Jaxen Update

For the record...this post has no pictures of Jaxen. Picture-taking has been a complete FAIL here lately! Life as a mom with a toddler is different than life as a mom with a baby. Just sayin'.

I realized the other day that it had been a long time since you received a 'Jaxen Update'. So here you go!

Age: 14 months

Weight: 24.2 lbs - ish

Food: He eats 3 solid meals a day and 1-2 snacks, with a cup of milk before bed. He is a really good eater and will eat most things. He has a hard time with beef and most pork. And he cannot have egg. At all, in anything. I read most labels on food, but messed up the other night. After he ate his meal, he was grazing on our dinner plates and ran across some ranch dressing. He dipped his spoon in it and started feeding himself ranch. And he LOVED it. So much. He was having the best time "eating" the ranch. I say it that way, because it's not like he got a lot of ranch in his system. But it was enough to make him break out in rashes on his face. We grabbed the bottle of ranch and yes, it has egg in it! Who knew? I sure did not know. I am learning still about this 'no egg' thing.

Clothes: He has stepped up into 18 month pajamas and shirts. But he is still holding steady in most pants at 12 months. He has gotten taller and thinner. Some of the shorts that used to fit him well, are too big now at his waist! I mainly keep him in shorts, tshirts and sandals because it is still so hot here, but I'm looking forward to dressing him in cute long-sleeved shirts, and sweaters...you know, winter clothes!

Sleep: He normally goes to bed between 9-9:30 each night. We do have the occasional nights where it is closer to 10pm. But even when that happens, he does really well still going to bed. I put him in his crib (awake) and he puts himself to sleep. More than not, he will wake up at least once through the night, crying, but within a few minutes he has put himself back to sleep! He usually wakes up around 7am. Sometimes later, sometimes earlier. Just depends. He still normally takes a morning nap (especially during the week when he is at home) and an afternoon nap. But I think he is transitioning out of the morning nap...he can go without one just fine (and takes a longer afternoon nap).

Talking: Jaxen knows a few words (hi, bye, momma, daddy) but does not use them very often. I'm starting to work with him some on his words...but I'm not worrying over it. He will talk when he is ready. But he does 'jabber' so much. He loves holding the phone to his ear. He will talk away...until someone on the other end starts talking - ha! Then he gets real quiet and stares at the phone. He also likes to talk in the car while Nik and I are talking. It is pretty cute. It's like he is giving his opinion on the situation too.

Toys: He still has many toys that he loves and plays with but his new favorite things to do are: throw a ball (he gets so excited to do that), play with gift bags (putting things in and taking them out), play with his sunglasses, and the very favorite is....to zerbert someone! It is so funny! He finally learned to zerbert (put your mouth on someone and blow to make the funny noise). He loves doing it to my legs, and it tickles! So it cracks me up, laughing - which makes him laugh....its a fun cycle!

Movies: Thankfully, we have moved on from The Lorax and loves any movie with bright colors and music! A movie (if needed) can entertain him for awhile (which is nice when we are trying to get ready in the morning!).

Mothers Day Out: He will start going to Mothers Day Out twice a week, the first week of September, from 9am-2pm. I'm really excited about him doing this. I know it will be good for him. He will learn lots of new things and make some friends! He is always so good when he goes to our church nursery and I believe it will be the same for Mothers Day Out.

This last month, Jaxen has learned so much. He now goes to the fridge when he is thirsty. He turns on his sound machine in his room before bedtime, when I grab his diaper bag he starts walking towards the door...just numerous things like that. He is growing and changing all the time. It is so good but sometimes hard as well. I enjoy these days but also look back and miss the baby-baby days.

So that is a summary of what Jaxen is up to these days. I know most of you who read this blog miss out  on the day-to-day things of our lives and so I hope this helps!