17 months 1.12.12

Wells Fargo Stage Coach at
MUSC Children's Hospital 

So, this is a 17 month-ish post.  Yes, I'm a little behind in blogging.  Between Tillman, work, and everyday life, the blog has taken a backseat for about a month.  Our family has been well and no doctor visits for Tillman this month.  His ears tubes are serving their purpose.

See the dog on top the Stage Coach?

Tillman loved the ride!

17 months brought more independence to Tillman.  He is officially "off" the bottle and is eating a lot more foods.  He sure loved his bottle, and in hindsight he would not eat as much solid foods and wait for his 8oz of milk.  Now that he's not getting that, he is eating away (in fact, he doesn't drink much milk at all. I was depressed to have to throw away 3/4 of a gallon of milk last week since it expired before T drank it).

Nick and T by the BIG truck!

He is learning how to use a spoon and feed himself.  He does very well with finger food (or anything that he can pick up and shove in!).  The other night we fed him green beans and potatoes, and he ate the entire can! Yesterday, he at 2 bananas for dinner. He will eat veggies and fruit, but don't get me wrong, if he had his choice he'd eat Cheerios and Ritz every meal.

Wild man with a bump on his head
and his hair in need of a cut!

With his independence we've tried to work with him to tell us what he wants instead of pointing and waving in the direction of the item (his actions remind me of how Curious George acts on all of his videos when he only points to get things).  This has caused a melt down or two at our house.  Tillman will point at what he wants, but his pointing isn't clear.  He points do the side of he room.  We've tried to guess and get him what we think he is requesting, but after a few tries he gets pretty darn out of sorts with us and then it doesn't matter what he originally wanted because now he is upset...and when I mean upset; I mean UPSET!

Tillman checking out the SEWE brochure

So, the talking and words are coming.  This has really started to happen over the past couple of weeks.  Now, he does have to be in the mood to talk instead of point, but I we are making progress.  More words from Tillman will equal a happier boy and parents.
He knows:
Nigh Nigh (Night Night)
Nana (Banana)
Bye Bye with a wave
Dada
Momma
Mo (More)

Tillman's motor skills are improving as well.  I mentioned him using a spoon (would love to get him a child fork), but he is also a very good climber!  He is getting up some stairs without crawling, he can climb into our kitchen table chairs unassisted (yikes), and he is RUNNING (all over the place)!

Enjoying a grape juice sample from the
Made in SC tent at SEWE

Weekend outings these days have to be thought out, as we can't just strap him in a stroller and expect him to be good for hours.  The stroller is a necessity when we go out and about, and Tiny T has an endless cup of Cheerios to accompany his ride. The photos in the post are from the Southeaster Wildlife Expo and the Wells Fargo Stage Coach visit at MUSC Children's Hospital.  Tillman 17th month also included a trip to his cousin, Colin's, basketball game and a trip to CiCi and JRS's house.