19 Months

 Growth:  The official weigh in at Grant’s 18 month check up brought him in at 23 lbs 5 oz and 32.25”.  His weight has now dropped slightly below 20^th percentile but the good news is his height and head circumference are still increasing.  It isn’t that he isn’t growing.  He just isn’t gaining so that is a bit more reassuring.  We are still awaiting the biopsy results from his surgery to ensure there is no underlying cause for the lack of weight gain but Dr. Kahn feels relatively sure everything is normal.  Grant is wearing 18 month and some 18-24 month clothes, size 5 and 6 shoes, and size 4 diapers.  

Grant and Cousin Eleazar (Amber's son)

Teeth:  This month his bottom right cuspid popped through leaving him with a total of 16 teeth.  Quite the mouthful!

More Daddy!

Language/Comprehension:  These days it feels like Grant is stuck on repeat at times and is still our talking parrot.  I honestly don’t even know where to begin.  Here is a list of the ones I remembered to write down or could recall off the top of my head. 

Single words: Jesus, puppy, egg, bath, juice, cat, book, backpack, bike, blue, green (although he isn’t very accurate with colors yet), Jodi, Kelli, Brian, Kylie, money, swimming, flower, airplane, yes, push, baseball, hungry, jump, neigh (horse sound), count one thru five with prompting and one thru three without prompting

Two Words or more: bite naughty, Addie bite (Common theme there!  He finally got a taste of his own medicine this past month.), Grant happy, love you, bird eat (when watching the birds on the bird feeders), bird tweet tweet, come one (when watching baseball and cheering on the Brewers), night night moon (one of his favorite books right now), uh oh bye bye (after throwing monkey out of his crib), Becky’s shoe (his teacher from daycare), Papa’s truck.  Grant also loves trying to say uh oh spaghetti oh.

We used our DVD system in our car for the first time on the way down to Chicago and Grant was somewhat interested but it did not keep his undivided attention.  He was content looking out the window or dozing.  However, upon returning home and getting in the car the next time the first words out of his mouth were TV on.

Sitting at his new table

Personality:  We have our moments of complete meltdowns and Grant is learning to push the limits but overall he is still a happy little man and will usually listen.  His answer to every question you ask him now is a definitive no.  He picked this up during the hospital stay when he was telling the doctors and nurses no to everything they wanted to do to him.  At dinner the other night, Matt’s Grandma made the comment that he is just such a happy, good boy and overall he really is.  This was also month two in a row without a single biting incident at daycare.  Although he did have a couple attempts he never made contact.  As I mentioned earlier, he got a taste of his own medicine from another child at daycare.   

Getting ready to hit the ball

Mobility:  We have been working on jumping but he is still in need of some coordination in that department!  His running is becoming much more coordinated and we don’t fear the previously inevitable falls in the driveway nearly as much.  Grant has also been working on hand eye coordination.  One of his favorite activities is to put his baseball on the tee and hit it.    

Things he likes:  Chasing/following bug.  He will get on his hands and knees and crawl around and around following a bug. 

He thinks it is hilarious to push Matt and I over.  If we are playing on the floor he will say push then tap our shoulders to push us down… funny now for us but not so funny when he ends up trying on another child!

Funniest moment(s) this month:  Anytime you ask Grant to back up if he is in the way or “helping” he will say beep beep and back up

Biggest change(s) this month:  Overall, Grant seems to be feeling better.  We have been told by several people that he just looks better so that is reassuring.    

Firsts:  We went to Lake Michigan and Kohler-Andrae park for Owen's (Grant's cousin) birthday.

More sand Daddy!

Look Kylie!

It’s not really something anyone looks forward to but Grant had both is first endoscopy and colonoscopy with stool transplant (making him the first person ever at the University of Chicago to have a stool transplant).

Entertaining himself in the window

On a lighter note, we also attended the Eden parade for the first time and Grant had a blast!  He loved beep beeping at every semi that drove by, pointing out every tractor, and dancing with every band.  By the end of the day he was a pro at running to get the candy and putting it in his bag.

Yummy freezepop

Grant and Daddy watching the parade

Illnesses:  It has been another quiet month on the illness front (thank goodness).  Grant had a mild fever on and off for two days but nothing really came of it.  You can read about his stool transplant which finally occurred on August 3^rd here.  We are 8 days post-op, he was re-cultured today and he is NEGATIVE and still C Diff free so we are continuing to say prayers and hope!     

Grant and Mommy in Chicago