Oliver update: 17 months

I just reread Oliver's 16-month update and realized that not a lot has changed. He's still on much the same schedule, eating the same amount, and interested in the same things, like opening and closing doors, climbing stairs, throwing toys and pushing chairs or his carts or wagons around the house. I've found myself reluctantly relying on the pacifier more and more because he can otherwise be so cranky. He still only has four teeth, so the poor kid has a long road of teething in front of him!

My biggest disappointment about this past month is how fatigued (and often sick) I've been, which has meant less energy to play with Oliver. Like any toddler, he alternates between high-energy activities, then wants to be held for a minute, wants up off the couch, down off the couch, wants a book read, another book read, just wants to sit in my lap and hold the book and on and on. So I feel guilty when I don't have the energy to do much more than lie on the couch and watch him play.

My desire and energy to cook has also completely evaporated, so Oliver's diet has had the same lack of variety mine has had in the past couple of weeks. One minor change that has occurred is that in the last week or two, we started giving him a real sandwich, instead of toast with whatever random fixing (usually peanut butter). He'll pull the sandwich apart and eat each piece separately, but handing him a sandwich seems more big-kid like than the toast he's been eating since he was six months old.