July 17 = 17months

Photo credit: Brooke Sims

My baby boy is growing so quickly. He now has 11 teeth! 

Look at him - he doesn't think he's a baby. I took the picture above yesterday. I started doing school with the kids this week. We were sitting at the table reading science and going over vocabulary words. Jaxon had to be right in the middle of it with his crayons and paper. He sat there coloring and writing the entire time we were working. 

Between 16 months and 17 months, Jaxon has had an explosion in his vocabulary. He has developed a love of Youtube videos - specifically the Barney I Love You song, the Elmo's World theme song, Dora, and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "hot dog" song. So he now says Elmo, "lala" for Elmo's theme song, I love you, Dora, Hola, backpack, map, and hot dog. He says please, strawberry, book, and diaper. He is also repeating everything. We've been in the habit of saying to him things like "There's the cat. Say cat" without really expecting him to say anything. Well, over the last couple of weeks, he's started repeating words back to us. 

Besides the surge in his language, the only other "milestone" this month is that he is becoming a little less fearful of new people and places. At my sister's baby shower this past weekend, there were a lot of people that Jaxon didn't know. It was also held at my brother's new home, a place Jaxon had never been. A situation like this would normally have Jaxon clinging to me. He's been known to burst into tears when strangers speak to him. However, he did great! He was friendly and happy and really enjoyed himself!

He's a lot of fun, but he's also a lot of work. He is into everything! 

Look at that face! This kid is a MESS!  
Photo credit: Brooke Sims