Caution: Photo Dump Ahead I officially have a toddler on my hands.  He is walking.  He is throwing tantrums.  He is learning so much every day.

Likes: Playgrounds  (especially slides), milk, all his friends, walking, stroller rides

Dislikes: Milk (explanation below), not touching all the things, loud crowded places

Sleeping: Overall, we're doing good.  He usually goes down around 7:15pm and stays down until 6-6:30am. Rarely do we have a middle of the night wake up and even less do we have to get up if he does. If he wakes up, he usually just puts himself back to sleep.  Naps are a whole different matter. Some days he goes down without fuss around 12:30 and sleep for 2-3 hours.  Other days he cries and fusses for ~20 minutes before falling asleep. And yet other days he refuses a nap.  On those days, he becomes a whirlwind of destruction (even more than usual) that doesn't stop until bedtime. Wish he was more consistent.

Eating: As for solid foods, he eats a ton of variety, but not always a ton of amount.  Clearly he is past his 12 month growth spurt as the portions have gone down. He loves trying new foods even if he doesn't love all of them.  Not so picky yet...  As for beverages, we've started weaning off of formula and replacing with milk.  What a disaster!  For about a week, he refused to drink milk.  Then magically one day he started sucking it down.  And then for three days he screamed, had a hard tummy, and dirtyed many many diapers. We stopped drinking milk and everything cleared up. After talking with the nurse, we switched him to almond milk but have keep feeding him yogurt and cheese.  It seems to work well.  And we're down to two bottles a day (morning and evening).  I'm hoping to cut the morning one within the week but probably won't stop the evening one until Christmas or so.  We need to rework his bedtime routine to get rid of it, but being in Indiana will hamper that.

Playing: Lots and lots and lots of playing!  Now that he's walking, playgrounds with friends are lots of fun.  He climbs and slides runs around with everyone. At preschool (very informal weekly event with a group of friends), he always has to explore the new toys. Not too many playing/sharing tantrums.

Medical Milestones: We've got a walker on our hands!  He's been taking a step or three for months, but no consistent walking until right around Halloween.  He just started choosing walking over crawling.  And now he's getting his balance and picking up the pace. Pretty soon he will be running!

Schedule:This is becoming less and less of a thing. We keep bedtime the same, but every day is a new adventure.

Out and About: Lots and lots of great activities this past month!

• Three different farm visits: Deer Hollow (our usual), Ardenwood, and Emma Prusch. All were fun, but I think I prefer Ardenwood Farm.  Extra awesome: it will be the closest to the new house.
• Halloween activities: We went trick or treating at Santana Row and the SJ Children's Museum. Lots of fun for little ones.
• Fall Social: Our fall social was a trick or treating costume theme. Arthur and I both dressed up for the event. We had a great time trick or treating, socializing, playing, and making crafts.
• SJ Children's Discovery Museum: I hadn't taken him until October because I just didn't want to spend the money on admittance to something he doesn't care about. Now he loves this place.  They have a special room (the Wonder Cabinet) designed for the under 6 crowd. Arthur loves playing with the ball wall and the sounds room.  I had a few passes from Pam to save on the entrance fee.  Now that those are gone, I'm thinking of buying a membership when we get back from Indiana.  The parent's group schedules a visit once a month, so it would be worth the money...
• Usual playground playdates: We have a usual weekly schedule, but then visit others sometimes. Love the amount parks in the Bay Area. Lots of fun!
• Preschool: The members of the babysitting co-op have started a small weekly preschool.  We rotate who hosts and prepares the activities.  While we are pretty loose, we do have a basic schedule of welcome song, theme songs (themes change monthly), art and craft, snack time, and storytime. Usually there's lots and lots of free play in between activities. It's been going great!  We are going to miss it while in Indiana.