Justin is 18-Months Old!!!

So, our not so little guy has reached 1 1/2!  In honor of this occasion, I made 18 bumblebee cupcakes:

Why bees? you may ask.  About a month ago, at the suggestion of our friend Erin, we picked up a copy of “Raising Your Spirited Child”.  This book describes Justin to a “T”.  There’s one anecdotal story in the book in which a 4 year old boy, when asked to put his shoes on by his mother so that they could get in the car a pick up his sister anxiously looks up at his mom and says, “But Mom! What about the bees in my body?!”.  In the case of the story, the little boy couldn’t fathom the torture that would be having to sit still in the car.  Justin clearly has this problem.  He simply has bees in his body that must get worked out somehow before he can sit still for more than half a second.  Realizing this about our child has led us to ensure that Justin gets at least an hour at the park 7 days a week – and it has helped.  Now before you all jump in and say, “oh, he’s just a boy”, I’ve watched him with other boys his age on more than one occasion.  Justin is easily 3 times “more” than other boys.  Not ADHD, just busier, more intense, and more emotional than other kids.  Oh, and he’s exactly like his father in this respect.  He’s wonderful and on occasion, can be found just bursting with buzzing bees!

Justin dove face first into the bee on his cupcake without hesitation:

It was great to spend Justin’s 18-month birthday with Nanna and Poppa – who he insists on talking to whenever someone is on the phone (who else could we be talking to?!).

So, a few updates will come soon, when in mid-October I’m able to give real stats on just how big our big boy is after his 18-month well child doctor visit.  In the meantime, enjoy these observations:

1.  Justin is running and pushing around anything he can get his hands on.  If it can be pushed across the floor, it will be. 

2.  Justin loves the park.  We are starting to make friends at Cornwall Park.  Justin would move in there if we’d let him – if only he could bring He-Man.

3.  Justin LOVES He-Man.  You know, the mid-1980’s cartoon.  Yeah.  He knows all the characters’ names (or the sound they make) and proudly shares when he watches them.  Some recent additions include “OwKoe” (Orko), “Soe-so-ess” (Sorceress), “Gatskoo” (Grayskull).

4.  Justin now is the proud owner of a total of 16 out of a total 20 baby teeth!  No wonder breastfeeding hasn’t been so comfy lately…  little bi-ped piranha!

5.  Justin’s most favorite foods include apples, spicy red pepper tomato sauce on whole grain penne, and Kraft Premium 3 cheese macaroni & cheese (where momma has swapped out half the noodles for frozen peas & carrots and added a little actual cheddar cheese – if you don’t do this, he won’t touch it). 

6.  Justin loves to be at Church.  He sings the “amen”s, the “hallelujah”s (though it’s more rhythm with lots of “L” sounds than anything), says “Mmm!” when he gets Communion and makes a big deal of kissing the Chalice.  He does many of the metanoyas (by looking around then touching his finger to the floor), and is getting really good at prostrations when called upon to do so.  He knows the difference between regular pictures and Icons (“Icon” is a new word for him this week), and regularly demands to kiss them by saying, “Kiss!! Kiss!!”.  And while he loves Church, he can’t stand still and is frequently walking around trying to get the best view of whatever is going on.  If he’s not able to see what he wants or we’re not cooperating with his requests (which can get awfully rediculous) he’ll yell and fuss forcing us to make a little escape for a break.  He may be awesome, but he’s still a toddler. 

7.  Justin still doesn’t sleep through the night.  On a good night he’ll only wake up 1-2 times (waking up qualifies as being awake enough to try to crawl into our bed and say, “Momma?  Nerrr??” ).  On a rough night he’ll be up as many as 6 times in 10 hours.  Talk about exhausting.  But the nights he sleeps better are getting more frequent, with the rough nights only happening maybe 1-2 times per week.  The biggest factor?  We know he won’t sleep well at night if his nap was interrupted by a phone call or daddy trying to move him to his bed so he can use the restroom.  That and not getting enough exercise - hence the daily park visits. 

So that’s what our little monkey is up to.

Do You Know Who’s Chatting with Your Daughter Online?

I couldn’t resist.