21 Months
Alec, you are a chef in training! You love to cook. So I bought you a small wooden kitchen at TJMaxx and broke it out the other day and you are loving it. Your favorite thing to cook is soup. It's a little freaky when you start cooking your toys though - yesterday you offered me cow soup. Blech!
You have a new bath game you like to play - you will take your blue bowl and hold it out and you like me to hit it like a drum. And then you laugh and laugh hysterically. So funny! Though, it's not so funny when the bowl still has water in it - I tend to get soaked then!
I really think you are on the cusp of your language explosion. You add mama now at end of sentence when talking to me and it makes me laugh, it sound so grown up! You will say things like "no, mama" "please, mama" - simple things but it sounds so polite!
I enrolled you in a gymnastics class and you are just crazy over it. The first few classes were rough though because you have to wait in line and take turns to go on the equipment. And patience is not one of your virtues. I am getting quite the workout myself from trying to restrain you - most frustrating at times! But you are having a blast, you love the obstacle course, the trampoline, and especially the monkey rings! You tell me "ewww ewww" which is the sound monkeys make and get all excited when I say you will swing like a monkey!
You get really impatient when we are driving and the car stops and will yell "go!" so we've been working on learning about the stoplight colors. YOu now know green means go and red means stop. Though most of the time you will say red means go because you just want to go!
You really like to talk on the phone more now. You'll ask for the phone when I am talking and then you usually won't give it back - especially if it is Mimi!
Well, I thought I would be crafty and make us a gingerbread house - that it would be a good project for you and I to do together. Ha! First, I should have read the directions before I broke it out - that it takes 3 hours for the house to "set" before you can decorate it. Obviously you could not wait 3 hours once you saw the cool gingerbread house box! So we just decorated the house pieces. You had such a blast! You probably ate as many candies as you put on, but it was lots of fun. And then after it all dried you would occasionally ask for your "gbred house" and then you would eat the candies right off the pieces with your mouth and say "nummmmm"
Your fine motor skills are getting better - you are now really into your Stacker toy and at least get the concept now. You try to stack the rings but you haven't quite grasped the concept that the larger ones go first ont he bottom. So you get a bit frustrated when it comes out wrong. But I have faith you will eventually get it!
When we drive down the hill to town when we go past the lake you say "no ducks no boats" and make your silly sleeping noise, sort of like snoring "ssssssszzzzz". Too cold for boats and ducks now!
We had our first snow and you really liked it, though were a bit confused at first by all the clothes I made you put on - especially the snow pants and the and the gloves. The feel of the snow was interesting to you at first too. Then you really got into it and we played and walked and then built snow babies because it wasn't good packing snow so we couldn't build a snowman. You really want to build a snow"home" but I told you you have to wait for dada for that!
We were practicing our face parts and instead of pointing to your eyes when I asked you to like you normally do, you squished them up. Then you did the same for nose and chin and cheeks - sort of wiggled/scrunched them instead of pointing. So cute!
And you do know all of your body parts - you can name your toes, knees, legs, arms, fingers, belly, heart, etc. You are especially fond of your knees for some reason!
You have finally figured out how to roll a ball. Well you sort of roll/throw it. But whatever it is you do, you think it is hysterical. You do your loud, silly, open mouth, belly laugh after you roll it.
It's clementine season and you think they are the best thing ever. You call them "ornge-ays" and as soon as you eat them you immediately ask for "more ornge-ay". You are very particular and like to peel the sections apart yourself. Big boy!
You like to throw the orange peel out in the trash can for me. For some reason the garbage can fascinates you.
You call yourself "al-lick"
Today I asked you if you wanted to put your boots on because we need to go to the grocery store and you said to me "go" and I said where should mama go? and you pointed to the kitchen. Ack. I think it was your way of saying, leave me alone mama, I am busy here! Growing up so fast.
Whenever you see a flower, in real life or in a book you bend over to smell it. That is also your current way of "saying" flower - by sniffing. If something is hot you have to blow on it, same with candles. It's also your way of saying candle - by blowing. I love this "sounds" stage! You can really communicate even without your words yet. You do the same for sleeping - if you want to tell me something is sleeping, you make your snoring sound.Like when I said we would go visit baby Pedro and you said "baby szzzzzzszzz
We babysat for our friend Luke today and you just had the best time with him! He is 5 months old and so sweet - he had a great time playing on the floor and you would hand him toys and you'd get so happy when he would hold the toy. Then you saw me holding him and that is all you wanted to do was hold the baby. You couldn't;t say hold, but you would just make your "unh unh" sound that means you want something and hold your hands out. I am hoping you are as excited about our own baby when he/she arrives!
You are really starting to get into Christmas and you love your Elmo Christmas video. You will ask for "Elmo Ho Ho."
You are getting so big that you are outgrowing a lot of your clothes - especially the onesies from last winter. So the snaps tend to pop a lot between your legs. When it happens you say "Uh Oh! Snap Pop" and get this concerned/upset look on your face.
You are obsessed with "brooming" the car. I am glad at least one of us doesn't mind cleaning the snow off the car. It's such a chore!
You are really enjoying the snow and we had a good time playing in it the other day and brought your plastic slide out so you could slide into the snow.
When I ask you if you made poo you start sniffing. Though you are usually still in denial that you actually did.
You are addicted to lollipops. Any kind really, but your favorites are these gummy type pops they sell right at the check out of AC Moore. Makes shopping there difficult as you are always demanding a pop! I'll admit sometimes I give in and buy you one :)
We were playing in your rice box and out of nowhere instead of calling your trucks "bob" like you usually do, you actually said something that sounded like "bulldozer" and "forklift" - I was very impressed!
You really are trying to say so much more, even if it is just babbling you are practicing your sounds and voice. You are constantly babbling to yourself and occasionally I pick out real words.
Dada came to music class with us, I think you really liked it! You got to show him all your moves and dances - he was quite impressed how energetic you are!
We have entered the no stage I think. You're new favorite expressions seem to be "no mama" or "no dada"
I think we have broken out of a bad stage (you have been a bit willful and stubborn lately, lets be honest) and into a good zone. I am just having so much fun with you right now - your talking and the funny things you do.
You love to eat pasta - with cheese or red sauce - and you call noodles "new-new"
You get so excited when a box arrives, yelling box and "skissors mama" so I will open it.
We went to the graduate school Christmas party again this year. It wasn't as fun as last year - no live music, I was very disappointed. They were showing all classic Christmas videos and you were very happy to sit and watch Frosty while eating your popcorn. Santa came at the end and you just had a great time sitting with him. You got very shy and wouldn't say anything to him, but I think you still had fun!
We went to Linnie's house for dinner for a going away for our friend Sam who is going to Spain for a semester. And she put the Rudolph video on so that maybe we moms could eat in peace and you were mesmerized. You just loved it. And you were obsessed with holding Clio's Rudolph doll (or Ru-Ru as you call him). It was kind of funny, kind of sad that when we left you actually kissed the TV goodbye. I think we need to buy this video! You are such a sweet kid. You were also really into Clio's dress up clothes and her cinderella slippers. Without ever even knowing who Cinderella is or the story you put the slipper on Clio's foot. It was priceless and I got it on film. You also said your friend Marshall's name for the first time - that is a mouthful!
UGH! You climbed out of crib this morning!!!!!! It seems to be a one time incident but I am somewhat freaked. I think you really scared yourself so you seem to be in no hurry to repeat your stunt.
You love to sing the Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman songs now before bed. When I am done you usually say "more mom"
You really are in the sweetest stage right now. The best thing in the entire world is when you run to me and give me pat pat and just keep saying mama mama. You make me feel loved.
We were driving in the car and the song "santa Baby" came on the radio and next thing i know you are dancing in your car seat singing "Ho Ho baby". I was dying I was laughing so hard.
Anytime we give you hot food like pasta or soup you look at it and very seriously say "hot hot"
We had a small Christmas at home before we left for Florida. We pretended Santa "landed" in our bedroom and left you a present. You love to open presents! And Santa brought you the completer set to your Little People Farm. You are just crazy over it - you just love all the animals and the new people, and especially the tractor. You keep saying "sonya lee - ho ho" -meaning that Santa brought you a new Sonya Lee - your favorite Little Person.
You are really trying to make your own sentences. and you get so excited when I understand you. You will smile and say really loudly "Unh huh Mama! Unh huh!"
You make a new chicken noise. Chickens now go "bock bock ba ba!" Too cute. And your new favorite toy from your new farm set is the goat, or as you call it the "nah" (the noise goats make).
The best noise you make by far however is a dragon noise. Dragons go "blaaaah blaaaah" and you make these clawing hand motions close up by your shoulders when you make the noise. It's hysterical.
We have a new game we all play called tickle box. Not a game really as much as me and your dad just being silly. But we love to get your tickle box! An especially ticklish spot under your chin. Then you try to get ours. It's funny to watch you try to tickle us!
Now when I ask ask you if you ready for your nap you just say "play"
You want me to play with you all the time, I have to sit in your play area and you are happy if I don;t even do anything, just that I am sitting there. But we have a good time playing Little People together. I am very flattered but I am seriously getting nothing done around the house. Oh well, you won't always want me around so I better enjoy it while I can!
You are big into naming things now. You were naming all of your bear's body parts the other day.
You say "ol-licks's shoes"
You are brilliant. You recognize your name when we write it on a paper for you a-l-e-c and sometimes you say the letters along with us!
We have discovered these very cool alphabet cookies (thanks to our friend Linnie) and you just love to see what letter you are going to get. When you get an "S" you go "hisssssss" becasue S is for snake!
We're getting ready to go to Florida for a month and have been talking about it to you. You keep saying "pop sand home beee" (beach).
Well our flight didn't start out too great, we were stuck on the Tarmac forever b/c the Philly airport shut down for a bit b/c of too much air traffic. You were very good about it though you were getting very antsy. Can't blame you - 2 hours! You kept yelling "go!" I think all the passengers felt the same way :) Luckily we made our connection in Philly but we seriously had to run to make it and they were holding the plane for us. Naturally our luggage didn't make it..... though it did show up around 3 am that night. Ugh.
The language explosion continues. You are picking up words like crazy here in Florida. A few of the new ones are pine cone, sun roof, and sticky. You really like for us to wash your sticky hands now - a very good improvement over rubbing them in your hair! You say "sticky wash hands" And your hands have been very sticky lately as you have discovered candy canes - or as you call them "Ru-Ru pops".
Grammy and Pa took us to a local restaurant for breakfast with santa. You had a great time sitting on Santa's lap again and you actually said something like "brek hoho"
You have a cold and are so good about letting us wipe you nose. You've even started to wipe it yourself with a tissue. Big boy! The down side is that you have discovered stuff comes out of your nose so you tend to pick it now and offer up the boogers like presents to the nearest person - usually me and you'll say "this one mama". Great.
Poor sick guy. Your cold wasn't getting better and you woke up inconsolable this morning. Very unlike you so combined with the fever I knew what it had to be - ear infection. So off we went to the ER. I really didn't want to take you because of all the flu going around but we had no choice since we were in FL and had no doctor down here. It took forever, we were there for about 3 hours but you were very good about it and thankfully that had a big aquarium with a huge eel fish that you were fascinated by. You called it a "choo fish" which I thought was very observant and funny of you. And, yes, that is what you had. A double ear infection. Poor guy, but at least you love to take medicine!
You are such a little perfectionist. Your new thing is to clean up your highchair. You'll but any dropped food into your bowl and wipe the tray with a cloth or your bib. Very funny little guy. You even have a special spot you have to put your juice cup in. I think because your tray at home has a cup holder, you think all trays should. You are just so precise!
You really are all about everything in it's place. The other night in the bath you had to put all your stacking toys away in the right order before you would get out. I really just like watching how your little mind works.
It seems like I am always hearing "no mama no"
All of a sudden you are repeating everything we say - I think it's time to watch exactly what we are saying!
You are very into your diapers now and picking which character or animal is on it - at least it helps with diaper change time!
You seem to have turned into hell child - you have been having huge tantrums lately and had a huge and complete meltdown tonight when friends were over because you couldn't open every single present - meaning ones that weren't for you. You were inconsolable. Very out of character for you. You're refusing your medicine as well. Grammy thinks it's b/c of the antibiotic. I hope so - I can't take much more of this!
Luckily, the hell child stage was temporary. You are MUCH better now, must have been related to the ear infections/medicine.
You have a new love - your friend Hayley. She and her family came over a few nights before Christmas and you were just fascinated by her. You kept trying to hug her and kiss her and follow her around. When she wasn't playing with you, you would go and find her and try to bring her over to the toys. So sweet! But Hayley wasn't so sure she was as into you as you were into her though!
You really like Pa's car - you call it "pa zoom car"
You say drive, soon, and work now.
We pulled into the mall parking lot and you said "play choo ride neigh" - that was quite a sentence for you, before you wouldn't say the verbs. I am getting so impressed with you!
Oh Alec, your second Christmas! I can't believe you are so old. It was so fun watching you today though - you were so into it and so excited by all your presents!
Since we wanted to wait for great-Grandma and Great-Granddad to come over before you opened all your presents we just set up the train table set for you to see when you wok up Christmas morning. You ran right to it and said "choo! play choo! ho-ho choo!" You were so excited and you played and played with it for ever. It's better than TV.
After Grandma and Grandad arrived we got down to opening all our presents. You had a great time ripping off the paper - you really caught on that under the paper is the cool stuff :) You were much more mellow this time though and did a good job handing out presents to others and occasionally helping them open them as well . Grammy and Pa spoiled you with lots of cool new things, especially books which you love. And a very cool computer board thing that you press letters, shapes and colors on. You are doing really well with it and recognizing all the shapes/letters. The best though is when it plays music and you do your crazy funky shoulder dance.
From your dad and I you got lots of Thomas the Train cars - well about 8 of them and you were so excited. You learned all their names immediately and it is so cute to hear you saying "Thommy, Percy, Tobeee" You love your choos!
All in all a very nice Christmas :)
At dinner you asked for "more pie" - a kid after my own heart. Especially when it is my divine chocolate bourbon pecan pie!
You are quite the water baby! It has finally warmed up down here and we have been enjoying the community pool at Pa and Grammy's and Hayley's pool as well.
We took you over to Hayley's house because you were going to stay with her and her parents and grandparents while dada, me, Grammy and PA went out for a fancy dinner treat. Let's just say you did not miss us at all! You had a blast and you especially loved this electronic driving VW Beetle car she got. The expression on your face was priceless when your foot hit the gas and the car lurched forward! Luckily, another moment I caught on film :)
Not only are you talking more, but you are also working on your counting. You definitely can say at least "1, 2" now and we are working on more and at other times you just say random numbers when we are reading a counting book. I know you will get it soon!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |