So what is Porter-P up to at the age of sixteen months? So much, he is just full of so much personality and wonder and entertainment. I think I really like the age 'sixteen months' although I have forgotten everything about Porter's siblings at this age. (Oh wait, maybe I should go back and read their blog posts to remember? Cecelia's and Truman's reminders of what to discuss in this post are very much appreciated, Julia of yesteryear).
New favorite words from Mister Verbal? 'Mine' and 'bite', as in 'that toy is miiiiiiiiine' and 'please give me a bite of every single food you are eating, mom.' Also, he gets imaginary owies called 'wowies' many times every day. He will scrunch up his nose, usually points to his wrist or arm and says, 'wow-eeeee' in a very sad tone. If I kiss his pretend owie Porter will be satisfied and carries on with whatever activity he was doing prior to the realization of an owie. Perhaps having two older siblings that are still obsessed with minor injuries and bandaids has caused Porter to be obsessed as well?
Speaking of pretend, Porter is now officially playing with Cecelia and it sort of makes me want to cry. Just today I caught him following her around the house as she gathered up her baby dolls, she laid them on some pillows, covered them with blankets, and informed us that the babies were sick so please be quiet while they nap. Porter went over to the sleeping baby dolls, kissed one, and then laid down right next to the plastic crew. Cecelia was pleased with his contribution to childcare and he didn't even try to steal the dolls or throw them across the room like he will sometimes do when he interacts with C and T. He doesn't even poke the dolls' eyes as much anymore so obviously he is inheriting the caregiver gene from his parents/Cecelia ;) Cecelia regularly tells me that 'I love Porter SOOOOOOO much,' and then she will border on strangulation with her 'super tight hugs'. Gotta watch that sister, she has a hard time dialing back her emotions at times.
Both Truman and Cecelia are pretty much at the very top of the coolness scale for this kid. He regularly points to pictures of Truman and says 'Tru-Tru'. Cecelia is 'Dee Dee'. Porter wants to be with them, wants to copy them, wants to bother them. Typical sibling stuff, I suppose, and both of the bigger kids eat Porter up and don't seem to mind if he's being a little naughty.
Truman and Porter have a special brotherly bond, as T always wants to kiss Porter goodbye last when we drop him off at school. They like to sit next to each other at the table, Truman likes to make Porter laugh, and Porter returns the favor by fake spitting to get a rise out of his big brother. This is a trick P learned at Truman's school, as all of the Kindergarteners think Porter is the FUNNIEST baby when he spits/blows a long raspberry towards them. He'll do it, then he will smile and wait for the laughter to follow. He might be the class clown of our group someday, this one.
Don't hold me back, bro!
Hard to imagine a day when both of these littles are in school all day but it's coming!
Our three kids, all of the heart eyes
Porter loves to sit on the kitchen counter while I'm preparing food and so far he hasn't taken the plunge to the floor, so we'll enjoy this set up awhile longer. He HAS fallen down three of our stairs though, standing at the top of our basement stairs and ker-plunking down to the first landing. Yeah, going down the stairs is not a skill he possesses just yet and he usually just stands right at the top and leans forward before I yell and grab his hand and attempt to teach him STAIR SAFETY. I trust him to climb up the stairs if I'm following right behind him but I forget that this is an age for many bumps and bruises. Thank goodness for mommy kisses!
Still in a big time mommy phase at sixteen months, too, which seems like it's been going on forever now. Ports will occasionally cry at daycare drop off, gets really angry when I hand him over to Nate or his grandparents, and will arch his back and slam his head into the floor if I attempt to set him down when I can't carry his 25+ pounds any longer. Sometimes when we are driving in the van he will randomly ask, 'Mama? Mama? Mama?' over and over again, just to see if I will respond and assure him that I'm still there. For every time that I feel smothered and touched-out with my baby, there is another time when he will lay his head on my chest, tucking it right under my chin, and I'm a goner. Totally okay with the mommy phase as long as I still get unprompted cuddles, my boy!
We've entered into the phase when Porter loves to have a task. Helping me remove dishes from the dishwasher, throwing away trash that his siblings left behind (i.e. candy wrappers, kleenexes, etc), and even bringing the big kids their shoes are all things he enjoys. Usually he will do something helpful like that and then says 'Day-Dooooo' to himself, meaning 'thank you, Porter, for being so helpful.'
P is crazy for candy ever since Halloween and will whine for 'kay-keeeee' anytime he catches a glimpse of me sneaking some of the candy stash. He is a decent eater of real food, too, but shows preference to yogurt, crusts from other people's sandwiches, pretzels, and crackers. He truly seems to understand most of everything we say to him and will shake his head NO with authority if I ask him to try a food he doesn't want. He has just started to shake his head 'yes' now, too, which is a relief since I wondered if he'd only be capable of saying 'no' to everything in life;)
He attended his first wedding this month, and by 'attended' I mean that he napped in the hotel room during the ceremony and then hung on by a thread during the reception until 9pm. Success, especially considering his vest and tie.
Looks long and lean here!
Was probably teething for most of this month, he now has all of his teeth including all four molars except we are waiting on the four canines. My buddy.
A big fan of PaPa.
Sleeping is fairly spectacular now and his phase of waking up ANGRY seems to be dwindling a bit. Bedtime for Porter is at 7:00 or maybe 7:30 pm and he loves to read books with mommy, we brush teeth, he snuggles with his numerous blankets and says 'nigh-nigh' to me as I walk out of his room. Was thinking about how he doesn't ever take a pacifier, and probably hasn't since he was about three months old. I sure am glad he can self soothe somehow and maybe it's his lovey blankets that help my guy fall back to sleep when he wakes. He will sleep until about 6:30 am most days and seems to hear our alarms if they go off earlier. Nap time is around 12:30 and I'm happy if he sleeps more than two hours, which usually he will accomplish, no problem.
Also likes to sneak in on the big kids' bedtime, too.
He loved having Memaw here to read him books, she is the best
I'm sure there are a lot of other Porter-isms I could include in this post but I want to keep this one fairly brief. He is just the sweetest and we love our Porter-P more than any blog post could describe.
Love you, buddy.
xo Mommy
