17 Months

We have had such a great month!  The weather has warmed up and we have had tons of play time outside and are thoroughly enjoying it.  Our garden is in the ground and our tomatoes have some blooms already.  We are looking forward to a warm, busy summer (we have 7 weddings!), seeing my parents on the 14^th, and Brian and Ashley’s wedding on the 16^th!   

 

Growth:  On 5/16 at Grant’s appointment in Chicago he was 31.25” and 23 lbs 7.7 oz.  I imagine he is still pretty close to this but has maybe gotten just a smidge taller.  Grant is in all 12-18 and 18 month clothes, size 4 and 5 shoes, and size 4 diapers still. 

Teeth:  This month his bottom right molar and upper right cuspid popped through bringing his tooth total to 11.  He’ll have a full set in no time! 

Language/Comprehension:  We have a talking parrot on our hands.  Grant tries to say nearly everything that comes out of our mouths these days (we better watch out)!  Some of his words this month include:  all done, tractor, boat, bubbles, choo choo (more like “to-to”), bock bock for what the chicken says, diaper, his own name 5/15, up 5/17, tractor and duck 5/27, banana or “nana” 5/28, coo coo like our clock 5/31, bubble 6/3, 6/5 Elmo, Asher and David (his friends from daycare), Grandpa, and uh oh 6/7.  He even said Aaron which is David’s dad’s name from daycare.  He likes to point at your eye and say “eye” 5/21 and point to your nose and say “mose.”

Personality:  Grant has been an absolute joy this month.  Of course we always love him but he has been so fun and playful.  He is usually very happy with the occasional tantrum here and there.  He has had very few biting incidences this month and is getting much better at controlling himself when he feels the urge.  He actually stopped himself at daycare mid-biting motion when he was making his move to bite another child.  

Mobility:  Grant is all over the place of course but the thing that caught us off guard the most this month are his new-found acrobatic skills.  On 5/24 we were sitting on the floor playing and Grant was behind me and all the sudden I hear the pitter patter of little feet on a hard surface and I turn around expecting to see him running around the kitchen.  Well low and behold, he was on top of the coffee table proudly marching in place.

Grant playing in his new pool in the backyard

Things he likes:  Climbing on the furniture by himself and then running around and falling down, putting lotion on (which he calls bubbles… still working on that one), the hokie pokie and turning himself around, pointing to every tractor, lawnmower, semi, and cow he sees.   

Funniest moment(s) this month:  When you ask Grant to say grandma, he says papa and when we pull in the driveway at George and Denise’s (Matt’s parents) he says papa over and over again.  It pretty much never fails that if you say grandma he will say papa. 

When you ask him how old he is, he holds up one finger.

Walking into daycare last week, Grant put his hands up and shrugged his shoulders and said uh oh.  When I looked up, I noticed the life-size Jesus they have on the wall was missing.  Grant was very concerned about where Jesus went and kept saying uh oh.     

Biggest change(s) this month:  His speech!  Just when we were on the verge of thinking he was a little behind and going to be slow talking, boy has he made up for it!  He is a chatterbox which he never really had been in the past. 

Firsts:  Trip to the Shedd aquarium during our Chicago visit on 5/16.  Grant’s favorite exhibit was by far the penguins

On 5/17, he was sitting on his potty and the look on his face changed and you could tell he was thinking.  He looked at me and said all done and sure enough he knew he had pottied and was all done! 

Figured out how to blow bubbles 5/18

We took our first trip of the season on the boat on Memorial Day weekend and had such a great time.  We were out there for almost 5 hours and he never once cried, whined, or got upset.  He absolutely loved splashing in the water and cruising along. 

Driving the boat with mommy

Grant also got to see Grandpa Fisher’s semi, sit in it and sit in an army truck.  As excited as he is to see trucks on the road, he was a little timid about seeing one up close and personal.  The week after seeing George’s semi he saw a truck on the road and said truck and papa!  It was so neat to hear him make the association on his own.   

Sitting in Grandpa's truck

Sitting in the army truck with daddy

Illnesses:  On 5/16, Grant started his first 5 day break after 30 days on medication for C Diff.  Unfortunately, it was only a day and a half before the C Diff returned.  It was by far the quickest it has ever come back.  He went back on the meds one day early and we are in the middle of our second 30 day dose.  The good news is that we are tentatively scheduled for 6/20 or 6/22 for the fecal transplant in Chicago (see C Diff Update Post).  There has been one slight variation from the original plan.  Initially, the doctor had planned on using a NG tube to introduce the donor stool into Grant’s system but she has since opted to use a colonoscopy.  This option is a bit more invasive and worrisome for Matt and myself as parents because he will have to be put under general anesthesia for a "rather lengthy amount of time” and we have heard terrible stories of adults going through colonoscopies (mainly the night before and the preparation) and hate for him to endure this.    

We had one other hiccup on the illness front this month.  On 5/29, Grant had a mild fever, he was ok the next morning but then I got a call from daycare saying he had a fever of 101.9.  By the time I got there 45 minutes later, the fever was up to 103 and we headed to the doc. The doctor said his ear was very mildly red and agreed to try ear drops to clear up ear infection but a 103 fever seemed high for such a mild looking ear.  By the time we got home his fever was up to a little over 105 and I was very worried.  I called the doc back and I put Grant in a tepid bath and tried to push fluids and it brought the fever down.  Grant also had a very small rashy area on his tummy that I brought to the doctor’s attention and mentioned another child at daycare had hand, foot, and mouth.  The doctor didn’t seem too concerned at the time and said the rash appeared to be “heat rash.”  Well, little did he know it was indeed hand, foot and mouth because over the next couple of days Grant developed a rash on his feet and legs, a small area on his arms, and a couple spots on his face.  

Not the best picture but you can see some of his rash here