Seventeen Months!

Rachel you are seventeen months old!

First I must note that it was hard to get good pictures of you this month because you are more interested in looking at the picture on screen than being patient while I take the picture to go on the screen. It is a self-defeating process and I ended up with more than one picture with no you in it at all or just your back as you headed around to my side of the camera.

I weighed you this morning and you are now 23lbs, 2oz. You tripled your birth weight of 7 lbs, 8oz this month!!! FYI, you were supposed to do that by one year :) You are wearing a size three diaper and 12-18 or 18 months clothes. You are still in size 18 month sleepers although you have outgrown the Pekkle 18 month ones. It's been so cold though that you are in Carter's fleece sleepers every night.

We have started putting you to bed a little earlier so you are usually in bed between 8 and 8:30. You were a little sick this month so you wake up at night more than you used to but most of the time you still sleep through the night. We tuck you in with Funny Bunny on one side and Lobster on the other, we cover you with blankets and you just snuggle in. You wake up between 9 and 9:30 and you are in the happiest mood. I found out about night diapers and since we've been putting those on you, you wake up with dry pjs! Yay! I still put you down for your afternoon nap anytime between 1 and 2:30 and you sleep about two to two and a half hours. On Wednesdays and Fridays now Sam is going to preschool so you only get to nap from 1:20 until about 3pm which is a little short for you.

You have sixteen teeth now. No sign of your two year molars yet.

You eat two yogurts for breakfast and some Cheerios. Sometimes you eat a bit of Mommy's bagel, if she's willing to share, and sometimes some toast. For lunch you eat leftovers and then for supper you eat what we do. You really like eggs, bread and cheese. This month you really enjoyed cheese strata and leek/turnip/potato soup. We feed you if the meal is messy but otherwise we put things on your tray and you feed yourself.

You still babble and scream and coo but you still don't have clear words, although you are beginning to repeat more sounds. You are "talking" a lot more and we're sure actual words are just around the corner. You love waving "bye bye"but you have stopped blowing kisses :( And you have stopped freaking out when we leave you in the nursery for LOGOS or when I go to Bible Study. That makes Mommy soooo happy!

You have started having temper tantrums which is kind of funny and a little frustrating, although we know this is normal. You immediately burst into tears when you don't get what you want, whether it's another muffin, a toy Sam has taken away from you, or not being able to go in the bathroom when Mommy does.

YOU CAN WALK!!! You really took off about two days after you turned 16 months. It happened one night at LOGOS and you walked all around the Fellowship Hall at church. You hardly ever fall down and I NEVER see you crawl anymore. I think you were just waiting until you were perfect at it. You may have inherited Daddy's perfectionist tendencies! We have been working on how to go down stairs backwards but mostly you just want to head down like everyone else does and you get super-mad when we won't let you do it!

You and Sam still get along so well. I love it. You are each other's favourite person to be with. Lately you have enjoyed playing The Hat Game. You guys put on hats and run around the main floor laughing and laughing. It's very funny to watch. You still just adore Sam and I love watching the two of you play together.

You still like pulling all the shoes off the shoe rack, doing anything in Sam's room, and reading books to yourself in your crib. Your favourite thing to do in the dining room is still pulling all the recycling out of the bin. You also started to get into the garbage this month so we had to childproof it. You have gotten so much better at your baths this month which makes Daddy really happy. He says you play and laugh in the tub and it's fun to bathe you again. I don't know what changed.

You got pretty sick shortly after you turned 16 months. You had a fever for three days and then a big rash. You didn't sleep well AT ALL and were awake for most of three nights. It was a rough go. Fortunately you are better now and sleeping again. Yay!

You are getting so much bigger every day Rachel. I can't believe by my next monthly letter to you,. you will be a year and a half. You're growing up so fast and we love you so very much Miss Rachel Roo. Here you are at seventeen months and, last November, at five months! You were such a little Rachel then.