Toddler Time!

The last month has just been crazy. What else is new? I forgot how exhausting the first month of school is since I got to skip it last year. Note to self: having a baby around the time school starts is a fabulous idea! In addition to all the work of starting a new school year, we have had the pleasure of chasing around a toddler. That's right, he's on the move! He officially started walking just a few weeks ago, and now we can't stop him. He is all over the place. I honestly love having a toddler. Now that he can get around more easily, he has become a lot more independent, which means mommy doesn't have to tote him around everywhere. This is great...unless you have to go to the grocery store. Riding in the cart is so not cool anymore. Now he wants to walk all over the store and push the shopping cart. Unfortunately, he never wants to go where mommy needs to go, and if he can reach a shelf, you can count on everything being thrown on the floor. Oh, and he's all about throwing things lately. Food, toys, shoes...anything. It's especially fun to throw things directly at mommy. He also loves wearing things on his head and putting on my bracelets and Santi's arm splint (he is battling tendonitis). Headbands are his favorite.

This past week he surprised us with his first real words (besides mama, dada, and uh oh). He has said consistently ball, car, quack quack (apparently he loves doing animal flash cards at school), honey (which is hilarious, because that's what Santi calls me), and uva (grape in Spanish). He also will say "toma" when he throws something, which is Spanish for "here". Santi taught him that one. He has said something like "si" a couple of times as well. In addition to walking and talking, he has developed quite the opinion on what he likes and doesn't like, and he doesn't hesitate to let you know. He will shake his head and say "no" when you offer up something to eat that he doesn't want, and he will take you to the fridge and point out exactly what he wants to eat. He has also started sitting on the kitchen mat when he wants a snack. No idea where he got this idea, but he consistently goes and sits there and points to the pantry or fridge. The other day he ate a string cheese, and walked over to the trash can to throw away the trash. I was impressed. I guess he is a neat freak like mommy. Besides all these big milestones, he has also been fighting the battle of teething for the last couple of weeks. Poor guy. He finally started sleeping through the night again last night and it was amazing after weeks of getting up multiple times a night. I ended up staying home from work with him one day so he could rest up. He loved all the mommy time.

We enjoyed lots of snuggles on the couch, and we also went for a short walk over to the park for some fresh air. I love being home with him, even if it means having to miss work and catch up later.