You may be surprised by the force of your child's likes and dislikes. Even at 17 months, toddlers can be very clear — loud and clear — about what they do and don't want to do, to eat, to wear.
Some children surprise with another kind of force — hitting, especially when they're frustrated. The most likely target: you. It's counter-intuitive, but this is actually a sign of trust. A 17-month-old child knows that you're a safe person to show just how upset and frustrated he can get. You may also notice that your child occasionally but very deliberately disobeys your orders. You say, "Please stay away from that vase," and your toddler looks right at you, reaches out, and touches the vase, or plucks a flower from it. You know he got your message, so rather than let the defiance become a big deal, experts say to simply ignore it whenever possible. In fact, it's important to try to avoid a confrontation with every little issue.
The first time you forget to read your toddler a bedtime story, don't be surprised if he reminds you. Toddlers thrive on routine, and they may remember each step of a particular ritual. If your child's end-of-day routine features bathing, drying hair, brushing teeth, picking out books, and then reading together in bed, there's a good chance that if you try to skip one or more of these steps, your 17-month-old will protest. Even at this young age, toddlers can be quite adamant about following rituals, some of which may make no sense to you. For instance, when you tuck your child into bed at night, he may insist that you cover his favorite doll or stuffed animal with a certain blanket — and only that blanket. Or he may want to drink his milk from one particular cup, or insist on oatmeal for breakfast every single day for a month. Though these demands may puzzle or even annoy you, they serve an important purpose: Routines help to make your child's world more predictable.
At 17 months, most children are becoming less wary of strangers. At the grocery store your child may say hello to every person you pass in the aisles — something he never did before. Or when you go to music or tumbling class, he will suddenly want to be near the instructor. Mom and Dad are still the most important people in his life, but he is starting to develop special relationships with other people, too. He may even associate extended family, caregivers, and neighbors with certain activities. When you visit his grandparents, for instance, your toddler may pull his "Papa" out into the garden to investigate the roses he showed him on his last visit.
New words this month are; catch, giraffe, Lisa (Jeremy's sister), bean, yuck, park, dirt, cookie, people, broccoli, bunny, Jesus, Bible, froggy, turtle, page, swing, slide, beet, bead, bus and more . It seems that he's adding several new words a day right now. He also says lots of phrases. His favorite phrase is "big truck", which he says every time he hears or sees one. He also says "bye bye big truck", and "bye bye poo poo dipey (diaper) quite often.
One of my favorite things right now is the way that Noah claps for himself when he's done something that he's proud of. For example, when he gets all of the pieces in the puzzle he stops and claps, looking at me and Jeremy for approval.
Noah and Luke continue to play and get along so well. They have fun all day long and give each other hugs and kisses when it's time to part. Noah is also still enjoying having baby Hayden around. Most days when he wakes up, before I even get him out of the crib, he is already standing up saying "baby". When I prop Hayden up on the floor with a pillow Noah will lay down and put his head on the pillow to snuggle her. When I burp her he also comes over and taps her back. He does get a little jealous of her though, especially when I'm giving her a bottle, and he has been known to lay flat on the floor and say poo poo (when he hasn't pooped), in hopes that I put the baby down and come change his diaper and give him attention.
Noah really loves to read right now. Aside from going to the playground or for walks I think that is his favorite thing to do. He brings us books constantly, and will sit on our laps requesting that the same book be read over and over and over.
He has watched 20 minutes of Veggie Tales twice ever. I think he'd rather play, but it's nice to know that when I'm extremely tired or not feeling well that I can snuggle him up in front of the laptop and stream some kiddo shows via the internet.
He has been a very picky eater the last few months. He loves cheese, fruit, pretzels, yogurt, most pasta dishes, broccoli, and peanut butter toast. He'll eat spiral pasta noodles, but not most other shapes. He'll eat most breads or carbs. He'll eat all fruits. But he won't eat most veggies anymore, and the only protein he'll eat is hamburgers, tuna, or meatballs. He just looks at things and doesn't want to try them, but almost always when we can get him to try something he'll like it and eat more.
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