there were beach balls to play with.  I don't know that I've ever seen him laugh & smile that much in his 16 months of life.  :)

Don't let this half-smile fool you.  He was not too thrilled to be sitting with momma.  Even though his hands & lips were purple, he only wanted to be in the water.

CHEESE!!

Down on the Farm

Someone loves his new book from Grandma Holt! 

He's even starting to make some of the animal sounds when he lifts up the flap. He may only be right some of the time, but he's trying! I find myself answering to his call, only to learn that he was imitating the sheep..."Maaa" instead of "Baaa"...

Colin's stamp of approval

John & I (finally!!) put up the kitchen cabinet hardware last weekend, in hopes that it might slightly improve the look of our 80's kitchen.  

Colin gave the handles his approval by opening drawers & cupboards promptly after everything was cleaned up.

Obviously this means those cabinet locks never did get installed...

Sayonara, plug.

Ok, so it's been a couple weeks but I waited a while to post about getting rid of the plug - afraid I might jinx it.  But 2+ weeks into it, I think it's safe. :)  Now that it's over & done with I think we could have gotten rid of it sooner.  It's been months since Colin took it in the middle of the night if he woke & has only been using it to fall asleep initially.   

So here's the scoop: I started "hiding" it in the corner of the crib at night, thinking that if Colin looked hard enough he'd find it, pop it in, & go right to sleep.  And if he didn't?  Well, he'd have to figure out how to calm himself down.  The cliff's notes version of how it went: there was crying the first night.  The second night was more of just whining.  The third night...nothing.  The crying or whining is now hit-&-miss; some nights it's there for a couple minutes, some nights nothing.  This is his first week without it for naptime at daycare & his teacher said he's been doing great.  I'm so excited to never have to buy another Nuk again!

I was amazed the night that it was quiet when we left the room - I had to take a picture.  I'm sure you can't tell that there isn't a plug in his mouth but at least I know there isn't!