I just realized today that I haven't posted in a good while! I'm not officially late on my Project 52 photo for the week, but I might end up being if I can't kick myself into gear. I feel...stalled. I'm sure it's 90% the fault of the weather (snow and ice after a week and a half of beautiful SPRING!) but for the life of me I just feel so defeated lately. Everything I attempt sort of ends up half-complete. I lack the motivation or energy to even finish a simple task. It's awful. Some days I think that a stay-at-home-mom(ish) is the absolutely worst job ever for me. I'm not even remotely able to keep up with the housework, I get frustrated with my (spirited) toddler, and the isolation, while inviting some days, gets to be a bit much. I can't take Julian to any indoor play areas as the flu is in full fear (as well as RSV)...neither of which we need right now. After so many days of getting to play outside, you can tell he's upset that he doesn't get to leave the house. Every morning he goes to the door and says 'bye bye! bye bye!'...only, to where? It's just the BLAHest part of the season, and I'm ready for it to be done for good!
So, to perk up this post...I figured I'd update on all things Julian. It's been a while since I've done that. Earlier this week he turned a whole whopping 19 months old, which means that he's officially closer to 2 than he is to 1. I'm trying not to dwell on that, but it does give me a bit of a panic. My baby is slowly disappearing before my eyes, and it's so bittersweet! He is growing and learning so much it's astounding. He finally hit that vocabulary explosion everyone speaks about, and will repeat (or attempt to repeat) pretty much anything you tell him to. He went from about 20 words to about 60 (or more?) words, although maybe 35-40 of those see any regular usage. My favorite new additions: rainbow, camera, bumble bee and apple pie. I have no idea where he got the latter, but he wakes up demanding apple pie some mornings, and it cracks me up. The kid has never seen an apple pie in his life (perhaps he ought to!) I believe he is using it to mean 'apple' now, as he will refer to apple slices as 'apple pie', but where the original combo came from is a total mystery.
Lets see...he is also big into body parts and has been adding to the list of ones he likes to identify (he can now say a good chunk of them as well.) He even has added a couple of shapes to his vocabulary, and totally blew me away yesterday when he brought me one of the connector rings (I don't know what you call them...we used them when he was a baby to attach toys to his stroller) and proudly declared it an "obal". He continues to sign a few things, but he and I both have been slacking. I find that he would rather SAY things than sign them, although sometimes he will do both. He is also a whiz at animal sounds...he is such a little sponge right now, it's amazing.
So, on to the spirited part... I'm sure tantrums will only get worse from here on out, and to be honest he doesn't throw major tantrums every day, but he sure likes to throw his little drama fits over nothing, and these usually involve him throwing himself backwards onto the floor or some other surface, which then results in a 'boo boo' and lots of crying and carrying on. You'd think he would have learned by now that this cycle is really not productive in the slightest. He can be very challenging at times, but I do understand that the majority of it comes from his lack of comprehension....or so I try to remind myself. Still, 24/7 of that can make you a little nutty.
He is one extremely active dude (always has been), and absolutely loves to run free, so one of our biggest challenges is getting him to stay with us. I'm quite convinced, after many many trips to the park, that he would be perfectly fine if we just dropped him off and left. He honestly wouldn't even notice until he got cold or hungry. He is that oblivious to our warnings and our attempts to keep him safe and/or bahaving. He actually got a little boy in trouble last week when he was doing his usual throwing sand thing (not at anyone, he just likes to find a little corner of the playground, pick up the sand and throw it a foot or so away.) Well, some little boy thought that looked like SO much fun, and boy did he get an earful from his mother about it. In my defense...I tell him to not throw the sand, but I'm at that point where I choose my battles.
Hmm, what else? Sleep is (and will forever continue to be) a problem, but we have nights that aren't so terrible...same goes for eating. He eats what he wants only when he wants, and what he wants is extremely limited these days. I've been told this comes with toddlerhood. I won't pretend it's not frustrating, but again...I'm learning to choose my battles. He has at least decided that cow's milk is not so terrible...with a little ovaltine added in. I never thought I'd be spicing up my kid's milk already, but it makes the difference between drinking none and drinking 3-4 ounces at mealtime...not too shabby. He does still nurse a couple times a day as well, and much to my mother's horror, he has learned to say "boobies".... usually this is used in the middle of the night in a slightly demanding tone, but occasionally (like tonight), it is used somewhere in public...like a restaurant...with a lot of people around. Oops. (My mom has been lecturing me from the start about using that word, but I didn't listen!)
He really is amazing and so loved and cherished! He has started giving kisses, both on demand as well as on his own....I'm not even going to lie - that totally rocks my world. He wasn't very kissy or cuddly as a baby, but he seems to be coming into it now somewhat. I get a big one every morning before he comes out of the crib, and he kisses his Daddy every night before we go in to read stories for bedtime (and quite a few kisses and cuddles throughout the day as well.) He is the smartest, sweetest and most challenging little boy I've ever had the pleasure of knowing! Toddlerhood is gearing up to be some serious work, but I'm assured that we WILL get through it. Still, some days I do have my doubts.
And don't even ask about potty training...because we're not :D although I am going to get him his own potty (finally) in the very near future. The problem is that he doesn't seem to care one way or the other if he's dirty or not, although he has had moments (possibly random) where he said "poopy" and really was...so we'll see.
There's your update from island Julian. More pictures and whatnot on the way...lets all think happy thoughts for an early Spring, okay?! We need so badly to get outside in the sunshine. I think I'm lacking some serious inspiration and vitamin D.
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