Raffi’s 17 month update
Here are Raffi’s 17 month highlights:
WORDS
Raffi is talking more and more every day. New favorite words this month include bubbles, back (bas), mine (momomo), up, screw, bolt, thank you, please, two, oh nooo, aw mannn, woohoo, pasta (tata), three (free), ice, close, open, bye bye, car, close, up, down
Words I can’t understand yet:
ca-coo (I think it means water? or drink? I can’t tell though.)
EYE-num (I think it means can I have this or is this mine or mine)
Raffi said his first sentence this month. We now flush his caca from his diapers in the toilet in an effort to show him where it’s supposed to go. His first sentence was “BYE BYE CACA!” How fitting.
His second sentence is really cute. I always say “Bye bye, love you” before I leave him or put him to bed, and one day I noticed he was saying it to me! He now says “bye bye, love you” to Trig and I, his stuffed animals, his fruit, strangers, and so on.
Raffi learned the word HOT early on from me telling him my tea cup is hot and he somehow knows things that are hot that we haven’t shown him. For example, he will run up to the stove and say “HOT.” while holding his hand out and looking at me with big eyes. He did the same with a candle the other day.
For things that are unsafe but not hot I’ve been saying “Dangerous”. He now says dangerous all the time as a warning to himself not to do certain things. He knows escalators, blenders, paint cans, and tools are all “dayn-jus”. I love it!
Last on the word front, Raffi is learning Italian too. His first official Italian word is CIAO. I am doing my best to speak Italian as much as possible, and he seems to understand some of my Italian directions, but my goal this month is to speak even more often.
FOOD
Raffi is into a few new foods this month. I am trying to introduce a bigger variety this month as more spring fruits and vegetables are coming available.
Favorite fruits this month: strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, oranges (he is new to oranges and loves them), apples
Favorite vegetables this month: green beans, peas, broccoli, raw baby spinach. We keep trying both raw and cooked red peppers but he won’t touch them yet.
Raffi eats nonstop these days, and this is what a typical day looks like:
B: a few bites of cereal, a whole banana, 5 blueberries, 2 sips of milk
S: a cheese stick
S: some crackers on the go, a sliced cucumber
L: 3/4 sunflower butter sandwich on wheat bread, peas, 1/2 peeled sliced apple
S after nap: a whole container of Greek yogurt
D: pasta with feta and fresh lemon zest, a lick of bread, three servings mixed berries
before bed: 6-8 oz of milk
He still won’t touch any meat or fish but luckily he loves beans and eggs.
TANTRUMS
I was limiting Raffi’s foods to 3 meals and 2 snacks a day, but he started having a lot of tantrums this month. A friend suggested to me that the tantrums could be exacerbated by hunger, so I’ve been giving him food every single time he asks. His tantrums have been far better since doing that, and he’s still eating his full meals. It means I have to be better prepared with washed and cut fruits and veggies though or he’d eat crackers and cheese all day. In fact he asks for crackers all day long.
Raffi’s tantrums are mostly related to being told he can’t do something or having to share something he doesn’t want to share. He stands there and screeches like a dinosaur and it’s awful and embarrassing. I don’t mind it when he’s the only kid around, but it is so embarrassing when all the other kids are playing nicely and Raffi is standing there screeching.
SLEEP
This topic is short. Raffi sometimes cries hard before sleeping. He naps for about 1 hour 15 minutes from 12:30 PM- 1:45 PM and goes to bed at 7:30 PM and wakes up around 7:30 AM.
He often pretends that he’s hungry just to delay bedtime. I thought he was too young to try such tricks, but after the first few false alarms we now know he doesn’t mean it.
STORIES
– When I ask Raffi where the baby is he comes to touch my belly and then lays his head on it. It is adorable.
– When I pick him up from daycare, Raffi doesn’t run to give me a hug. Instead he stays just where he is and either asks for water or tells me what he’s eating. Dropoff is less than 10 minutes now as we check in, he runs to the sink, and I leave. At pickup he is usually in a different outfit because he gets so wet from playing at the sink. I have a water baby!
– Raffi loves to do funny voices and to feed his stuffed animals or us. He says “um? um?” and then gives them a bite or a sip. He understands pretend play and gets a kick out of it. (Note: We say UM when he takes a bite so that’s why he says it too)
– It’s very difficult to wash the floors when Raffi is awake because he is absolutely obsessed with the Swiffer WetJet. We often clean together but for months I’ve only been washing the floors while he’s sleeping. I’ve been worried about him slipping. Now that he is a great walker and can follow directions I thought it would be ok to mop while he’s awake. I made the mistake of letting him be in charge of the Swiffer when the liquid was really low one day, and now I’m in trouble. As soon as he sees it he runs over and tries to push the button and mop. He also turns the vacuum on and off all the time and unplugs it at every opportunity.
– We gave Raffi his first haircut this month and I really messed it up. We only cut the front and only because his hair was really getting in his eyes. In 3 snips I managed to cut his hair about 3 inches too short. Oops. The front still needs a good long while to grow out while the back is mullet-long. Trig won’t let me cut the back because it will be like admitting that Raffi is growing up.
– In the mornings when he first wakes up Raffi lists every single word he knows. I love listening to him on the monitor as I’m waking up. While he’s been crying a bit before it’s time to sleep, he also loves his crib now. Some mornings he likes to dive into his “pillow” (a folded up blanket) and lay back down to relax for awhile.
Random facts:
Weight: about 24/25 lbs
Wears: size 4 diapers, 12-18 month clothing most of the time, size 18-24 months for some things because I’m sick of his winter wardrobe, size 4 shoes
Teeth: I can’t get in there to check anymore, but he got at least 4 teeth in the last month and is still working on a couple more I think
Loves: watching other kids play, playing with other kids, taking trash to the garbage bin, naming whose objects belong to whom, climbing everything, turning the lights on and off, listening to music, saying no, pretend feeding his stuffed animals, taking baths, being naked, giving open mouthed kisses on the cheek, snuggling (when he’s in the right mood), being kissed when he has a boo-boo, throwing balls, playing hide and seek
Hates: getting dressed, having to share his toys, not listening to his music in the car, putting on his coat
Favorite toys: his Chuggington ride on train (he plays with this every opportunity he has), his slide, his matchbox cars, any bags, craft items (crayons, paint, pipe cleaners, stickers), puzzles, bubbles
Favorite household items: the wire baking racks in our kitchen cabinet, our phones, the remote control, our big bowl of oranges and apples, the coffee table, his toothbrush, his sister’s closet, the framed photo of my mom, the shoe cabinet, and the vent next to the kitchen table
Click on the images for a larger view:
Previous updates can be found here.
Isn’t it the cutest when they say “bye-bye” to everything? Though, I’ll admit Raffi’s is way cuter since he follows it with a love you! Wyatt helps me put away all his bath toys each night and has to tell each one bye-bye individually or else it’s the end of the world.
I love that you are teaching him some Italian. When I was in high school, one of our French teachers married a guy from France. When they had their kids, she would only speak English at home and he would only speak French. The kids grew up bilingual. It was so funny to see their 3/4 year old come in and speak better French than the students in French 4!
aw! I just loved your last post too 🙂