1.24.2013

Charlie: 19 months...





19-month highlights:

  • Charlie is turning into a little boy right before our eyes.  It's hard to believe he's already 19 months old!  
  • He is now really into wrestling!  If Henry is laying on the floor he will walk up behind him and sit on him and wrap his arms around his neck, he does the same to John too.  I don't remember Henry being quite so aggressive, but I suppose he didn't have an older brother to keep up with either :)
  • Charlie's aggressiveness comes out with others his age too.  He LOVES to give Levi and Ruby hugs, but tends to pull them down to the floor in the process.  Sometimes I think he's trying to be rough with them and other times I think he's clueless.  He's also been a bit too aggressive with Kate in the church nursery lately.  Our nursery workers have to keep them separated!  Sorry Kate!
  • Charlie can be quite defiant, I've noticed.  Anytime I tell Henry not to do something, Charlie will look at me and IMMEDIATELY start doing it.  When he sees that I'm looking at him he smiles and keeps at it (i.e. if I ask Henry to stop banging on the table, Charlie will start banging on the table and then look at me and smile).  I'm realizing that our Henry really wants to please us (most of the time), but our Charlie...I'm not so sure he's going to be quite as into that.  We are going to have to adjust our parenting styles if that's the case.  Always good to keep things interesting though :)
  • Charlie continues to LOVE books.  One of the first things people comment on after they've spent any time with Charlie is how much he likes books and how well he is able to sit and listen when he is read to.  He particularly likes books about animals.  He also really likes Richard Scarry books.
  • Charlie loves to play outside in the dirt.  Our sandbox and raised garden beds are getting a lot of play.
  • Henry has taken to getting really frustrated with Charlie since Christmas.  Now that Henry has new toys that are specifically his he is having a hard time sharing.  Charlie especially likes to play with Henry's CARS2 racing cars which is a no-no to Henry.  I spend a lot of my day trying to teach Henry how to share, but also am simultaneously trying to teach Charlie to let Henry play on his own sometimes.  Not easy waters to navigate for any of us, but we'll make it through :)
  • Charlie is still an INCREDIBLE eater.  He certainly doesn't like everything, but he likes most things.  He likes to eat roasted broccoli (!), lots of meat, yogurt, granola, oranges, pears, apples, craisins, graham crackers, spaghetti, pancakes, bread, milk, smoothies, and most other things.  I'd say he cares the least for potatoes, rice and broth-y soups.
  • Naps are still going really well.  He did rebel against them for a few days, but he seems to be back into taking them, so maybe he was teething or something and it messed him up, who knows.
  • Night sleeping is going so-so.  Lately he's been having a really hard time falling asleep at night.  I used to be able to rock him and then lay him down with his paddington bear and he would roll over and go to sleep, but lately he's not been into that.  We're letting him cry himself to sleep now, but sometimes when I'm by myself at night I cave and lay with him in my bed until he falls asleep (which means I fall asleep too and stay that way until John gets home and wakes me up :)  He usually wakes up between 3am and 6am crying so John picks him up, changes his diaper, and then brings him into bed with us.  This is working out fine for now.
  • We are sort of starting to potty train Charlie.  He's been showing some interest in using the toilet, so it seems like we should at least give it a shot.  John and I both potty trained early, so it's not totally crazy that he's showing interest.  We'll see where we get with this.  So far I am cleaning up A LOT of little messes, but he's also going a lot in the toilet too.  We'll see.  One things for sure though, our little eater is HIGHLY motivated by m&m's.  Those might just be the deciding factor for our success :)
  • So, a little peak into life with our Charlie.  He sure is a sweetie and he keeps our lives interesting.  We love him to pieces!

2 comments:

Toni said...

Too funny. I think we will need to remind Charlie of his behavior when girls are uncool and he wants nothing to do with Kate :)

JHNickodemus said...

Sounds like a second to me! My younger sister had a higher pain tolerance and more aggressive approach too!