This year we hosted Thanksgiving and it was a lot of work!

Here was the menu:

• Turkey
• Stuffing/Dressing
• Homemade Gravy
• Homemade Cranberry Sauce
• Mashed Potatoes
• Glazed Carrots
• Green Beans with Caesar Dressing and Crumb Topping
• Creamed Corn
• Creamed Onions
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Rolls
• Pumpkin Pie
• Chocolate Pie

The day before Thanksgiving I got a migraine but was able to rest most of the day which was good. Thanksgiving morning I was getting the Turkey ready (with my mom and sister helping) and Joey texted me (he was upstairs) and said “E just threw up a lot” so I ran upstairs to help. When I saw the big mess all over E and Joey, I yelled downstairs to make sure they were okay and put E in the bath while Joey changed all of his clothes. The rest of the day, E didn’t eat very much but I made sure he drank a lot. I also started praying that nobody else would get sick – especially all of our guests coming.

After E woke up from his nap, he just sat in Opa’s arms – he did not feel well

After Joey took the Turkey out of the oven, Christene, my mom and I hurried and got everything else ready.

I couldn’t have done it without their help! Unfortunately I didn’t get any more pictures of the food. How sad is that? But it all turned out delicious.

Friday E woke up and seemed to be feeling better. I was relieved. Saturday morning Joey threw up and I started to not feel so good. I wanted to cry. Sunday, today, we all seem to be doing a little bit better. Whew. What a weekend!

Here is a video of E playing a new iPad game we got today – listen carefully for his pig noise (that’s a new animal sound he’s learned)

I love that he is starting to match pictures to sounds and really figure out how to play games on the iPad.

Just a few pictures from this week

Today E got a big boy haircut at Cookie Cutters. He got to sit in an airplane and watch Mickey Mouse on TV.

I thought he would enjoy sitting in the airplane but Grandma and I had to hold him in the chair because he wanted to climb out

In the end we were all covered in hair but Amanda did a great job. Grandma and I didn’t realize how much hair he had until she starting cutting it off. He looks like such a big boy now.

The finished product (with E eating a sucker and standing in a playhouse behind a plastic window)

and while eating lunch

We made another appointment for 6 weeks (you save $2 if you book in advance) so hopefully next time he will do a little bit better.

Here is a video of E saying “car”

He just recently started saying “car” and now he says it a lot! Sometimes he says “har” and sometimes he says “car” with a really hard /k/ sound.

I love that he is using more words spontaneously and will answer us when we ask “what’s that?”.

Yay for a growing vocabulary (even if it is mostly CV syllables and not full CVC words – i.e., “ca” for “cat” and “da” for “dog”). I know he will get there eventually but it’s hard being a speech-therapist-mom.

Our attempt to get a picture of me and E today on the stairs

What a stinker!

Here are some fun facts about E at 16 months

He says:
ball, car, go, buh/book, shoe, sa/sock, da/dog, ka/cat, eyes, ow, da/done, hi, cheese
He signs:
keys, please, more, done, phone

He loves to hold keys and stick them into small holes

He also loves to “drive” the car

He will also play with toy cars and make car sounds

He can point to the following body parts:
hair, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, feet/toes, hands, belly button

He loves to read books and can point to pictures when we say “Where’s ___?”. I try not to “test” him too much when we are reading books

He is understanding new words everyday and will sometimes surprise me with what he knows

He loves to go outside

He is a good eater

He has two new teeth on the top (one on each side). We are still waiting for his molars to come in!

He can unlock our apple devices and is getting better at playing his games

He likes to look at himself on camera on my iPhone so I’ve tried to teach him to say “cheese” while he’s looking at himself

He is truly a joy to have in our family.