23 Months Old

We're one month away from two and although most of my fellow April mommies can't believe it, I'm ready for him to be two officially.  We have a little boy on our hands, no more baby.  It's a lot easier to explain his behavior some times when you say he's two.  On that note, these "terrible two" moments are intense and aggravating.  Aunt Melissa witnessed a full meltdown after a fifteen minute bedtime extension (a HUGE no-no these days) and she was pretty shocked.

Here's our last update of year two!

New Developmental Milestones this Month: Here are the new developmental things that he started doing this month:

• Physical: Andrew now runs proficiently without falling, he can jump off the ground with both feet, kicks balls correctly (not running into ball, but actually lifting the leg), throws far and high overhand, pushes and pulls huge/heavy objects all around.   
• Teeth: No new teeth in the past two months.
• Cognitive/Language: points and identifies over 50 things in books (mostly animals and household objects), identifies 23 body parts (his new ones are forehead, elbow, knee), knows what he wants and tells us, uses words like "me" and "my" correctly ('my mommy' and 'me eat'), calls himself by name often ("me And-doo"), and his language has continued to expand. 
• Vocabulary: He copies Daddy's words all the time (not Mom's for whatever reason), and has started coming up with his own words.  He'll basically repeat anything that Dad asks him to say so we've heard a lot of words for the first time.  He knows that things are up/down and tells us when something is "up" and he wants it "down."  He hears the train and tells us "choo choo is down."
• Gabba-gabba = TV
• Baba = Popsicle
• Juice = all liquid
• Apple = all round fruit
• Potty training: He still goes pee and poo on the toilet at school.  At home, it's hit and miss. 
• Psychosocial:the life of an almost two year old is hard--momma doesn't give him what he wants and when he wants it, so temper tantrums are normal.  So is time-out for hitting and biting mommy.  Aggression is ever present at home and school. He initiates play now and requests us to sit down by patting the ground next to him.  His kitchen is actually getting used as a kitchen now--he puts the cookies into the over and tells us "hot" or eats the pizza slices or feeds me pizza.  He has also really enjoyed choosing his own snacks from his "snack" drawer--he goes into the kitchen, pulls the drawer open and digs around until he finds exactly what he wants and brings it to us.  We've learned what he'll pick every time (fruit snacks and fruit cups) and that we can't put them into the drawer.

Physical Growth this Month/Doctors:  we've gone twice in the past two months for an ear infection and then croup. In November (19 Months) he was 26 lbs, 6 oz so he's gained a half a pound in four months.

• February 16 (ear infection/cold): 26 lbs, 12 oz
• March 5 (croup): 27 lbs, 1.8 oz

Sleeping: Bedtime has become a HUGE area of problem at this house.  If we get it right, it's easy.  Right = 7 pm, wind down time in his bedroom, playing on the big bed, reading books, and singing songs to be in bed by 7:15.  He talks to himself for awhile and is asleep calmly by 7:30.  If we're late, or don't wind down enough, we can have angry screaming for 20-30 minutes.  Regardless of what time he goes to bed, he has been waking up earlier than before--anytime between 5:30-6:15ish.

Eating: Eating is hit-or-miss these days at home.  Some nights I'm thankfully that he eats two balanced meals and two snacks at school because he won't eat anything at home for dinner.  The fail safe foods that he'll eat pretty much no matter what are pizza and fruit (of any kind).

Diapers: Still in size 4s and I've lost count! Probably close to 1600 size 4s used. He's wearing the Huggies Slip On Diapers at school because they wanted him to be in pull-ups to make potty training easier.  He likes those ones better, but mommy doesn't because they don't hold urine as well.

Clothing: Still a size 6W shoe. We are in 12-18 months clothes for shirts and pants, but I'm happy to announce that we can wear non-adjustable waist 18 month pants if they are stretchy waist band.  Also, the long sleeve shirts are getting a bit too short on his arms, so there may be hope to move up a size.

Favorite Toys: We've had really nice weather (other than this week), so Andrew has done a lot of playing outside.  He loves to play soccer on the front grass with Daddy, ride in his truck, and just overall explore the backyard.  In the house he plays with his kitchen, little balls, and books the most.  He loves emptying the organizational buckets onto the ground--even if he doesn't want to play with the stuff on the inside.