16 months

(c) Susan Price (2004)

He's becomming a toddler
Lately Evan's been more challenging. He's starting to act less like a baby and more like a toddler. He often has a semi-tantrum when we put him in his carseat (arching his back, screaming, and refusing to bend at the waist qualifies as a tantrum, right?). And although he loves walking, if we try to hold his hand, he stiffens out his arm so we can't grab it. If we grab it anyway, he makes an unattractive screeching noise and sits down so that we can't pull him where we want him to go.

Grocery stores are more 'fun' too. He rarely wants to sit in the seat. I used to be able to solve this problem by letting him walk or "help" me push the cart. Now he just wants to be carried. Usually we'll carry him for a minute, then put him in the cart (after he's forgotten that he's opposed to it), usually offering a banana or other distraction. It's tiring to be so creative all the time.

But he's still very sweet, offering hugs, open-mouthed kisses, and love pats on the back throughout the day. He often wants to sit in my lap to read books or have me hold him to watch me cook. He's a lover.

And he shows no signs of shyness. He waves goodbye to everyone -- the checkout lady at Safeway, the stranger on the street who commented on his hair, the dog in the park, ducks, and the vacuum cleaner after we put it away.

Oh, the vacuum cleaner! He used to cry when I put it away. One day I got the idea to warn him in advance when I was going to put it away ("let's say good-bye to the vacuum!"). Now, when I'm done vacuuming, he tries to wrap the cord around the thingy where you're supposed to wrap it, and when I push it toward the closet, he starts waving good-bye. He also helps me close the closet door, though he often wants to take it back out 5 minutes later.

Animal sounds
Although he isn't saying many words (at least not understandable ones), he's taken to making animal sounds. When he sees a dog or a picture of a dog, he tries to bark (it sounds like clearing the throat). Whenever he sees a cat, he makes a high-pitched sound, which sounds nothing like a meow, but it's his official kitty noise. We saw cows at Fairytale Town last week, and he attempted to moo... it sounded a lot like a grunt that he did repeatedly.

And when he sees a character sleeping in a book, we'll make the pretend snoring sound, and he'll do this deep-breathing noise in imitation. Yesterday Jerry pointed to a sleeping character in a book and said, "look, he's sleeping," and Evan lied down and pulled the blanket on top of him. Jerry said, "you have to close your eyes..." and Evan looked at me (I was lying down), and placed his finger on top of my eyelid to close it, then made the deep breathing noise. How cute is that?

I'm going back to work
I'm returning to my old job at the Dept. of Health Services. Jerry is going to a part-time schedule, so he'll be with Evan 3 days per week, I'll be with him one day per week (I'll have Fridays off), and his new daycare provider will have him on the other day. I'm sad that this chapter in our lives is coming to an end. It's like the official end of his babyhood. I would stay home with him for another 2 years if I could, but life's expensive. This change will give Jerry a chance to stay home with Evan, which I think will be good for them.

We found Evan a new daycare provider. Her name's Hazel, and she has a 3 year-old named Rosalind, who will be the only other child there. We really love them, and the kids really like each other. Rosalind takes care of Evan. She teaches him how to draw with chalk (and wipes his chalk-marks off the bookcase), eats next to him at the little table, teaches him how to put together puzzles, rides her trike alongside him when he's being pushed in the stroller, and lies down next to him for his nap (even though she no longer naps). They are very compatable, and Evan gets excited when he sees that we've arrived at their house in the morning. I would rather be with him full-time, but I'm glad he's happy with this arrangement & is making his first friend.