Sweet 16 months

My gorgeous little boy is now sweet 16 months. There's no denying it now, he IS a toddler. The only bit of baby he has left, is tucked away in my heart - it's there that he will forever be my little baby.

Well once again the last few months have flown by. My little Xavier has made use of every single second, growing and learning at such a fast pace - I am finding it hard to keep up!

Oh Xav, you really are my little lightening bolt. You zoom around, getting into absolutely everything. Emptying cupboards, climbing on anything, running from place to place and leaving a trail of destruction. Between you and your big sister, you certainly keep Mummy on her toes!

Your favourite toys at the moment are the sandpit, the outside toys, your matchbox cars and all our phones. Any time there is a phone within your reach, you grab it & run away - all the time pretending to have a real conversation. A guaranteed way to make you go from happy to sad in 2 seconds flat is to take one off you, sometimes naughty Mummy does it just for her own amusement.

Of course it goes without saying your absolute favourite thing to play with is whatever Grace has. You have certainly learnt how to stand up for yourself, no more Mr nice guy hey! It's kinda cute & funny to watch you both hustle and squabble over things, both holding a very firm grip and voicing your disapproval at the other. It usually ends in a squeally, crying mess and Mummy has to step in a referee, only to have you both forget what it was you were fighting about in the first place and move on to something else. Crazy kids!

Food is something that you thoroughly enjoy, you certainly have the family appetite! You try everything that's put before you and there's not many foods that you reject. You've even managed to master the art of using a spoon and fork. Using the spoon is still a little messy, but you manage to get most of it into your mouth. You're a lot better using the fork though, stabbing each bit of food carefully then gobbling it all up. Apart from eating your 3 main meals, you also graze on snacks during the day. If you get hungry you go and belt on the pantry or fridge door, insisting on getting something. I guess you still like the idea of demand feeding hey! You demand, and I get it for you. Anything for you my gorgeous boy. Anything.

Now onto the breastfeeding. You haven't fed before bed for the last 4 nights. I was feeling crappy with my tooth and desperate for some strong pain relief, so I went with the "Don't offer, Don't refuse" plan of attack. You did try to feed on the first night, but fussed and fiddled around, not having a feed at all. The next night I gave you a cup of milk. The first taste was spat out in disgust, but then you tried it again and drunk it all up. Your still enjoying a feed either overnight or early morning, depending on if you've woken or not. I'm not ready to give up our special time just yet, so wean me slowly please.

Your sleeping is great, no problems at all. You go to bed at about 7pm, we just pop you in the cot and off you go to sleep. Sometime you will surprise us and sleep all night, and other times you will wake between 3-5am. If I remember I just give the dummy, but most of the time I am in a sleep-induced coma and I just bring you straight in with us. It really doesn't bother Duane or I. To be honest, it's the only time I get a nice long cuddle - most of the time it's go, go, go. I love the way your body curls into me when we sleep, usually with an arm flung backwards to touch Daddy. Day sleeps are just as good. You generally go back to bed around 8.30am - 10am, then from around 2pm-3pm. I often have to wake you up of an afternoon though, not sure how long you would sleep for if I didn't. I don't want to risk it, no doubt if I didn't we would be up all night!

You have learnt so many new words. Shooshes (shoes), Gram-ma, hat, to-es, 'ore (more), gone, Who's that (asked EVERYTIME that I answer the phone), Quack-quack, duck, Cock-a-doodle doo, 'nana, car, num (dummy) and probably a lot more than I have missed out.

Your a beautiful little boy who absolutely adores his Mummy. You love exploring away from me, but love me to be close enough for a cuddle every now and then. It's lovely watching your confidence grow as you become more assertive and confidant.

I love you sweet boy. xx