Almost 18 months

When I look at recent pictures of John Harrison, I can tell that his face is changing and maturing. I guess that because I am around John Harrison all the time, it is hard for me to notice the small changes, then I look at pictures and the changes seem dramatic. Our little boy still has the cute baby cheeks, although they are becoming less prominent now that he seems to be thinning out a little bit. John Harrison will turn 18 months in just a few days......our sweet boy still takes two naps a day most days, weighs somewhere between 26 and 27 pounds (so exact, huh:), wears 18-24 month shirts and can either wear 12-18 month or 18-24 month shorts. I am really curious to see how tall John Harrison is at his 18 month checkup. Although his vocabulary hasn't increased too much from what I last reported, he really seems to understand a lot of what we say to him. Our current challenge is weaning him off his nighttime bottle. Hopefully by this time next week, he will drink all of his milk from a sippy cup during the day. I started giving him half his milk in a cup at dinner and half in a bottle before bed. He is quite attached to his bedtime "baba," but I know that weaning will only get harder as he gets older. Since John Harrison had such a hard time sleeping when we were out of town this summer (and has always had trouble sleeping when we travel), we decided (mainly on Davi'd's mom's recommendation) to attach him to something. During his nighttime bottle, we started encouraging John Harrison to hold a little blanket that David's mom gave him when he was a baby; we would then put the blanket in his crib and leave it in the crib when he woke up in the morning. I recently added a bigger blanket to his crib in addition to the little blanket. We went out of town last week and John Harrison slept better than he had ever slept on a trip. One MAJOR thing that helped was that John Harrison slept in his pack-n-play in a different bedroom (he sleeps HORRIBLY when we are sleeping in the same room with him). We have never had great results getting him to sleep in his pack-n-play or in cribs at hotels, so I was really encourged that he would actually sleep well in a portable crib. I also think that the familiar blankets really helped a lot, also. Thanks, Karen, for the great suggestion...one of many great child-rearing suggestions you have recommended!! We let John Harrison hold the small blanket during the carride and he kept himself entertained playing with the blanket for quite some time and did awesome riding in the car for over 6 hours each way. Yes, there were lots of snacks, toys, and a few rough moments, but overall, John Harrison did great in the car. David and I were even able to listen to a book on cd during the carride. I was SO encouraged that there is hope for good sleep and pleasant carrides on vacation:).

curls

Neither David nor I had curls when we were babies. My moma and sister both had curls as babies as did some of my cousins, one of David's uncles, and a handful of other family members on either side. Needless to say, I LOVE John Harrison's blonde hair and curls and am quite biased, but think that John Harrison is such a cute baby (don't all mothers think that about their babies, though?). His hair is getting pretty long and I know that John Harrison probably needs a haircut, but I am reluctant.....

Finger-painting

John Harrison leaned down over his tray and so he made a mirror imprint on his chest of the paint on the paper:).

Thankfully, children's paint is non-toxic:)

I have been really enjoying spending everyday with John Harrison and being a full-time mom since my work obligations have really slowed down. Although John Harrison would spend every waking minute outside playing if the choice were up to him, the hot weather during the day just doesn't make that practical. We have been spending about 45 mins to an hour each in the morning and evening playing outside together, though, which John Harrison loves. Tonight I gave John Harrison a bath and then took him outside to play before bedtime and he decided to climb into the garden and play in the dirt....and even take a few bites of dirt. I sat down and played with him and then washed his face, mouth, arms, and legs off again after we went inside.

Anyways, I have been trying to think of other ways to fill our time during the day and remembered my friend Carlyn posting about her daughter finger painting around 18 months. So, I ordered some fingerpaint, toddler sized paint brushes, and a sketch pad from Amazon. Everything arrived today and so I stripped John Harrison down to his diaper, put him in his high chair, and taped a piece of sketch paper to his chair tray. Although he didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped, he played around some in the paint with his fingers and the brush and, of course, got paint all over himself. The masterpieces have dried and will be auctioned in Paris next week....just kidding....I may put one of the "paintings" in John Harrison's baby book and make the other one into a card for a family member.

Thoughts on food....

Before we left on our trip this summer, I planted about $5 worth of seeds in my garden and was thrilled to come home 7 weeks later to a beautiful garden. I grew squash, okra, and cucumbers. The squash and cucumbers produced for a while, but bugs attacked the plants about a month ago and I neglected to spray them with anything and so those plants died. However, my okra is thriving and most of the plants are at least 4 feet tall. I also have some "volunteer" tomato plants that grew from seeds that fell to the ground from last year's tomato plants...only two of the plants are very big and I just noticed two small green grape tomatoes so maybe I'll get a few tomatoes this year, as well. Recently, with the mornings and evenings being cooler, the okra production has really picked up, which makes me happy since okra is at least $3/pound at our local farmer's market. My favorite way to cook okra (other than fried, of course) is to heat up a small amount of olive oil in a pan, cut fresh okra up into small pieces, and saute the okra with garlic and sea salt. I have a gas range and have tried the cooking okra using the same method on an electric range and it doesn't turn out as well. The okra gets crispy and is so, so good. Much, much better than the slimy, yucky images that many people probably have of okra. I have been cooking a lot recently and am experimenting making different things for John Harrison (who is a pretty picky eater). I went so far as to sprout wheat berries, dry them out in the oven, and then grind them into flour after reading about the greatly increased digestive ease and nutritional value of sprouted grains. I made pumpkin bread, wheat bread, cinnamon raisin bread, yeast waffles, and homeade crackers for John Harrison with the sprouted wheat flour. His favorite by far was the pumpkin bread --- he got more excited about the pumpkin bread than just about anything else in the world. One of my most recent cooking experiments (I rarely ever cook with recipes except with things like bread, etc.) was a stew made with grass fed beef stew meat, spinach, grean beans, celery, and onions....it turned out really well and I have eaten it for three of my last four meals. By personal choice, David and I don't eat starches, sugars, or fruit, so it makes cooking a bit challening, but, in our opinion, quite healthy....we mainly eat beef (usually grass fed, but we will eat grain fed at restaurants, other people's houses, if we want to grill out a big brisket, etc.), green vegetables and squash, cheeses, salads, nuts, and sometimes chicken. With John Harrison being a very active and growing little guy, I am fine with him having healthy grains and fruits in moderation. I was so excited today because I made him a snack where I mixed almond butter, almond flour, vanilla, stevia powder and a small amount of raw honey, raisins, and unsweetened coconut and rolled the mixture into small balls; this was the first time John Harrison had ever eaten tree nuts and he didn't have a reaction (thankfully!) and he LOVED the snack. I think he would have eaten the whole batch if I had let him, but I helped him exercise moderation and only gave him a couple. My biggest challenge with John Harrison (food-wise) is getting him to eat veggies. He used to love spinach, broccoli, and butternut squash, but now will rarely eat them....I am hoping that as he gets older and I am able to reason with him more, that I can help him to become less picky. Any thoughts on getting a 17 month old to eat green vegetables????