16.5 Months Old // 3.5 Months Old

Owen has been reaching out and grabbing things much more. He's very animated and so interested in anything that falls within his reach. He throws his hands out to touch it and opens his mouth right away, ready to chew on it. He's also playing with his feet quite a bit and chews on his hands constantly. He's a drool machine! Drool pours out of his mouth all day long. I've been putting a bib on him to catch all of it, otherwise I'm changing drool-soaked outfits every couple of hours.

Poor Owen has had a diaper rash that won't quit. It started about a month ago as a yeast rash, and over-the-counter ointments weren't quite doing the trick. I took him to our wonderful pediatrician in Virginia Beach, and she prescribed something a little bit stronger. After 3 weeks of frequent diaper changes, prescription ointment, open diaper sessions multiple times each day, and warm baths with baking soda, the very stubborn rash finally started looking better. Then the rash came back with a vengeance! On our 3rd visit with the pediatrician that week, we realized his skin is super sensitive and it was reacting from being too dry. I cut back on the baths, started slathering Aquaphor on him at all diaper changes, and one week later his skin looked so much better! Note to self - Owen's skin is very sensitive. I'll keep that in mind for the future.

Now that Laney is 16.5 months old and still running around on her tip toes while she pushes her stroller, I realized it might be time to ditch the stroller. She's using it to get around quickly, rather than standing up and learning how to walk without it. Brad and I waited until she was in bed for the night and hid the stroller in our bedroom. The next morning, the first thing she did was grab her baby doll and crawl around the house, looking for her stroller. She started to whine and cry when she couldn't find it, so we distracted her with other toys and tried to encourage her to walk on her own. It actually worked! She definitely started walking more, but she still needs to break the habit of standing up on her tip toes.

Blocks! We only break them out on rainy days so they don't lose their appeal.

Almost too big to nap in his swing. What will we do?

Laney thinks that book looks like a lot of fun...

…so she climbed in.

Buds

Thumb sucker extraordinaire

FaceTime with Noni

Typical tip toes! That's why we had to ditch the stroller. It's pretty cute, though...

Big boy!

Every morning, Papa lures Laney in with the enticing offer to watch videos. It's his best way to get her to cuddle with him.