17 months old

Tate is officially 17 months old and growing more independent by the minute. He got his first toddler chair, it was actually his Daddy's rocker when he was Tate's age and he loves to stand on it and rock back and forth. We have to tell him to sit on his bottom quite often, makes me wish we wouldn't have introduced him to it but I know it's all part of the learning process.

He is saying about 15 words -- Mama, Dada, nigh-nigh, ga-key (cookie, cake, any kind of snack that he likes), hot, car, ball, pa (Grandpa), nana (Grandmas and banana), cak (cracker), i wa u (i love you), ca (popcorn) and some I am forgetting but they aren't real clear. We have a feeling the flood gates are going to open soon and a spew of words are going to come out. He knows so many words but is still struggling to get them out. He enjoys reading, we do this every night before bed and sometimes before naptime. He has a great selection of books thanks to a family of teachers and to his Nana's friend who works for Scholastic Books.

Speaking of books, the other day Mommy and Tate went to the library for laptime and that didn't work so well. He had a fasination with the jungle animals on the wall and would squeal and run up to touch them during storytime. So we had to exit quietly which many parents know never happens when you have a toddler who has his mind set (see previous blog post). Oh the temper tantrums are growing to become a daily occurrence. He has so many sweet moments though to make up for them.

Our Thanksgiving was pretty low key. We went to Nonnie and Papa's house for lunch and then went through the Christmas in the Park. Mommy did quite a bit of shopping so Tate hung with Daddy most of the weekend and grew quite attached. He just loves his Daddy. Oh, and, that weekend he discovered how to spin courtesy of Baby Einstein DVD (not sure why they say kids can't learn from TV). He loves to spin and spin and spin and then fall on the floor or start walking and run into the chairs. He also gets a kick out of running across the room and landing in your arms. We do this over and over again. Oh and we can't go a meal without saying cheers and clanking our glasses together.

We are gearing up for a fun Christmas. Santa is so excited for Tate to wake up Christmas morning.

Tate being the angel that he is....














Great Grandpa and Grandma Johnson came down for the weekend and we went to Union Station to look at the train display. Tate absolutely loved it. Then we went and ate at Fritz's, it was a train-filled weekend!