Hank: 15 Months

Hank is in his full toddler swing.  He's full of energy (VERY full of energy), and he's always into something.  I find myself needing a nap more than either of the kids come nap time and bed time, but this is such a fun stage I can stand a little sleepiness.  Hank knows so many words, and is adding to his list every day.  I started making note of the words Hank knew right after his first birthday, but very quickly lost count.  His favorite words at the moment seem to be "please" (said when he wants anything), "paci", "daddy", "mine", and "yeah" (said very emphatically while nodding his head).  He's not the clearest of speakers, and seems to prefer enunciating just the first syllable of some words, but I'm confident with a bit more work he'll be speaking more clearly in no time.  He's very chatty, so he gets in lots of practice time.

Hank is very into showing you different parts of his body, and he keeps adding more to his repertoire each week.  He seems to enjoy the praise he gets when he answers a question we give him correctly.  He's also starting to majorly get into playing with his sister.  I often catch him wearing princess jewelry or lovingly hold a baby.  It's a sweet contrast to his usual rough-and-tumble ways and he's so precious when he holds and talks to his babies.  He loves to hug and kiss Lyla, as well as tackle her to the floor and sit on top of her.  She's great and plays along; I can already see the beginnings of a lifetime of friendship between those two.

It's been very entertaining to talk to random strangers when I'm out and about the past few months.  Lyla is small for her age and Hank is so big that people assume they're not more than a year apart.  He's so old looking!  It's fun for me to picture what he's going to look like in another few months if he already is apparently passing for 2 years old when we're out. :)

Unfortunately, Hank is still quite the restless sleeper and wakes up multiple times during the week.  On the upside, sleep training worked well for Hank and sticking to our methods, he can put himself back to sleep after a minute or two most of the time, and if we have to go in, it's usually because of a messy diaper.  It's so nice to have him at the stage where we can go in, change a diaper, hold him for a minute or two, then plop him back in his crib awake and leave with no tears.  I hope he's permanently outgrown the nighttime clinginess!

Hank is still majorly into food.  I swear, sometimes I think he's eating his body weight at mealtimes.  He loves anything pasta-related, peas, bananas, corn, mashed potatoes, oranges, applesauce, raisins, goldfish, any form of cheese, and bread.  I feel bad for him, as his lack of teeth (still holding out with only TWO teeth - STILL!) limits some of what he can break down in that mouth of his, but he's a champ and tries his hardest.

Hank's 15 month appointment went fantastic.  Honestly! He did so great, and the doctor picked up on the fact that Hank has a great sense of humor and is capable of being quite the jokester.  It's amazing to be able to see personality traits show up in such little people.  He's 34 inches tall (100th percentile) and 27 pounds exactly (94th percentile).  He had to get three shots, but he does such a great job with them.  He cries, but he gets over it super quickly and he was in such a good mood the rest of the day.  Maybe he was just relieved that all the craziness of a doctor's visit was over and the next time he'll see a needle is 3 months away.