We (and every other family with a toddler) have had these Target boots for ages but because Little Evan has such tiny little feet (he’s wearing a size 5 or 6 shoe at almost 23 months) he never wears them. They’ve just lead to a lot of falling down and frustration.

Little Evan recently found them in his closet – I think I pulled them out of storage when I was struggling to find snow boots, thinking at least they were waterproof and would be better than nothing – and he started carrying them around saying “BOOT! BOOT! BOOT!”

A couple days ago he got bored with just holding them and wanted to wear them. He’s definitely gotten the hang of walking in them but because they’re kind of big they fall off a lot. It was a constant battle of on-off-on-off-on and eventually I told him I was done playing Prince Charming to his Cinderella with lost boots.

So when I saw him sitting here with the dog, wearing his boots again I was a little surprised.  Did he…put them on himself? How awesome is that?! And how terrifying – he cannot possibly be old enough to put his own boots on. That seems like such an advanced skill, such a grown up ability, so much more of a KID thing than a TODDLER thing. It made me a little teary-eyed. If he doesn’t even need me to help him with his boots, how much longer before he hardly needs me at all?

Of course, he hardly ever gets them on the right feet. So maybe he still needs me for a little longer.

Apparently I found the threshold at which I can no longer remember to celebrate Little Evan’s every monthday, and that threshold was 19 months. So…Happy Monthday Baby! Good thing you can’t read a calendar yet so you have no idea Mama is three days late! Let’s blame it on the hell known as Daylight Savings Time aka the longest day of the toddler year. SO SO LONG.

But lateness is no excuse to skip my milestone update entirely, so let’s do this thing!

Except when I went to look at the chart it turns out we’ve officially moved to the 19-24 month level, which is WAY TOO MANY MONTHS. Why are there so many months?! (Please say that last part in the “Why are there so many ostriches?” Don Knotts on Family Guy voice, because that’s totally how I hear it in my head)(Apologies to those who have no idea what I’m talking about.)

Sob sob sob Mah bebeh is so biiiiig! Sob sob sob

OK, I’m done now.

19 Month Milestones (from Baby Center, as usual)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Uses a spoon and fork – I wouldn’t say he’s ready for dinner with the Queen, but he does OK
• Runs – Fast
• Throws a ball underhand – Overhand, with enough aim to hit almost anyone in the face
• Enjoys helping around the house – Define “helping”. I would say “is as interested in helping around the house as any 19 month old, especially when it involves cleaning up messes he would rather continue to make.”

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Understands as many as 200 words – Am I supposed to be counting? He definitely understands at least 90% of the stuff I say TO him, and probably 50% of the stuff I say in general. I can say something like “Why don’t you go get your milk – it’s over there by the dishwasher – and then sit in your chair and watch the football game?” And he will do all those things, while also saying “milk” “football” and “touchdown!!!”
• Recognizes when something is wrong (e.g., calling a dog a cat) – I…don’t know? Is that a game we should be playing? It seems sort of mean.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• Washes and dries own hands with help – He LOVES to wash his hands, but it’s not really a help-free activity
• Points to picture or object when you call it by name – Very good at animals, trucks/cars, babies. Not so good at everything else.
• May know when she needs to pee – No, but we usually get a poop warning. Although honestly, teaching him the sign for “potty” has been one of the best things I’ve done, simply because I can explain to him “mama’s going to the potty so she’ll be right back.” And now I get to pee (or hide out and take a few deep breaths) in peace.

In other toddler news, we’re having some trouble with both “no” and “stop” especially in regards to “hitting mommy” and “jumping on mommy’s belly”. I’m planning to set up a time-out zone (aka the Pack-n-Play in the boring living room) and start enforcing time-outs in a calm, non-shouty manner when calm, non-shouty instructions are not followed, but I have very little faith it will result in anything more than 2 minutes of hysterical screaming and crying.

Our super easy bedtimes have regressed a little to mostly easy naps but bedtime crying when he realizes he might be missing out on something fun. Rocking & book reading doesn’t really help – he just needs a few minutes to be sad before he goes to sleep, most of the time for 11-12 hours straight. I’m starting to worry a little about sleep-regression issues after the new baby comes, but figure it’s best not to dwell on it and just take an extra nap whenever I can.

But in general, this is SUCH a fun age. He’s fun to hang out with and capable of entertaining himself long enough that I can still get things done (for example, as I write this, he has dragged his blankie over himself & the dog and is curled up drinking his milk, totally content to be hanging with his BFF). He can make most of his wants/needs known clearly so there aren’t many frustrated crying fits. We still haven’t seen much stranger anxiety – just a little shyness that I swear he fakes just because it makes ladies at the grocery store say “awwwwwww”. And there is no way to explain to a non-parent just how exciting it is when your kid learns a new word/sign/skill. You can practically SEE his brain growing and it makes my heart feel all bursty every single time.

My goal for month 19 is to trick force bribe encourage Little Evan to eat more vegetables, even if it means I have to soak them in ranch dressing. If you see me tweeting about dinner ideas, please remind me that meat with a side of pasta and cheese is NOT a balanced meal and green things won’t kill us. Hopefully my 20 month update will include an extensive list of new healthy foods Little Evan now loves.

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I have TWO more winners to announce this morning!

The winner of the adorable green polka-dot Gussy pouch I am crying a little bit over parting with is…

#12 Merin!! Since this giveaway is coming from me personally, I’ll be sure to get you your pouch ASAP. Although it might involve making you drive to my house to get it.

And the winner of the Phoebe Mouse & the book is…

#18 Robyn! Conrgats mama, I KNOW you’re little girl will love Phoebe! I will email you to get your address and send her out some time this week.

Thanks to everyone who entered – I was blown away by how many people entered the Phoebe giveaway, considering it wasn’t made by a fancy handmade seller but just by me. Or, more likely, everyone just wanted the adorable book and planned to throw Phoebe in the trash as soon as they got her.

The LAST open giveaway is from Becca at Hugs & Kisses Designs. Get in your entries now – it’s got less than 50 as of this morning, so you’ve got a pretty good chance to in yourself something REALLY pretty.