16 Months

Our Weston is 16 months old. I'm having a hard time making the shift and remembering to treat him like a toddler and not a baby. Sometimes when I look at him it catches me off guard because he is already so grown up. He is full of personality and on the move. He started walking while we were in Whistler, just shy of 15 months. He is getting more animated, funny and sassy every day. He screams when he doesn't get what he wants and puts on the charm when he does.

Wes is an incredibly picky eater and will only eat fruit, frozen peas, string cheese, pb&j sandwiches and cottage cheese. He takes pretty much anything else I give him and throws it on the floor without without even considering tasting it. I've read plenty of literature that assures me if I keep offering him new foods he will eventually eat them. They say that it's my job to serve food and his job to decide wether or not he eats it. I do my best to not make a big deal of it but it is extremely frustrating, I really wish he would expand his culinary horizon. Luckily he's a gigantic baby toddler, so I'm sure he won't starve. I'm ready to stop breastfeeding but little Wes is not interested in giving it up, at all. I can't exactly remember how I weaned Owen, so I'm still working on coming up with a plan. Wes is sleeping really well. He wakes up between 6:30-7:30, takes about a two hour nap and goes to bed around 6:30.

Weston's vocabulary seems to be exploding already. His words include "yeah," "bye, bye," Uh, oh," "thank you," "Hi," "Jake," "bye," "all done," "get out," "tickle, "more," "bottle" and "here you go." He's really verbal and makes lots of sounds. He doesn't say "no" but shakes his head very clearly to indicate things he doesn't want. His favorite pass times are playing in the toilet, Jake's water bowl and the diaper pail. He also loves opening and closing the blinds and turning iroomba on and off. He is extremely accident prone and falls all. the. time. There are bruises at various stages of healing on his head weekly. As soon as they clear up, he falls again. And again. He loves to brush his teeth, wave bye bye, snuggle with his parents and give kisses.

As Weston has become more opinionated, the sibling quarrels have commenced. Owen and Wes spend a fair amount of their day wanting what the other sibling has and crying if and when they can't have said object. The screaming makes me crazy. It's a tough stage. Parenting with two little people's opinions and feelings to take into account is not for the faint of heart.

Glennon Melton, an author that I love, talks about the two different types of time-- choronos and kairos. Choronos is the physical time, the clock that we live by. She describes kairos as God's time, those moments where time stands still and you feel utterly blissful. I think about this often as I go through my days. They can be long and exhausting or they can fly by full of wonder, but no matter what happens in choronos, the moments of karios bring joy to my heart and peace to my soul. They make the sleepless nights and tests of patience undoubtably worth while.

I can certainly imagine life being easier, but not more beautiful. I am incredibly thankful for my emotional toddler and the lessons in patience, love and grace that my boys teach me everyday.