Hunter: 17 Months

Sometimes you just gotta let them play with a hair bush and a skin cream box...

You guys, parenting a toddler is DAMN HARD.  He is belligerent if he doesn't get his way.  He's LOUD.  He is argumentative.  He cries for no apparent reason and trying to get him dressed (or change his diaper) is like wrestling a crocodile.

Basically, he's like the drunk version of myself.

Between temper tantrums involving thrown sippy cups, we did actually have some sweet moments this month.

First off, Hunter shared his second Valentine's Day with his very special lady friend, Jenna.

I made them matching shirts that said "My Heart Belongs to Jenna/Hunter".  They were the hit of daycare.
Jenna's mom, Cara, sent me this picture later in the day-- their first picture together (Jenna was maybe a week old and Hunter is about 9 weeks) and the current picture from Valentine's Day

 Sing with me now.. we're still havin' fun and you're still the one...

Speaking of Jenna, apparently at nap time, the two love birds have to be separated  because their talking and giggling is disturbing the other children.

  

         

Ahh.  Young Love.

This month, Hunter has also really taken an interest to JEGs' guitars.  He has them hanging in the man cave/playroom/ guest room/ room I throw random crap into.  Hunter will point to them and say "taaar??  taaar??"  and JEGs will let him strum some chords or Huntface dances along while JEGs plays.

His obsession with all things motor-vehicle continues.  This is the most opened page of his favorite book My First Words

His other favorite books are Miss Spider's ABC's and (go figure) Miss Spider's New Car.  We read them no less then 15 times at bedtime.  

His vocabulary continues to grow;  we've added 'door', 'book' and 'walk' to the list.  He also kind of says 'waffles' but it comes out 'wahwah'.  Close enough for me.  He also has this amazing ability to say words once, and then never utter them again, such as 'stroller', cinnamon  and 'Uncle Mike'.  

Last month I posted on my Facebook page, asking for remedies for eczema.  Hunter has it really bad on both of his ankles, knees and calves-- to the point it keeps him up at night.  I tried switching his bath soap from Johnson & Johnson to Aveeno, and we've used every kind of overnight creme we can think of.  It's gotten bad enough that we had to take him to a dermatologist.  He's on a regiment of antibiotics  and a super strong medicated creme for two weeks and then a slight less strong medicated creme for two weeks until we go back to check up on his progress.  Here is hoping it works, because listening to that little boy itch his legs over the monitor at night kills me a little bit inside.  

Little Dude,

  I'm not gonna lie, this is a tough age-- you are really giving Mommy and Daddy a run for their money.  But between the frustration and tears (from both parties) we know deep down that we have the sweetest little punk on the block.  And we love you for it.

Hummus cracker in the hair:  all the rage on the Paris runways

Always&Forever,
  Mommy