Man Cub: 17 Months

Sweet Little Boy,
We have loved watching you grow and learn this month.  Advent was extra fun this year as you took in all there is about our Savior's birth.  What a treat.  You fell in love with San Antonio during a quick visit.  People tell us how much they are drawn to you, and we just love that about your sweet personality.  We ask God each day to use you for His glory.

We love you!!!

Sleeping:

Not much has changed this month.  You still love sleep, and you like having a pillow.  You still sleep like a little tree frog, all tucked up on your belly.  You've been that way since you were born.  It's precious.

Eating:

We have prayed and prayed God would make you an adventurous eater and willing to try new foods.  He is certainly answering prayers.  You love homemade oatmeal with raisins, cereal with milk, you will once again eat turkey sandwiches, and you now like PBJ.  Fruits are still your favorites, along with mac 'n cheese.  We keep offering you new things, and I know you will eventually decide to at least taste them!  You also still nurse any chance you get, but definitely first thing in the morning, right after school, and before bed.  

Tricks/Activities/Accomplishments:

Best new word: Jesus!  Christmas helped you learn how to say Jesus, and hearing you say our Lord's name, or even Baby Jesus in your tiny little voice is the best thing ever.  You can also say angel, tree, star, Mary, Joseph, down, horse, chicken, Santa, Papa (my dad), Dede (my granddad), Nanny (my grandma), tractor, firetruck, Vince (his tractor buddy), Brownie (his pony buddy), bye bye, mouth, teeth, button (for belly button and actual buttons), mole, book, walk, bath, brush (for brush teeth), I do!, nana (banana), butterfly, squirrel, bunny, and truck. You oink like a pig, quack like a duck, make goat sounds (thanks, Gabe), talk like George from Curious George, and buzz like a bee.  All of that just this month, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something.  You love to put together shape puzzles, your new latch board, and identify colors on the Christmas tree.  If we ask you to put something away or throw away something, you think it's so cool to do it.  You also blow bubbles in the tub and float.  I think you miss the swimming pool!  You also still feed the dogs and give them their treats.

Likes:

Most of the same things you have been liking.  Doing things with the dogs tops your list. You loved opening your Advent book each day.  Books are serious business for you.  You 'read' to us, we read to you, everything in each picture has to be identified, and then the next book comes out.  It's awesome.  Your favorites are Down By The Farm (still) and the Veggie Tales Silent Night. You adore your new firetruck that you can ride in (Flintstone power), puzzles, George, feeding the chickens and egg hunting on the farm, driving tractors with either Daddy or Mr. Vince, and music.  You still love dancing.  Oh, and you love, love, love sitting on the piano bench and playing us your original songs.  It's the best!

Dislikes:

Sometimes you don't like getting dressed, you only wear hats when you want to, veggies that aren't in pouch form, most meat, if we try to feed you (you want to feed yourself), your high chair

17 Month Stats:

Weight: 24 pounds

Length:  31.5 inches (I think you were over measured last month...ha!)

Eating: nursing 7:00 AM, 4:45 PM, and 7:30 PM; breakfast around 7:15, lunch around 11:15, and dinner around 5:30.

Bedtime: between 7:30-7:45

Awake: sometime between 6:45-7:10

Naps: ~12:30-3:00

Diapers: Size 3
Clothes: size 12-18 months, and 18 months onesies; size 12 months and 12-18 months pants/shorts; 12-18 months, and 18 months rompers.  12-18 months and 18 months pjs.
Shoes: Size 4

Year One:

 

 Year Two:

A very Merry Christmas

Our Christmas was perfect! 

We woke up, made cinnamon rolls, and then let Man Cub open his little presents.  He got a fire truck, fire man hat, an airplane, and a light up bouncy ball.  We don't go all out for Christmas, but he had a blast opening his presents!  I think next year will be even more fun when he understands why we give presents.

After breakfast, we Skyped with Isaac's family so we could open presents with them.  That was fun too, and it's nice to be able to have them in our living room without having to drive 20 hours. 

Man Cub took a good nap, and then we headed to my parents' house for the evening.  The adults played a new game, or at least a new to us game.  I had purchased several little treats and wrapped each one, one inside the other.  We had games, kitchen utensils, small gift cards, candy, DVDs, and the 'big' gift was an Amazon gift card.  Each layer had a gift and instruction with it, such as, 'Pass the present 3 to the right' or 'Pass the gift to the oldest player'.  It was a lot of fun, but next year it's been requested we have more layers and sillier instructions.  Will do!

On the 26th, we went back to my parents' house for Christmas breakfast and presents with my side of the family.  It was a laid back day of watching 3 dogs and a baby play and play and play.  Oh, and really good food!  I love days with my family because we always seem to be too busy to do this often.  What a treat.

Christmas Day always seems like a bit of a let down after 4 weeks of Advent.  Maybe that's why I like Advent so much.  It stretches on and on, focuses on Jesus and preparing us for Him, and then gently ends with Christmas Day.  I can't wait for January 1 when the SRT study on Genesis begins.  Who else is joining in on this story of beginnings?

Merry Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always an exciting day, but we had to wait for evening for some real excitement.  This morning and afternoon were filled with errands and cleaning.  That's real life, folks! 

Man Cub is much to big to reprise last year's role as Baby Jesus, but this year he was able to enjoy the animals in the live nativity.  He did not want to leave the 2 goats and 2 sheep.  Our time on the farm has come in handy since he walked straight up to them to gently pet them.  When we finally coaxed him over the the donkey, he smiled so big!  It was all so familiar to him from the farm.  This donkey was super sweet and soft.  Then Man Cub saw the camel quietly laying down to pose for photos, and his night was made.  That boy beelined through the crowd straight for the fluffy, gentle giant.  Mommy is faster than him though and caught him before he photo-bombed some poor, unsuspecting family.  We waited our turn, got a smile out of the camel, and sunk our hands into some super soft fur.  Poor boy was not pleased when he had to go inside for worship.  Maybe we need to look into getting a camel for our future farm....

Last year was our first time to visit the kid-friendly service, and we missed most of it since we were only on stage as the Holy Family for a few minutes during the middle of it.  Y'all, it was wild!  So loud.  Ha.  I'm all for littles being in worship services, but when it's smack dab in the middle of dinner time for tiny bellies, wow.  We had a bag full of Christmas books, a nursing cover, and lots of family members for holding duty, so we made it through without too much of a scene.  Little kiddos with tiny glow sticks singing Silent Night is pretty precious.

My grandparents and parents followed us home for honey baked ham dinner and Grinch drinks.  Yum!  Man Cub entertained us all kinds of acrobatics and showed off more of his vocabulary to his great-grandparents.  He stayed up way too late, but it was so worth it. 

Now Isaac is building a fire truck for in the morning.  Can't wait to see the little guy's face when he see what Mommy and Daddy got him for Christmas! 

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Raising Grateful Kids

Isaac and I try so hard to put Jesus' teachings into our parenting.  Of course, that's relative when the child in question is only 16 months, but still.  We're firm believers that there is little we are owed but much that can can be gained from loving on others.  We fail at this all the time, but that doesn't stop us from trying.

I've read Kristen Welch's blog for years, and when she announced she was writing a book on raising children who are grateful in a world full of entitlement, I knew I wanted to be on the launch team.  I received my copy of the book last week, and I haven't been able to stop.  Kristen has several years on us in the parenting game, and she and her hubby have fought their battles, and God is winning them for them.  Y'all, it's tough to parent in a world that says to fit in and go with the flow.  Even much of the church says that to us these days.  I'm not sorry that we'd rather veer to the side of Jesus and work our way up stream.  Reading this book and talking this past week with the other launch team members has been so encouraging!  The timing has been perfect.  It's Christmas and everyone has an opinion on how many gifts to get the kids and what kind and budgets and all that jazz.  Being encouraged to stick with 'less is more' and 'experience' type gifts is so needed right now.  Contentment is always relevant.

Starting today, you can pre-order your copy of Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World.  It's only $16, and free shipping!  And, until they're gone, pre-orders include a Global Family Kit to learn about families around the world. 

We all need help not feeling like spoiled little princes and princesses sometimes, and this is a wonderful resource.  We're all in this together, for God's glory and the making of disciples. 

I'll be writing more of my thoughts as I keep working my way through the book.  Can't wait to share more!

*I did receive a free PDF of the book to read and share my thoughts, but my thoughts are all my own.  I would've bought this book anyway because Kristen and I pretty much seem to share a brain and heart, though we've never met.  Love how God works!

#RaisingGratefulKids