Lately

Tennyson is 19 months old now. Which means that I’ve procrastinated making an 18 month post for a month now. Make that a month and a week. But I really want to record what Tennyson was up to at this point in his life. Because he’s up to so much. And he’s just so darn cute and I know that at some point in his life, I’m going to want to revisit these days.

So here is what Tennyson has been up to lately.

First off, he hasn’t been up to gaining weight. In fact we just had his doctor’s appointment and he is only 22 pounds. That’s less than the 5th percentile. That also means he has gained a whopping three pounds in the past year. But the doctors aren’t concerned, and really, neither are we. Because he looks like a healthy kid.

The biggest thing we’ve been up to lately is the switch from crib to toddler bed. We made this switch a week ago and I’m still getting over the shock of just how easy the change was. He’s never once gotten out of his bed at night or at naps. He sleeps just as much (if not more) than he ever did in his crib.

Plus, he loves it. He knows it is a big kid bed. And he’s wanted to be a big kid since he was born. It’s one of those quirks I love about him. But I do want to teach him eventually that it’s okay not to grow up so fast. Because he is growing up way too fast.

Tennyson still isn’t really talking. I’m trying my hardest not to worry yet, because everyone says I shouldn’t. Most days, I’m really good at convincing myself to not worry and convincing myself he’ll talk eventually. But I have my weak days, too, where I panic that he will never ever learn to talk. It’s one of those unrealistic mom fears that I know isn’t true, but creeps in. I know it isn’t true because he does have a few words.

He says “mom” and “dad” (although I can never seem to recognize that is what he is saying… but third parties seem to be able to point it out to me when he is doing it).

He says “dog”. This is his most reliable word. It’s the word that I use on those days I have to work extra hard to convince myself that he will talk. Because he knows what a dog is. And he can call it by name. And someone who will never talk can’t do that.

He can say “mon” which means Monsters, sometimes. Sometimes it means Toy Story. Sometimes it just means we aren’t handing him the ipod fast enough.

We are working on “vroom, vroom” and “elmo”.

Right now, Tennyson loves his mom. I’m soaking up every minute of it. Because I know the day will come when I’ll want him to lay his head on my shoulder or climb on my lap to read a book, and he just won’t want to.

I’m also soaking up the fact that he is overeager to clean. I do my best to be patient and not pay attention to the fact that he usually gets more finger prints on the mirror than he wipes off. Or that it takes me 30 minutes to vacuum what would usually only take me 5 if he weren’t helping me push the vacuum.

 

I’m sure he’ll be a good cleaner for the rest of his life, though, because if there is one thing Tennyson hates more than anything, it is a mess. We are actually really struggling right now teaching him to self feed, because more often than not, his attempts to feed himself end up in a tantrum because everything is a mess. Sometimes, this borders on OCD. If he gets a drop of water on his hands, he can’t move on to do anything until he is absolutely positive his hand is once again dry and clean.

Tennyson still loves his ipod. He has a few new games that he adores. Including an Elmo book that we splurged and spent a whole dollar on. But games are only fun for so long, and eventually he ends up watching Monsters or Toy Story. He’s getting to the point where he can perfectly navigate and get anywhere he wants. He can even go into Netflix and find Sesame Street. He’s smart.

 

Besides that, Tennyson spends most his day playing and adventuring. He finds new activities every day for his toys. Sometimes we stack them into piles. Sometimes we carry them all from one side of the room to another. Sometimes we just empty out buckets and then leave the room.

Sometimes, he just tries to find creative new ways to sit on the couch. Or to climb up on our furniture.

But we have fun, the three of us. I’m really going to miss this stage we are in right now. Tennyson is my buddy. He is quirky and fun and even when I’m trying to be stern or angry, he makes me laugh. He has an infectious smile. Mike calls it his “smiling eyes”. But when he’s smiling, you can’t help but smile. We are happy. And life is good.