Month 20 was the month of “NO!”, naked baby, and “NOW!” - the good news is that toddlers are still cute even when yelling "No!” and "Now!” while naked.
This month you got the hang of the concept of possessive proper nouns - a typical conversation with you goes something like this:
Nina: Boots! Nonnee boots! Dada boots! Mama boots!
Sometimes the dogs even get to be part of the fun:
Nina: Cleo eyes! Mama eyes! Dada eyes! BABY EYES!
Unfortunately this is also the month of the tantrum. Your father has shown enormous patience with your tantrums, especially when they start due to be overtired or the fact that your “mean mama” won’t let you nurse.
You are your father’s child in many ways (height, love of breakfast sausage) and on of the most striking similarities is you love for hockey. The love affair started when you saw televised hockey while hanging out with your dad before your bath - once you saw your first live hockey game the infatuation grew. We attended a girls’ hockey tournament at the Traverse City Civic Arena.
In hindsight, small town sporting events are tailor made for toddlers - there are snacks, music, shouting, places to run around, and often a costumed mascot.
This month was also your first live show - this photo is misleading as it is outside Joe Louis Arena. We were NOT attending a hockey game; we were seeing Ovo, the Cirque du Soleil show. You was a trooper and seemed to enjoy the show - you did require a constant stream of snacks, jumping between each parent’s lap, and a little bit of snuggling. We weren’t able to take photos during the show because your mama is stickler for the no photos in the theater rule.
You had a jam packed Christmas - after your Christmas Eve Cirque show, you powered through several hours of an Amboyer/Barnwell family dinner, followed by a full day of opening presents at Grandma and Grandpa Amboyer’s and with Grandma Diane, Uncle Willie, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Shannon.
You understood the concept of opening presents but lost interest quickly once the wrapping paper was destroyed. At one point, you were very excited about a group of presents because Santa was pictured on the paper, however they were not your presents.
You are starting to develop very specific tastes and obsessions. For instance, you love these boots and often refuse to take them off (or put them on the wrong feet). I think your love of these boots also jumpstarted a new set of fine motor skills. In fact, these boots are probably the reason we end up with a naked baby.
Speaking of mornings and evenings, they work best when you stick to a routine. In the morning, when you wake up, you expect to nurse, then ask use to take off your sleep sack by saying, “Sack OFF!”, then run around briefly in the dark before asking for the light to be turned on, and then removing your pajamas, sitting on the potty for under 5 seconds, before we get you dressed and lure you downstairs with the promise of sausages and getting to see Cleo the dog.
At night, your routine is potty, bath, children’s ibuprofen (if you are teething), teeth brushing, pajamas, sack, books, nursing, and nap. We have been spending bath time going over numbers, colors, listing your different relatives, and when needed - discussing the order your bath time routine. For about a week, you insisted upon going through the list of all the things that you would be doing after your bath.
Your play routines have become more complex. You’ve added coloring and drawing with crayons to your daily routine as well as playing in your tent aka “Nonee’s house.” You spend time with your dolly and your very chatty Elmo - one afternoon you set up the scene captured in the above photo. You told use that Elmo and dolly were taking a nap - we were concerned there had been some toy on toy crime that ended tragically.
Books are still the champion of all the toys. You received a lot of toys for Christmas - puzzles, balls, clothes, a set of chunky wood screws and screwdriver, a set of wood food that velcros together so you can “cut” it apart with a wooden knife, sewing cards, a rocking horse, fabric tent, and many, many books.
You have taken several hikes this winter while riding in a hiking pack on your father’s back. We celebrated 2017 with a New Year’s Day hike. You are the least enthused member of the hiking party - it’s highly possible you were napping.
As you can see, you are always well prepared for the weather. You have an impressive array of baby cold weather gear.
You continue to have an eagle eye for swings. You let out a baby banshee wail when you spot swings over a block away, even in freezing cold weather. We’ve learned the hard way that swings are often put away for the winter in Northern Michigan so our new rule is that we never promise swings ahead of time.
Don’t worry kid, only four more months of winter.
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