Ethan, 16 months

Well I typed this up last week with the hope to get some pictures in before posting. Here it is without any pictures and I'll post pictures later on

It seems like Ethan changed from a baby to toddler over the last month. He's so confident, curious to explore new places and generally more communicative with us. The greatest change is that he's doing so well with pottying. He's been pooping in the potty for a while but in the last month we've been working on peeing in the toilet or potty too. At home he is in underwear now and the accidents are becoming less frequent. He's getting better at telling us that he needs to go by walking over to the potty and calling for us. He's yet to learn the sign for potty or the word, I think that will come further down the road. I've also noticed that now when he does have an accident, it's usually just some pee, then he'll come and tell me and finish off the rest on the potty, so I know that he can stop mid-stream. I think he's definitely learned to control his muscle and can hold it for much longer. For now, I'm still happy using pull ups for when we go out, but usually he can keep them dry (Gotta love the little design that fades when wet so you can actually tell if they've had an accident). Right now it seems like Ethan has a different type of undergarment for all occasions. Underwear for at home, pulls ups for when we're out, cloth for naps and regular disposable for night time.

(Edited on January 17th: In the last few days he's regressed a little. I don't know if it's because he's sick right now or if he's just testing the boundaries. Today was better, of course it's the day that I put him back in pull-ups at home. Go figure)

Although Ethan doesn't really have many words, he can sign "thank you" and "more please". The way that we get around the lack of words is we usually say, "Put your hand up if you want _____" and he'll only do it if he truly wants it. The key for us is to be able to guess what it is that he actually wants. Ethan understands A LOT and that certainly helps. His frustration comes when we don't understand him. Poor guy.

In this last month, Ethan has also been testing his boundaries a lot. There have been several times during dinner when he'll refuse his food. He just keeps pushing it away. As tempting as it is to just give him something else, we've held our ground and just insisted that he doesn't have to eat, but he does need to stay with the family during meal time. It's quite funny to see because you know that Ethan is not one to go hungry. Usually after about 10 mins of protesting, he'll gingerly begin to pick at his food and before you know, he's right in there chomping away as though it's his favourite food. For us the test is just getting through the 10 mins of him screaming and fussing in the chair while trying to pretend that we are having a lovely family dinner! This has happened several times that now I'm pretty comfortable and know that he will eventually eat and is just testing us. The times that I find hard are when he wants to eat, but won't go to visit the potty before getting in the high chair. Oooooh, he's stinky mad at those times! :) It's a tough one, but if he doesn't potty first, he always has an accident in the highchair because he's so into eating. Let's just say it's a work in progress.

In the last month we have also let him start to self feed with a spoon. He really likes the idea of feeding himself and is so proud when he gets a bite into his mouth. Sometimes, you'll see him in the high chair and every single bite, he wants to get your attention and have you watch him put it in his mouth. Such pride in his eyes, such a mess on the floor.