17 Months

At 17 (1/21-2/20) months old, Grayson is:
-wearing 18-24 or 18 month onesies and shirts
-wearing 18 month pants
-wearing 18 month footie pjs
-in size 4 diapers    
-sleeping 10-13 hours a night depending on the night.  This month we really tried to get bedtime festivities started by 7 so that Gray would be asleep by 7:30.  Some nights were a little better than others, but we are getting better.  This month P put Grayson down most nights and toward the end of the month we (he) started putting Grayson in his crib and then sitting in the recliner while Gray fell asleep.  It was met with a lot of crying at first, but P is a champ (notice I don't say that I am) and Grayson is going to sleep better on his own.  We know that this is something he needs to learn, and we're trying to help him acquire this skill.
-walking & running
-drinking whole milk. 
-drinking 3 sippy cups of milk a day.  He is a little camel with water - he will drink it whenever you offer it.  He LOVES ice water.
-For dinner, we still struggle getting Grayson to eat any sort of meat.  In order to get him to eat meat, we still give him some Stage 3 Gerber meals (very occasionally at this point).
 -teething- Gray got his last 2 bottom teeth this month.  They broke through the gums early this month, but at the end of this month, he has been putting his hands in his mouth quite a bit and a little more slobbery. I can't figure out what is going on here - I THINK he has all of his teeth before the 2 year molars come in.
-blowing kisses on command - he has added a "mmmwah" sound to them lately and it is so cute!
-taking afternoon naps that are anywhere from 1 1/2-3 hours long.
-much better at drop-off in the morning.  He has really started to understand our morning schedule.  After The Hubs brushes Gray's teeth and hands him off to me, Gray starts waving at P because he knows it is time to go.  He gives P a kiss and starts blowing kisses and waving until we are out the door.  In the latter part of the month, he has just walked right into the classroom and after a millisecond of shyness, he gets picked up by a teacher and is waving goodbye to Mommy, too. 

Word Count:
-This month he added a lot of words!  For a while it seemed like we were hearing a new word every day.  He uses the following words appropriately: "mama, dada, apple, cheese, cracker, shoes, baby, wash"  He added these words to "uh oh, ball, hot" from last month.
-will sign: more, all done, his own version of please, hungry/food, milk, water 

Other notables:
-Travel this month - None!
-Grayson started doing the hand signs to the Itsy Bitsy Spider when his dog Scout would sing it and the first time my Mom and I saw it, we were shocked.  Apparently it was a favorite song of another kid in Gray's class, so they sang it often.  He still starts doing the spider sign out of the blue when he wants us to sing it.
-Another surprise from daycare was when Grayson said 'apple' out of nowhere.  I was so surprised when he said it because it just isn't a word we use all of the time.  His teacher said that it is in a lot of the books that they read, but I still find it crazy that he has that word.
-Grayson started saying 'wash' every time I would wash my hands or he would hear water running.  He loves to play in the water and have us put soap on his hands.  I think this word also came from daycare - it is so cute!
-Gray can identify his nose, ear, eye, mouth, and now tongue and belly button! 
-We have a climber. He now climbs on the ottoman next to one of the couches in order to climb onto the couch. 
-Brooklyn came for a visit and Grayson gave her sweet kisses.
-No real sickness this month!!
-Pointing to everything and inquiring what it is.
-Grayson understands so much of what we are saying to him these days.  He understands commands and is able to put things in the trash, put shoes in a basket, or get up and down when we ask.  (umm...he also sits when we are telling Jack so sit...but its hilarious).
-Grayson helps me with chores:  He stands in front of the dryer and I hand him clothes from the washing machine for him to put in the dryer.  He also helps me unload the dishwasher.  He hands me our utensils one at a time and I put them in the drawer.  It is so neat to see that if we channel his energy, he is great at helping out. He is such a sweet sweet boy.