Funny Little Guy...at 15 1/2 months

Tanner Update:

Still 22 pounds and change (has been since he was 9 months old!)

approx. 32 inches long

Has had 3 colds in the last 2 months

Can now eat almost everything without consequence (yay!)

Still on Neocate (amino-acid based formula) per order of Gastroenterologist - 3-4 bottles a day

In the past couple of weeks Rob and I have seen a social and intellectual growth spurt in Tanner. He has always been very social - even as a baby - smiling at everyone he saw, reaching out for strangers in Walmart to pick him up, at ease in large crowds...loves carnivals, fairs, restaurants...

These days, he's a pure riot. We have so much fun every day. He runs around laughing at everything ALL the time...loudly. He runs (literally RUNS) from room to room all day long dancing, spinning, falling down, climbing, talking non-stop to himself, and LAUGHING (loudly) at everything. He readily gives high fives, claps feverishly when you count to three slowly (only after you get to 3), If you ask him where something is he puts his hands out palms up and shrugs his shoulders up to his ears as if to say "I don't Knooowww?!" He gives us big loud kisses and says"MWAH!"...He even does it to Theo if Theo will let him. He plays "pretend" eating...he'll pick up "food" (nothing) with his fingers and put nothing in his mouth and then proceed to chew nothing. Its hilarious. He'll do this over and over if we play along...and the dancing...he is a dancing fool! We had Christmas music on tonight and we found him in the living room doing the "chicken dance" all by himself. A pur riot...I wish I could have a video camera on him all the time...

He can point to all his body parts (nose, eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, hair, head, toes, belly, and of course pee pee!). This child understands everything I say to him. It baffles me sometimes. If you ask him a question like "do you want a baba?" he'll shake his head yes or no in a very exaggerated fashion and you can't help but laugh. Sometimes he'll stop in his tracks, look at me and blurt out a very clear, unintelligible sentence. "Glick Stim Jish Dot!" all I can say is, "yes, Tanner, that's wonderful!" I wish I knew what he was saying.

Diaper changes are still a battle 90 percent of the time. They always have been. He simply doesn't want to stop long enough to lay down and get a diaper change. (yeah, that's fun, when he's got a load in his pants and he's fighting me tooth and nail.)

This child is 90 miles an hour...sun up to sundown. and IN TO EVERYTHING. There is not one nook, cranny or crack in the floor this kid hasn't investigated, touched, messed with. I'm going to attempt to document it someday...Its wild. I try to make it a "yes" environment for him around here. But there are a few things like a couple of plants and the computer that are still within his reach and guess what 2 things he's into the most? The plant and the computer. We even installed plexiglass gaurds on the computer desk in an attempt to ward him off. He just yanks and yanks them and tries to reach over the top. Rooms full of toys and he has to mess with the two things that aren't for play...that's my little guy. I have a friend who recently took her 9 month old to a MOVIE along with her 4 year old. What the?! At no point in Tanner's life could I ever think about taking him to a movie...I had to time it just right to get him to sit in a stroller for a 30 minute walk....as long as we went after he had been playing hard for a couple of hours and if I brought snacks and entertainment, we'd make it through, with a little fussing for maybe the last 1/2 mile...I have many friends who's babies/kids hang out wonderfully in their strollers, car seats or high chairs...that was never us. 90 miles an hour...

I 'm exhausted at the end of every day and I think "I do have just one, child, right? Right." Hm. He is active enough for two, it seems. And I love it. These days he seems happier than ever, the more independent he gets, the more satisfied and content he seems...He's starting to sit in his high chair for 15-20 minutes at a time without a fit...he's actually riding in the car now for short to medium trips without crying...and best of all he's sleeping so much better. 7:30 or 8:00 pm to 6:00 or 6:30 - up just once most nights. Rob and I looked at each other the other day and said "life is good."

One....twoooo....THREEEEEE!!!!!

Tanner, where's the ball?

The "wresting" stance...thanks to daddy, if you say "Tanner, wanna wrestle???" this is what you get...

We had a great Thanksgiving in Schoharie, by the way. We had a big dinner at Nana and PopPop's (as Tanner has taken to calling Grampa Lockwood).

Tanner's first Thanksgiving meal! The child who usually insists on feeding himself, ate a wonderful pile of mashed squashes, potatoes, and turkey with gravy fed by PopPop! He loved it.

Playing out on the porch!

Get your jacket on!!!