16 Months!

Two weeks late....again!!  I'm starting a trend here but perhaps I'll post Month 17 on time.  At any rate...Drew is 16.5 months and continues to develop into a toddler right before our eyes.  Our chair pictures are getting harder and harder.  He continues to amaze us with this growth.  Our communication is coming along....both verbally and non-verbally.  He can say all the same words as last month, but now he says them correctly in context.  He has also learned how to sign "please" and he does it well.  He still has his own version of "all done" which cracks people up to no end.  He is eating well and becoming more adventurous with his food choices.  Today he ate grapes....such a good fruit but I was worried about the skin....so I cut them into smaller pieces and peeled them.....he ate them just fine but continued to eat the ones off my plate which weren't peeled.  Sweet....one less thing to do when preparing his meals!!  Fruit is a favorite right now but it usually isn't difficult to get him to eat anything.  Especially if he is hungry.  We have taken the approach (because we pick our battles) to let him eat or not....no fights, (hopefully) no tears....if he pitches a fit we do one of two things....1) take him out of his high chair because obviously he isn't hungry enough or 2) ignore the whines and leave whatever we gave him on his tray.  It will usually get eaten or thrown to the dogs.  If the latter occurs (dogs), then we go to option 1.  Little man is seriously on the move now.  Walking everywhere and thinks he can handle stairs like we do.  He grabs the rail (or tries) and "walks" down.  Scary for me because I'm not sure he realizes he can't quite do it on his own.  it won't be long though.  He has a serious love affair with water right now.....we have soaked many outfits this month because of his baby pool, water hose, a bucket, whatever......he is all in immediately.  He continues to be a holy terror on the changing table with ME and only ME.  Lays perfectly still for everyone else but kicks over to his belly and stands up before I can even think of getting his dirty diaper off.  My boy might be a wrestler when he's older.  He has also "found himself" recently and its a task to keep his hands/toys/whatever off of it.  The funniest (although I try not to laugh) part is when he giggles about it.  Boys.  He has been whiney lately and I blamed teething last month....considering he has no new teeth, I have to find another excuse.  Although his canines are creeping because his gums are so white!  I think he is strong willed like both of his parents so the whining is purely a battle of wills at this point.  His 16th month has been super  busy so I'll leave you with pictures and start another post on our month!