Biophilliac Mommy: 17 Months Old Mattimeo

17 months old Meo

It's already time again for my monthly Mattimeo update. For some reason, 18 months feels like a big milestone. I'm not sure I'm ready for it! My little baby boy is suddenly a toddler, and with that comes lots of learning and changes for both of us. Some days are tough as we try to figure out how to satisfy both of our needs. But most days are fun as we are able to do more and more together and he loves to try new things. Here is a summary of this months favorites:

Books (the ones he asks to be read most frequently)

Down East in the Ocean, A Maine Counting Book by Petter and Connie Roop
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Vroom, Vroom Maisy by Lucy Cousins
Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton
Bath Time by Sandra Boynton
Sweet Dreams, Pooh (Disney's My Very First Winnie The Pooh) by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What do you See? by Bill Martin Jr.

Reading with Grandma

Reading in the car

Choosing a book

Reading in the car

Reading with Auntie Sam in the car

Foods

Current favorites: oranges, raisins, cheese, pasta, frozen blueberries, yogurt, applesauce, organic cheese bunny crackers

Butternut squash tostada

Yogurt bits snack with his pal Noah

Hillbilly spaghetti at Memere and Pepere's house (mommy forgot to pack a bib, so I died a rag around his neck)

scrambled eggs with feta and baby spinach, organic strawberries, oranges, and cinnamon raisin english muffin

Cauliflower pizza

Pepere gave Meo a bite of cake

French toast with fresh strawberries

Meo and I have a lot of sleepy car picnics when we are out all day in the winter

Polenta pizza

Activities

1. Play Dough. My mom made him some wonderful homemade play dough this month. It has the donstancy of play dough you buy in the store, but without all the chemical junk. Meo enjoys sitting at the table with an adult (otherwise he carries the play dough around the house and it gets full of cat fur) and break it apart in tiny pieces. We make structures for him and he likes to smoosh it up and break it apart. Sometimes I make a little pot for him with the play dough and he fills it up with his little pieces. Thankfully, he is not interested in eating it! It was while playing with play dough that I discovered his favorite color is red (like his Papa and Mema), as he always chooses the red dough when given the option.

My mom making homemade play dough for Meo

She is not impressed that her hands changed color

Finished play dough

2. Clackity Alligator. We have one of the PlanToys alligators that is on wheels and you pull it by the string causing it to make a satisfying "clack clack clack" sound. Well last week when I went to yoga class and Meo was home alone with Robbie, Robbie started pulling the clackity alligator around while singing a silly song, and Meo simply loved chasing him around. In fact, he didn't want to stop! He loves this activity so much that we have to keep the alligator out of sight unless we are willing to walk around the room for 30-60 minutes. He will hold the alligator up to us and cry until we start pulling it around the room. I tried to get him to pull it himself, but the only way he thinks that is acceptable is if I kneel on the floor and hold it with him, and that led to me having very sore knees. So for now, we pull it for him.

3. "Drivin' on the ____" game. Meo has this great little handmade wooden car. Recently he has taken to driving it around the room onto various objects while going "brrrm, brrrm" (have I mentioned how well he can buzz those lips?). Robbie made a song that goes "Divin' on the [whatever object Meo is driving on], brmmm, brmmm, brmm", and Meo loves it. He will carry his car around to every single thing he can in his room so that he can hear Robbie or I sing what that object is. He has always loved pointing to things, especially in books, to learn what they are. This has turned into an extension of said pointing.

4. Cruising around on his bumper car. Since he has gotten taller, he is really able to cruise around on his RadioFlyer ride-on bumper car toy. He loves it! And boy is he fast!

Snack on the go

5. Getting pushed in his indoor wagon. We keep he Radio-flyer push wagon (the one he first started walking with) in the house, and he loves to climb in it and be pushed around. Sometimes he doesn't want to stop being pushed around, but its fun to see his big smile as he flies around the house.

He put Gobo and his recycling truck in the wagon with him

Waiting to be pushed

goofball

6. Train table. Of course, he still loves playing with his train table every day.

7. Taking walks. We still go for walks everyday, just as we have been doing since he was just a few days old. We go out in all types of weather (and dress appropriately of course) because I think it's important to appreciate nature in all its variations. One of the fun things we've been doing is I picked up a field guide for animal tracks, and I point out all the tracks to Meo then we identify them when we get home. I know he is probably young for this, but it is really fun for me and he actually seems to enjoy it too.

Usually I wear him on my back. We had to get an organic Boba carrier because he outgrew the Ergo baby carrier. It's essentially the same thing, but the back is higher so he has more support and the bottom is wider giving him a bigger seat. The only trouble is, this past week he has started getting more independent and wants to walk on his own. This is great because what a wonderful way for him to explore and get exercise! On the downside though, I rely on my fast paced walks while I carry him to get my heart racing and get in an aerobic work out. If I have to walk Meo pace (which actually isn't so slow because if the terrain is suitable he tends to run a lot). I guess I will just have to figure out how to get in additional exercise (good luck to me). Also, I am worried about what hiking will be like once winter is over...he really can't hike by himself; its too dangerous. I hope he will cooperate with me so we can still go.

Turkey tracks on our walk (note that is Mattimeo's cute finger pointing at a turkey in the field book)

snowshoeing with Grandpa

Walk with Mema, Sammy and Socks

watching the dogs

Walk with Mema, Sammy and Socks

Mackworth Island

Mackworth Island with Christina, Greyson, Nowell and Saron

Walking at home

stumble

Walking at home

Ossipee Mountain

Clark Pond Trail

Taking a rest

Clark Pond Trail

8. Walking Pi. Yes, Meo loves to walk our cat Pi. And Pi loves it too! Pi has been struggling with the transition back to being an indoor cat, and craves fresh air. This is a good compromise. He loves just being able to be outside with us (he was leash trained as a kitten when we lived in Portland and I would walk him in Deering Oaks Park nearly everyday to do homework and eat lunch). Plus, Meo has really taken to it and will sometimes run around with Pi's leash and try to lasso him in the house. After the first day of trying, he has mastered holding onto the leash, and he only gets frustrated when Pi stops to eat grass or roll in the sand because he wants to GO GO GO. But he his very kind to Pi and only gently shakes the leash a little. They are pretty darn cute together.

9. Kissing. He is a snuggle bug, and loves to give kisses. I love receiving said kisses.

Kiss for Gobo

10. Spinning, and making appropriate movements to songs. He likes to do the appropriate motions when we sing "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" and "If your happy an you know it". He has also been starting to mimic my signs when we sing "5 little ducks", "the itsy bitsy spider" and other similar songs. Most recently, he's learned that when he spins, he can make himself dizzy. He has been spinning for a while, but he just realized how fun it is to make himself completely dizzy; to the point he can no longer walk and will fall down and crash into things while laughing hysterically. He had down this when he was younger, but I think he forgot about it for a while and now this antic is back in force.

11. Music. We still sing and play lots of music at home, and he has become more and more involved. We were even so lucky as to have our friends Noel, Charlie and Noah come over this month and ended up have an inpromptu jazz session for the boys, which was a lot of fun!

Charlie, Noel and Noah

Charlie and Robbie

Charlie, Robbie and I

Developmental Update

Physically, his coordination, maneuverability, and overall confidence in walking has led to a little boy who can climb, navigate rocky, root-laden and icy trails, run for extended periods of time, and even attempt the necessary leg movement to jump.

He has been a learning super-star. He has been picking up new sign language, such a bird, duck, fish, orange, pointing up and down, and please. He will insist on reading some of his longer books in addition to short board books. He makes some pretty amazing connections too! For example, today while we were doing yoga, we did "butterfly pose". In this particular version, we put the soles of our feet together while seated and then flap our legs up and down like a butterfly while I sing the song. He was able to do the pose all on his own by imitating me. But the really amazing thing was an hour or two later, we were reading a book and a picture of a butterfly appeared. When he saw it, he started doing the butterfly pose all on his own! I was in shock. He makes lots of connections like this which means he is already capable of generalizing objects. Also, I basically assume he understands everything I am saying now.

Breastfeeding is still going strong. We love our special time together, he is receiving tons of nutrients and anti-bodies that keep him healthy, and it has been a wonderful way to comfort him when this big world or all the information he is constantly taking in overwhelms in and he just needs a quiet recharge. I love how snuggly and sweet it is, and I think a lot of that stems from our great nursing relationship. He nurses a lot less now then he used to, probably 4 or 5 times a day, unless we are out and about in an overstimulating environment, or he is really tired and is not someplace he can sleep. In those situations he tends to want to nurse more. But we both are loving it; acrobatics and all. One of the best benefits of breastfeeding for us right now is that we never have to fight bed time. When he is tired (between 7 and 7:30), he crawls into his bed and asks to be nursed (which is hos he falls asleep usually). Bed time is as smooth as butter.

Sleeping has recently gotten a lot better. There was a good portion of this month that he would want to nonstop nurse (more like pacify) from about midnight on. Achy shoulders, sore back, and much pained collar bones led to me feeling exhausted and a little frustrated. But I knew it was probably because he needed it; he has been teething and going through a lot of development both physically and mentally. But as of last week, he started sleeping for 8 hour stretches all on his own! We always put him to bed after his bath/book/massage time in his own bed (a mattress on the ground). Then, when he wakes up in the night we bring him into our bed to cosleep. Lately he's been sleeping so well that he hasn't come into our room until between 3 and 5. This has been great for me because I can sleep deeply again. We still have the closeness we've always had with cosleeping, but I feel like this is an even better situation than entirely cosleeping because he doesn't get bothered by us moving around or coming in and out of the room; he gets in a nice long stretch of uninterrupted sleep, and the second he feels lonely we get him. No crying, no separation anxiety; complete trust and lots of love. Our sleep situation is working out beautifully. And in the wee hours of the morning when he wants to pacify a lot; if I get tired of it and can't sleep, I simply tell him "no more milk" and he will fuss for a second (just whine a bit, not even cry), settle down on my chest or beside me and fall asleep while I rub his back or head. What a great way for him to learn about limits in a gentle way.

How I wake up sometimes

Theta likes napping with Meo sometimes

Why co-sleeping is wonderful

My mom rocking and singing Meo to sleep

Sleeping on Mema

Nap time at Mema's house

Mattimeo's current new favorite word is "up". He uses it regularly, whether it be to be picked up, when we are climbing up a hill, when he is climbing up something, or a toy is up high. It's pretty cool. He has been very vocal lately, although a lot of it his made-up words and sounds. We thing he is on the verge of a real language breakthrough.

More photos