Today Sam is 17 months old! Wow! He is almost one and a half. Some of you may have noticed that I didn’t do a 16 month post, so I am combining them. Here we go:

• Sleeping: Sam usually sleeps from 8-8. Although sometimes he wakes up closer to 7:30, and he often sleeps in even later! His naps are from 1-4 but lately he has only been sleeping for 2 hours or even less. If he wakes up earlier than 3, I’ll leave him in his crib until 3 because I think he should at least get that much rest. He is always happy to stay in his crib.
• Eating: Sam’s eating habits are unpredictable. Sometimes he eats as much as we do and other times he just pecks like a bird. We almost always eat meals together and Sam usually eats what we eat. One day he’ll go nuts for broccoli and the next day he thinks it’s disgusting. Tonight he ate brie and apricot preserves on a baguette and the other night he chowed down on Brussels sprouts!! We’re just going to keep exposing him to different things and see what sticks. Applesauce is always a favorite!

• Social life: Sam is so friendly lately. He waves to everyone he sees and says “hi!” repeatedly in hopes that they will notice him.

• Language: Sam knows a ton of words now but most of them sound like variations of “dada” so it can be hard to understand him. “Truck” and “tractor” are both “dada.” Also, one syllable words almost always get repeated (e.g. “ba ba”=”ball”; “duh duh” = “duck”). It is really fun getting to see a glimpse of what he is thinking. Here he is playing with mommy’s “keeessshh.”

• Climbing: Sam has recently started getting a little more adventurous with his climbing. He is still cautious but is taking a few more risks to climb onto things like coolers and boxes. He can climb off the couch but doesn’t know how to climb onto it.

• Willpower: Sam is getting much more willful. He really knows how to throw a good fit when he doesn’t get what he wants (usually one of our phones or the laptop). However, it is usually short lived, which is nice. Here he is guarding some little trinket.

• Throwing: Sam is still obsessed with throwing food and utensils. We have taken a break from teaching him to use a spoon and fork because he always throws them after just a few bites. I feel like he might be improving a little because sometimes now he hands us the food he doesn’t want instead of throwing it overboard.

• Milk: As of yesterday, Sam is off bottles! We started the transition by replacing the two middle-of-the-day bottles with a sippy cup, and I was nervous because he didn’t seem to be drinking enough milk. After about a month, we dropped the night bottle — which was much harder for us than Sam! And then just yesterday we replaced the morning bottle. This was the hardest because he can get a little cranky in the morning when he’s hungry! But so far he has done pretty well and he is getting at least 16 oz a day!
• Hugger: It is sad to not have that special time that we had while giving Sam his bottles, but luckily he has gotten a lot more cuddly lately. He was on a major “hug Henry” kick for awhile and now he is on a “hug mommy and daddy” kick. Whenever I ask for a hug, he runs full speed into my arms. I’m worried he’s going to hurt himself one of these days!

• Seperation Anxiety: Along with this new, cuddly behavior also comes a little clinginess. It is nearly impossible to make dinner these days because Sam just wants to be held. He cries when I go into another room. This is so unusual for our usually independent guy. But I know it is also very normal. And as long as I am not in a hurry to get something done, it is kind of sweet.

A few more pictures from the past two months: