My baby is almost 2 years old. Oh my goodness. He's now 1 and 3/4 lol. I don't know what I'm going to do. I remember when we were planning to get pregnant and we were so excited when we finally did. It didn't seem that long ago BUT also it feels like he was always a part of our family. It's weird. I'll do a little update about the past 3 months.
My little guy is so awesome. It is an honor for me to be his mommy. He is a character. I just love his little personality. He's a little mischievous, super funny, extremely observant, always smiley, and sometimes bossy. He's very sweet. He loves to give group hugs with mommy and daddy
altogether. Whenever his dad and I show affection around him he stares
then does this goofy smile. He is super affectionate too! He's still pretty clingy but I think it's getting better. When we drop him off at the home daycare he doesn't cry anymore. He still cries during the entire time in the nursery at church on Sundays. Correction, this past sunday he stayed the entire time without crying. He's definitely a momma's boy but he loves his daddy too.
He is talking up a storm. Language is definitely a strength for my little booger. He understands most of what I say and surprisingly he communicates very well too. I usually can understand what he says or wants. I've noticed that there are less tantrums since I can understand him better. We talk to him like he's a big boy and he talks to us too. Whenever he says the wrong word we praise him for trying then say the right word. He looooves praises...but who doesn't. He says sentences that are 2-4 words long. At beginning of 20 months he was spontaneously saying "I wove you." He says it all the time now and it's so sweet. He'll look us right in the eye and just say it. We taught him how to say "help" pretty earlier and he says it appropriately. Unfortunately he heard me saying "oh shoot" maybe once or twice and now he says it too (at the appropriate time). For example if I'm putting on his shirt and his arm gets stuck he goes "oh shoot." It's kinda funny but I don't want him to say that. He points out everything he sees and names them. His favorite words are still "no" and "mine." A few days ago I was disciplining him for something and he shook his head and pointer finger and said "no mommy, not nice." I'm finding it so hard to not burst out laughing when he says little things like that. Some of my other favorite words/phrases are: "it's scawy," "gofish," "ssss, daddy seeping," "nice toush," "it's waining," "hourt," "hep me mommy," "I sowwy." These are just a few. He says so many cute phrases. He tells me when he's going to poop ("poo poo") but refuses to use the potty. He'll sit on it when he doesn't have to use it. So I guess he's not ready yet but at least I get a signal when a diaper change is coming up. His dad wanted me to mention some other funny things he says like: "shoenon." That's his word for shoes. He used to say "shoes" but I always tell him to put his "shoes on" so now he calls it "shoenon" (so hilarious).
He continues to be very active. He loves to climb, run, jump, hang upside down and dance. He's actually a pretty sweet dancer. We went to some outdoor concert a few weeks ago and he was dancing the entire time. He's not shy when it comes to dancing. He runs pretty fast and has better balance (definitely less falls). He's a strong little guy too and somewhat of a dare devil. Fine motor skills are good but he doesn't use utensils often because I obsess about him eating and end up feeding him.
He's still a picky eater overall but he has his moments of good eating. I'm still having to hide vegetables in his food or else he wont eat them. He loves his Nonna's chicken and rice, mommy's spaghetti and meat sauce. He also loves when I cook callaloo. He takes one 1-2 hour nap during the daytime. We are still pretty strict and very consistent with bedtime. His routine has been unchanged since he was an infant because it works. Well, I guess he goes to bed at 8p now instead of 730p but he wakes up at 730a in the morning. He does occasionally watch a little TV (very very infrequent--maybe on average once per week, if even that much). We are a huge outdoor family so we are almost never inside sitting around. He only watches Nick Jr and he loves their "music videos." He loves the "shake the sillies out" song. We go to the park at least twice per week and he loves the swings. He's also pretty brave and goes on the huge slides. Now that it's getting cold we may have to give that a rest.
As I said, he's pretty clingy to my husband and I, especially me. But he does eventually warm up. He warms up quicker to kids than adults, naturally. He usually observes first then slowly integrates himself into whatever activity. Once warmed up he's pretty social. He gets along with other kiddos very well. Actually he surprises me. He is totally not aggressive towards other kids. If a kid grabs a toy or even pushes him, he just looks at them then move on to the next activity without a fuss. He doesn't get angry and he never retaliates. I'm sure this may change but I find it so interesting.
Lately people have been saying that he looks a lot like my husband or my husband's mother. His hair had beautiful curls over the summer but now that it's cold it's back to being straight. He does have a few ringlets in the back of his head. He has all but 4 of his baby teeth but his bottom right incisor is trying to poke through his gum. He loves baths but hates to brush his teeth. He doesn't like his hair combed or his nails clipped (especially toenails). Diaper changes are easy because we sing songs. Yeah, he loves to sing or try to sing. He looooves animals but he's afraid of bugs. That'll have to change. Neither his dad or I are afraid of bugs--I don't know what is up with that. He's getting a little better about playing by himself. He's a good helper and follows directions pretty well. He loves to "read."
There's so much to say about this incredible little boy of mine but I guess I'll stop. I try to cram everything into these post because I want to remember in the future. When he's a feisty teenager I want to look back and read this stuff and feel like I'm in a time machine for a little bit.
More than anything we are very thankful to God for IEK. And there's one thing for certain, IEK is very loved! It is our daily prayer that we continue to be excellent spouses to each other and parents to him.
I know, I know...ya'll need pix. I'll post one for Christmas!
Mrs. K
