15-Month Check-up and Never-ending Dr. Seuss

Tyler went for his 15-month check-up this morning.

In the last 3 months, he has grown almost 2 inches and is now 31 1/4 inches tall. His head circumference is 48.8 cm.

However, he LOST 4 ounces and now weighs only 22 pounds. We're going to see a nutritionist and a specialist who can help him learn to eat mushy foods.

He is in the 75th percentile for head circumference, the 50th percentile for height, and the 25th percentile for weight.

(To see his previous stats, click here.)

On the way to the doctor's office, Tyler got a little fussy. After several renditions of "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider," I tried to think of something else to "sing" to him. I ran through the alphabet song a few times and still needed something else.

One of his favorite books right now is a Dr. Seuss book, and so I tried to remember bits of it. Believe it or not, I have memorized the whole book from

"Big A, little a, what begins with A? Aunt Annie's alligator. A, a, A"

all the way to

"Big Z, little z, what begins with Z? A Zizzer-zazzer-zuzz, as you can plainly see."

And now, after reciting it at least 7 times, I can't get it out of my head!!!

"Don't Chew on the Door!"

Isn't it funny the things you say as a parent?

More Signs

Tyler has learned several new signs since my last update.

He now sticks his tongue out for "frog." (I'm not sure he knows what a frog is, but he sure is cute sticking his little tongue out. Sometimes he gets carried away and walks around for several minutes — tongue in, out, in, out...)
He wiggles his fingers for "caterpillar." (He's supposed to wiggle one, but I guess that is hard when you're 14 months old!)
He points up and kind of moves his hand in a circle for "fan."
He points out and shakes his whole arm adamantly for "down." (He uses this when he wants to get down from the high chair, get out of the bath, and once when he climbed on a shelf and got stuck!)
He pats his head for "hat."
Of course, when I tried to teach him to pant for "hot," he patted his head for "hat." :)

He is also trying to say "diaper." If he learns to say "diaper" before he says "Mama," I might put him up for auction.

Losing the Baby-Proofing Battle

My parents recently told me that they can no longer use their baby gates because Tyler climbs right up them!

My grandmother attempted to baby-proof her kitchen cabinets in anticipation of our visit on Sunday. She took some thick drapery "thread" and tied all the cabinet doors together. But Tyler is taller than she realized. When he couldn't open the ones right in front of him, he reached up and opened the ones just above his head!

This morning, Tyler figured out the child-proof cabinet doors in my bathroom. At first, I thought it was a fluke, so I pushed the door closed and I watched him pull it open a little, stick his finger and and push down on the baby-proof catch. He thought this was really neat and proceeded to practice opening the door about 20 times before he started pulling things out of the cabinets.

Have any of you used the magnetic cabinet door locks? I'm thinking about buying some.

A couple of hours later, I caught him chewing on the twine that Brian used to "Tyler-proof" the pantry. (Meaning Tyler took the loop of twine off the pantry doors and used it as a teether.) Luckily, he was too busy slobbering on the twine to investigate the pantry. He made quite a mess last week!

Shock & Awe

PB232792.JPG
Originally uploaded by Tyler Lackey

Tyler was in awe of the slides at the playground. He loved them! Our easy-going little guy even pitched a fit when we left because he wanted to keep sliding.

One problem: sliding on a cold day results in some serious static electricity. It didn't seem to bother Tyler but Brian and I got tired of being shocked!

For more pictures of Tyler at the playground, visit our flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tyler_lackey/

Blueberries and Kisses

Tyler was so cute today that we got out the video camera twice!

First, he can almost say "blueberry" -- but he was doing better before we got out the camera. I decided to share the video anyway because he's so cute covered in blueberries!

Also, Tyler learned to imitate the sound of a kiss by smacking his tongue against the top of his mouth. I imagine we're in for some pretty sloppy, wet kisses before too long!

Miscellaneous Updates

Play Kitchen Poll: The results were 50/50 as to whether you think we should buy Tyler a play kitchen for Christmas. To those of you that voted "no," I hope you feel guilty when you see how much fun Tyler has with a play kitchen! (That is, IF I can talk Brian into buying one...)

Language Update: This morning, Tyler was watching a Baby Einstein video that has a section showing different fruits. I told him what each fruit was when it popped up on the screen.

ME: Apple

TYLER: aaa-TAH!

ME: Banana

TYLER: nanana

ME: Peach

Tyler did the sign for "pig"!

Mischief Update: Brian gets frustrated that we have toys all over the floor. (I don't blame him. It is frustrating to trip and stub your toes all the time.) Anyway, in an attempt to manage all the toys, I put a laundry basket in the dining room (which we use as a play room). It has been in there for a couple of weeks and worked rather well. Yesterday, Tyler decided he'd rather play with the makeshift toy box rather than with the toys. He's always liked playing with the empty laundry baskets so I didn't think much of his carrying it around. Until I caught him standing on the upside-down laundry basket helping himself to everything on my kitchen counter.