Callum turned 19 months old right before the Thanksgiving weekend. If you'll recall, I was also laid up from throwing out my back (again) for the couple of weeks leading up to that, and Jon had a small minor short (ha!) little trip to Europe, at the same time. It all now feels like ages ago - and I can't believe I even made it through those crazy few weeks, to be honest :)
So, I intentionally skipped most of my blogging, including Callum's 19 month report, poor guy. That didn't stop him though - oh hell no! He definitely gave me a run for my money. ;-)
Then, before I knew it, we were upon his 20 month milestone but DAMN if poor Callum didn't get gypped again, this time due to poor Mama recovering from those messy painful epidural injections, preparing for a last minute thrown together, but very fun, birthday party for Logan, and then the fun that leads up to Christmas! :)
Callum, determined not to be held back by his mama's procrastination, disorganization and pitiful excuses of a mother to her second child, continued to grow strong all those days and months. It's like he doesn't even need, nor CARE, that his mama is posting about him.
Oh but he will one day, I'm sure. ;-)
Callum really tests our patience every single day. He is VERY defiant and mischievous. He LOVES to get into trouble. He has perfected the twinkle-in-his eye look as he smiles crookedly just before leaping onto you in a full body slam or throwing himself off the chair or scrambling up on top of the table or reaching for the knives on the counter top (yes, KNIVES) and moving them aside to get to the candy. You name it. If he's going to get into trouble for doing it, he's right there in the middle of it.
He picks on his big brother too! It's amazing. He pushes and shoves at Logan if Logan is in his way (or if Logan is playing a game that Callum wants to play or see instead). He pulls on Logan's hair and then the minute Logan cries out to tell him to stop (or complains to me about it), he stops pulling on his hair and starts petting his head instead. SERIOUSLY. The kid is dangerously smart and mischievous.
He loses interest in the age appropriate toys we have for him and instead wants to play with every toy in the house that's meant for a 4-5 year old. And, most of the time it's really sweet because you often find the two boys, head tops kissing as they're bent over playing on the floor together. But sometimes, because those toys are meant for someone who's much older and more flexible or nimble or FILL IN THE BLANK HERE, it means he can't get the Lego pieces to fit together if they break apart and not only do you have the 4 year old brother whaling in the background about how his brother just broke his rocket ship, sword, tower, car, FILL IN THE BLANK HERE but you also have a young toddler who refuses to let you help him fix the said toy, and instead jerks his arms/hands that are holding the toy, in the opposite direction of you, twists around so you can't reach them, and yells at NO! MINE! and then flees the scene.
And, if you are quicker on the draw than he's expecting, and you are able to pry that precious little toy from his death tight grip, he will scream and holler because he's so frustrated that he can't figure out how to fix it himself but really really really REALLY wants to.
One of the biggest accomplishments we passed in these past couple of months was getting Callum to finally sleep through the night. At his 18 month check up, while our pediatrician empathized with our frustration and understood why we had had the set backs we had (due to Callum's constipation etc. he kept waking up at odd hours of the night), he told us this wasn't really a young baby phase any more but certainly a habit he was growing into that we needed to break.
We absolutely agreed and after a number of tough nights, we finally got him to break the habit. He still has his off nights where he wakes up due to a big poop, or a bad cough, or getting his feet, legs and knees caught between the crib rails because he's trying to climb out.... but for the most part, he's down for the night once we put him down. THANK GOD for that. Jon and I are still pretty exhausted due to everything else going on, but not nearly as bad as before!
He certainly understands A LOT more than he can still speak, but he's picking up new words every day and that's also been so much fun for us. He's mastered stairs, up is better than down but he's improving on the down too now that he's stronger to actually hold himself up as he steps down. And he's learning how to throw - it's mostly a side arm throw right now but every now and again he hits his target with an overhead pitch that's pretty quick. He LOVES that, as you can imagine.
He's learning to wash his own hands, drink from a regular cup (the school starts with a small dixie sized cup) and is very good with his fork and spoon. He eats CONSTANTLY and really enjoys the independence of eating on his own, unless I sit down at the table next to him, at which point he tells me he's all done, then climbs up into my lap (when I unbuckle him from his high chair) and continues to eat his meal from my lap. He does this so frequently now that it's becoming one of those habits I'll need to break very soon, but most of the time I just don't have the energy to fight it, particularly when he'll eat quietly on my lap!
Callum is very proud of pointing out his (or your) body parts - eyes, nose, mouth, ears, belly button, etc. Whenever we change his diaper now his curious hands are now also exploring his butt and penis (for better or worse)! While we haven't been too pushy with the potty training, I've noticed that he is starting to recognize when he has peed or pooped. He doesn't yet recognize (or, at least, he doesn't yet tell us) when he has to go, but he's good at pointing it out after the fact. It's exciting to think that we could be moving along into potty training some day soon and rid of the diapers once and for all! ;-)
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