A Year And A Half! Already?

Peyton and Daddy playing in their first fort together.

Along with our souvenirs, we returned home from Vancouver with a sick kiddo. I'm guessing that licking his hands after fondling the communal pole on the public bus and the exposure to massive amounts of international germs in Vancouver, might have taken it's tole on his immune system. We were due for a sickness. I should feel lucky though because our little guy has only had a couple of runny noses in the past year. And for the first time EVER (well, since he was an infant anyway) he was content to sit still in my arms and rest his head on my shoulder. We never get him to relax like that. Is it wrong that part of me actually enjoyed his time of need?

For the most part Peyton continued to have energy to play and eat, but we did have a couple of rough nights with him. One night I put him down a little after 6. When Steve returned home at 9 that night, he found both of us still awake. Steve managed to get Peyton to sleep - for 1 hour. Around 10 Peyton awoke screaming like we've never heard before, prompting an anxious discussion between Steve and I about going to the hospital. Nothing we did seemed to quiet, calm or soothe him. Finally, we put him on the ground to see what he would do. He quickly ran out of his room. Duh! Causing Steve and I to look at each other and realize - too late - the mistake we may have just made. Of all the places he could have gone to, he chose his highchair. He stood in front of it looking up so I strapped him in it expecting a protest. Surprisingly, for the first time since going to bed (the one hour of sleep aside), Peyton was almost calm. So, what did we do? We left him there.

At this point is was after 10, well after our bedtime. Things weren't exactly going as we were accustomed to having our nights go and we had no further ideas. The present situation seemed about as peaceful as it could be, under the circumstances. With nothing left to do, but go to bed ourselves, that's what we did. We wheeled the highchair, with Peyton strapped inside, to our bedroom, turned out the lights and went to bed. We laid in bed anyway. No one slept for the next hour or so, but we were all quiet. At some point, I told Peyton he needed to sleep in his own bed. He seemed ready and compliant. I picked him up without a struggle and carried him to his room where he proceeded to sleep the remainder of the night without another peep - just an occasional cough or two. He must have needed a little TLC and the upright position seemed to help him get comfortable. Funny thing is, the next day he was delightful. Sleepy. But delightful. Go figure.

Story time - someone looks sleepy!

At his 18 month healthy check-up last Monday, Peyton wasn't completely over the cold/cough. It was, however, still a happy visit since he endured a minimal amount of poking and prodding and enjoyed the usual amount of adoration from the nursing staff we so greatly appreciate. He even escaped without getting any of his vaccinations, for at least another week.

Peyton continues to thrive and it seems he had a growth spurt since his last height and weight check back in December. At 22 pounds and 31 3/4 inches he has gained another few notches on the old percentage charts, that I realize as I'm looking back to his 15 month stats for comparison, have served no purpose except to set our little guy up for a world full of "how do I compare to the next guy?" moments. And since at the present we're dealing with height, lets be honest. Comparisons of height in our family are never a good thing and often end in deflated confidence and memorable quotes like, "It's worse than I thought!" (as in the case of my brother in his early teens at the exact moment he realized that tall in our family was nowhere near the 6 foot mark and professional basketball was probably not going to be in his future).

Whatever his height and weight, we just think he's as adorable as ever! And we most certainly don't need a growth chart or a doctor to tell us that he's learning, changing and growing everyday. He's happy and healthy. Little by little he's sharing with us his independent and free will, clever thinking, spirited humor, likes and dislikes, needs and wants and new ways to do just about everything!

Reading the paper just like Daddy.

Enjoying a day in Seattle and a quick visit at Uncle AJ's.

For the record:
Bedtime is around 6pm and Peyton usually sleeps through the night (occasionally awaking if he can't find his binky).
Binky: As was predicted, every day after the first birthday is an act of encouragement of binky dependency for baby. Vacation, holiday, sickness...there is always a reason not to begin binky weaning. I welcome thoughts and wisdom on this subject. To date, I just keep pretending the binky will never be an issue.
He wakes up around 6am and usually needs 10-20 minutes of quiet playtime in his crib before he's ready to tackle the day.
Most days we still take 2 naps. I'd like to keep it that way for as long as possible. I don't care that 2 naps are shorter than one long nap. I need two breaks in my day.
He has 7 teeth: 2 top, 2 bottom and 3 molars. Odd, but cute. Any day now...that's what we keep saying.

The great escape that wasn't!
The good news is that Peyton can't actually turn the door knob yet.
The bad news is that our front door can trick you into thinking it's closed when it's not. So, note to all family and babysitter's: keep front door locked!