Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day!! We had a great day here. We had a big lunch around 1:00 and have been watching football ever since. I decided to go easy on myself this year and did about half of the "fixins" homemade and half store-bought. Lunch came pretty close to Will's nap time so he was only with us for ten or fifteen minutes of the meal. He had a little bit of turkey and a dinner roll but not much else. He usually eats four or five small meals a day so I wasn't too surprised that he wasn't that hungry. We are planning on enjoying the rest of the four-day weekend and will NOT be venturing out to the stores tomorrow. Thank goodness for online shopping!

We've had a pretty busy week. On Monday Will had his 18-month well-baby checkup. Overall he had a clean bill of health. He is 25 lbs, 11 oz (44th percentile), 35 inches (97th percentile) and his head circumference is 49 cm (87th percentile). Just as I suspected...tall and skinny with a big head. He has met all of the 18-month milestones except one- I guess he's supposed to be able to point to four different body parts when they are named. He can do nose and sometimes head and tummy but no others. That's mostly my fault since we haven't been focusing too closely on learning body parts so I don't think it means much that he can't name four. He has met all other milestones, even those related to language. Several of the 18-month milestones he met a long time ago, such as stacking four or more blocks and kicking/throwing balls.

The only thing the doctor said we need to work on is the pacifier issue. The doctor said we were supposed to work with him to give it up at 12 months but that was news to me. We've decided to take it away after Christmas so that we're not making any big changes before we travel for the holidays. So I think Will gets another month reprieve and then his New Year's resolution will be to ditch the pacifiers.

Last weekend we put up our Christmas tree and other decorations. Will loves looking at the tree and has been doing a great job not touching the ornaments. He still has occasional lapses and sometimes I hear suspicious bells tinkling when I'm across the room. But usually he doesn't touch. But he often has a very visible internal struggle about touching the ornaments. He'll stare at them, reach for them, then pull his hand back. And repeat. Like he really wants to touch but he knows he's not supposed to.

He does touch one of our nativity sets that we have within his reach. We have a nicer one that David's Aunt Elaine got us for Christmas last year that is out of his reach, but the one he plays with is more kid-friendly. He likes arranging the scene in various ways. At the moment, all of the figurines are lined up on the shelf, in a single file line- all facing the same direction. I call it the Nativity conga line. He also picks up the camel from the scene and says "moo!".

Will has used a couple of new words lately. The most important is that he has learned to say "down" when he is done eating and wants out of his high chair or booster seat. It is very helpful because sometimes when he would fuss at meal time I had a hard time telling when he was done and when he wanted more food. So now it's helpful that he says "down" when he is done. He is also working on saying "diaper." I have heard the word "diaper" very clearly once from him. The rest of the time it's more like "biper" or "boppa" but he means "diaper." He can identify an "owl" in one of his books and will say "owl." And, of course, when David is gone he often says "da da home."

In sadder news, Will's allergies and eczema seem to be getting worse. Last week we spent a lot of time outside. Will absolutely loves being outdoors and playing in the backyard. I started to notice that when we'd come inside, he'd be rubbing his eyes. Then his skin started to get more irritated, including his face, which we haven't had trouble with in a long time. Long story short, the pollen is getting really bad around here and our backyard has a ton of landscaping that is awful for allergies. So we're being diligent about giving him his Zyrtec and the doctor said we're only supposed to take him outside for a little while at a time and only between the hours of 11:00 and 3:00, when the pollen is not so bad. Poor little guy! We've been trying to stay out of the backyard and go to the playground instead.

On Tuesday we went to "Story Train" at the library. It's sort of like a story time with extra activities. Will is still a little young for it- it's supposed to be for 2-3 year olds. But he seemed to have a good time. He heard a couple of Thanksgiving stories and learned a couple of songs. We didn't stay for any of the "stations" with activities but I think Will had a good time. It's a weekly activity so we'll probably go back some time.

Will has become a funny little mimic. He often copies what we do and how we do it. Once while walking to the park he started walking with his hands behind his back because I was doing it. He blows on his food after we blow on his food before giving it to him. When he gets a hold of kleenex or a paper towel sometimes he tries to wipe my mouth like I do for him after he eats! He also likes to try to put our shoes on our feet- usually when he wants to go outside. He's pretty funny.

Nothing big planned for this weekend. We're going to relax!!

Happy Turkey Day!