Cal at 15 Months

How is it that Cal is already 15 months old?  He is very much a toddler now and much of that babyness has all but disappeared.

A lot of exciting (and yet bittersweet) stuff has happened the past few weeks.  Here are some snippets:

* After getting mostly healthy, with the exception of another pesky ear infection, Cal is sleeping better!  He still wakes up maybe one time a night. That usually occurs around 3am but sometimes it's been as late as 5am.  Can I say how much this has helped me?  And Cal?  He is just so much happier now that he's sleeping.

* A lot of the reason he isn't waking up as much is because we have stopped giving him a bottle.  His pediatrician wanted him off the bottle by 15 months and we have succeeded!  We did the transition completely cold turkey.  Last week, we just stopped giving him his bottle and if he happened to wake up in the middle of the night, we would try and give him a sippy cup of milk.  He threw quite a few tantrums during this process but he seems to understand now.  We don't even say the word "bottle" around him anymore because he instantly throws a fit.

* Speaking of tantrums, my goodness, this child is strong-willed!  If there is something he wants, he NEEDS IT NOW and if he doesn't get it, honest to God, he throws himself on the floor, arches his back and screams.  I need to video it because it's seriously hysterical.  He will do this if he doesn't get his way, happens to see a bottle in the cabinet, or Jack takes a toy from him.  Or if you look at him the wrong way, breathe the wrong way or just are generally in the area (not really on those last ones).

* His eating has gotten MUCH better.  We were worried about Failure to Thrive, but in the past couple of months, his eating has gotten back on track and he has gained at least a pound.  All that sickness must have taken a toll on him but he's doing better.  Some of his favorite foods are pouches (he loves to squeeze them himself and he's very clean about it - no mess!), blueberries, cheese, frozen yogurt bites, Nutella and eggs.

* Cal is talking quite a bit.  Of course, it's not very understandable for anyone other than me and Jason, but we have figured out quite a few words: 

Ball (bah)
Bye bye (buh buh)
Kitty (key)
Doggy (gee)
Mama
Dada
Juice (sshhh)

There are quite a few more but those are the memorable ones right now.

* He also identifies body parts.  He knows his head, nose, ears and belly for sure.  For belly, he will lift up his shirt and show you his belly.  It's seriously adorable.

* Calvin ADORES his big brother.  If Jack is happy and running around the house, Calvin will mimic him.  He loves playing "come get me" with Jack and will screech with delight.  On the flip side, if Jack upsets him, his little heart breaks and he cries big crocodile tears.   So sad.

Cal continues to be such a sweet, happy baby.  I still call him my baby even though I know he's a toddler now.  He's incredibly sweet, loves his mama and snuggles right up when he's tired.  I truly hope he never loses that sweetness.

I need to be better about taking pictures.  But for now, here is a flashback picture.  Oh my God he is so stinkin' cute.