Babies Make Four: 20 Months

Holy Cow! Luke is 20 months old, 4 months shy from being two. It's crazy in my mind that two years ago we were busy preparing for his arrival and the time has went by like sand through our fingers.

We've spent Luke's 20th month on this earth getting ready for Christmas. In order to not be quite as harried as last year, I made a schedule of what I wanted to accomplish (See Santa: Check, Bake Cookies: Check & Check). Last weekend, I made my grandma's Kifli and some Rolo cookies. I shared with Luke's kind daycare teachers and while we had many cookies left over, Dillon and I have snacked on them almost every evening with only a few left. I may need to get some Tollhouse Cookies for Santa. Woops.

Luke has made some pretty cool developments this month, including getting several new teeth. This makes him a little difficult to handle, but we've made it through to the other side and a pretty well-behaved baby. That being said, this month, we've also started with some disciplinary techniques to help Luke learn his boundaries. Time outs in the playpen for two minutes seem to reset him when he's having a moment and we return with a happier, more loving baby. It's also working to just threaten a time out. Usually, when he's being unruly I can say "You don't want a time out, do you? Then let's put your jacket on..." and it works. Parenting score!

He loves getting into the tree and the presents and has only opened one. We explained that we have to wait until Christmas day and that seemed to do the trick. We've also been counting down to Christmas with our Advent Calendar and while I'm sure he doesn't understand the concept of numbers or counting or even Christmas at this point, we giggle every morning as we move the counter closer to Christmas.

We've also started a slight obsession with Thomas the Train. Every morning while I get ready, Luke eats his breakfast in his high chair and watches a show. I turned on Thomas one day and it was over from there. He dances to the song and is enthralled by the engines and how useful they are. ;-) I go to work every morning humming that darn song.

We went shopping this weekend and went by the Thomas the Train section in the toy aisle and his eyes lit up. A small train was purchased and you would have thought it was the best thing ever. He carries it with him everywhere and even sleeps with it beside his head at night. I see a 2nd birthday party in our future with a Thomas the Train theme.

Happy 20 months, little boy! You sure do brighten our days!