I'm not even going to pretend these updates are monthly any more (Henry's last update was over 6 months ago!!) I'm really not sure how that happened. Anyway...
Eating: Breakfast is usually a Weetabix followed by a small bowl of Rice Krispies (Rice Bubbles) or Corn Flakes - whichever Milo is eating. Or maybe toast. For lunch and dinner he normally eats what we eat, with varying degrees of success. He loves risotto (he's eating it in the above picture), pasta, roast potatoes, fish cakes, chips...he doesn't really like sausages or most other meat (like roast meat) and tonight he wasn't at all interested in my gnocchi. For snacks he loves apples (mostly peeled, sometimes cut up but usually whole), bananas, clementines (mandarins), raisins, crackers with Vegemite, gingerbread men. His drink preference is still milk (always in a sippy cup) and he usually has one when he wakes up and maybe 2 more during the day (definitely after nap and then sometimes another time). He also loves juice (which we water down 50/50) - particularly orange juice. He can use utensils but generally uses his hands. Similarly, he can drink from a normal cup (and does so at nursery) but prefers a sippy cup at home. Nursery always comment on how well he eats - and I know he eats things there he wouldn't eat at home (like chicken curry and lentils and such...)
Sleeping: Some big improvements here. Our trip away at Christmas was a disaster for Henry's sleep (trouble putting him down, waking at 4am), but we're back on track with usually 7:15pm to about 6:15am. We did have a week or so when he was waking after 7am which was amazing but he's gone back to the 6s - which we'll take after a long, long time of 5am wake ups. No problems putting him to bed at all and he never wakes in the night (except for when he's sick, like last night when he woke at 1am with a high fever). For naps, he usually does about 2 hours from 12 or 1pm although it seems to be getting shorter recently (about 90 minutes or so). We had a spate where he would only nap in the pram in the hallway at home, but now he's back in his cot. Nursery have never had a problem with him napping.
Playing: He's great at self-play and will often go and get out the Duplo and Imaginext toys and happily play by himself for a while. He generally wants to do whatever Milo is doing so lots of action figures (superheroes, Star Wars, Transformers) but he also loves anything Toy Story and he adores the Wiggles (we have to listen to the Wiggles every meal time). He's a bit obsessed with the iPad/iPhones and loves a few apps like Monkey Preschool Lunchbox, but mostly watches videos (like the Wiggles) or looks at the photos. He still loves his baby and the pram, he loves his ride ons, loves 'helping' in the kitchen. He's loves books and right now is quite into puzzles and colouring.
Milestones: Says 'Mama', 'Dada', 'ta' and Nick thinks he's saying 'look' but not sure about that one. He is very late at talking but he has no issues with communication and comprehension - he can 'tell' you exactly what he wants and can understand complex instructions. (Milo was pretty late talking and so was I). He is very good on his feet - running up and down the house and walking pretty long distances (to nursery, to the park, to the shops). He's just gone up to the 2-3s room at nursery and he loves it - he's super excited to get there in the mornings (they are at nursery 3 days - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) and apparently goes about his day happily engaging in every activity. He seems to really enjoy the stimulation of the older room.
Teeth: Has all except the last 4 back molars. His teeth are much closer together than Milo's - hoping this is not a result of the thumb-sucking and simply that they have a different shaped jaw.
Other: He is still incredibly wilful and can be completely irrational at times (particularly after waking) but generally he is happy, affectionate, easy-going and completely charming. He smiles at people on the street until they smile back and the nursery staff never have a bad word for him. When he watches TV he always wants to sit as close as possible to another person with one arm around their neck, twirling their hair (like in this picture with Milo). He's still sucking his thumb, maybe slightly less so than before, but it's definitely something we will need to address soon. He is very quick with a hug and a pat if someone is upset or he accidentally hurts you. His hugs are awesome - he really holds on with two very firm arms around your neck. If Nick's not home and I'm cooking in the kitchen, he always brings toys to the kitchen to play with (sometimes making multiple trips). His favourite nursery rhymes are 'Roly Poly' and 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and he does all the actions. He insists that I do his bedtime, though he's fine with Nick doing bath and on the odd occasion I'm not there for bedtime, he's fine with Nick reading the stories too. He squeals with delight when he sees friends, especially if we haven't seen in a while (like Sarah & Justin and Alex Barclay) and immediately gives big hugs.
Favourite thing: Lots of things - like the way he will look for me in the house, yelling 'Ma!Ma!? Ma!Ma!?' The way he gives me the biggest hugs after nursery but keeps looking back into my face, like he's making sure it's really me and that I'm as happy to see him as he is to see me. The way when I put him in his cot at night, he grabs my hand and rolls over, holding it underneath him. And how can I forget his happy dance?
Henry: 13 months, 1 week, 2 days
Henry: 15 months, 1 week, 5 days
Henry: 16 months, 1 week, 2 days
Henry: 18 months, 2 weeks, 5 days
