Sparks Fly: 15 months

So... it's been a while since I've blogged, so I thought I would share some updates. It's been 3 whole months since I've sat down and done this. I think that officially makes this my longest dry spell with blogging. Life has been busy since August. L has gone from a baby to an emerging toddler. I feel like there should be a name for this in-between stage. I have, for a long time, felt like the 1-2 year transition is a little awkward - not quite baby, not quite toddler, aspects of both. Ah well. L has gotten significantly longer. I don't know his actual stats because we haven't done our 15 month check quite yet, but he's definitely losing the baby rolls. What's so funny about this is that clothes that were too small for him last spring (ie pants that didn't fit over his chunky thighs) now fit perfectly! I had this impression that he would continue to fly through the sizes but he has been in 12-18 months since last March. The pants are just now getting a little short in that size. L continues to be a crawling and cruising machine. His cruising game has recently been showing some pretty advanced moves like letting go for a few seconds and transferring really well around and between pieces of furniture. I still think walking may be a little ways off, but possibly by Christmas? I do think he'll be walking before 18 months (which is really the cutoff for physical therapy to ramp back up). But, he'll only do it when he's ready. He said his first word last month - "Dog!" It should be noted we don't actually have a dog, but we do have a lot of stuffed dogs. I was excited to hear him talk. We have also been teaching him signing and he can sign - "eat", "all done", "thank you", "baby", "bye bye", and "more". Since I figured he would be a slightly late talker, the signs have been really helpful for being able to communicate with him. I highly recommend. He continues to point to show things that are interesting. He gained a few more teeth, bringing our count up to 13. He has one eye tooth, but I expect the other ones will come in soon. He takes either 1 or 2 naps a day. He usually only sleeps once at daycare, but usually gets tired mid morning at home, so we give him 2 naps at home. So he typically gets 4 days of 1 nap and 3 days of 2. I was kind of stressing about this, but it usually goes better if I just follow his cues for when he's sleepy during the day. I think daycare is just too exciting to sleep more than once. Oh - speaking of which! We found a daycare and L has been attending since September. It's an in home place with one provider and 1-2 helpers. We like it and L has definitely adjusted well to it. I think I would like a more structured setting when he gets a little older, but it is good for now. L's immunity is working hard. I think he's been sick with one thing or another since September and pretty much always has a runny nose and a cough. I have brought him to the pediatrician who mostly shrugged and said, "yea, he's in daycare." Oh well.

In other news, we bought a car in early September. It's J's new car, and he really likes it. It's a Jeep, so we have a lot more space than my sedan, which is nice for trips. Last month, I started a new job, myself. It has been good so far, but still the early days. I am still working part time, but work 4 days instead of 3. It's been an adjustment, but I think going pretty well. I do love my new commute and my office is right on a pond, which is way prettier than my last workplace. :) I have been quilting and recently taught myself to crochet. It's been fun to learn and make some new things.

I think that's most of the main updates.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words... here are some pictures from the last 3 months...