Saturday, December 8, 2012

A walk in the park










@21 months...

-I say, "up" instead of "bup." Ok, not always, but most of the time
-Mommy is very excited that I said my first plural (nerd alert!). She is not so excited that it was when I pulled a beer bottle out of the recycling and announced, "Daddy's!!"
-I've also said, "Rih Rih's" bowl and "Daddy's" shoes
-Sometimes Mommy spies on me at school and watches me finish my snack through the glass door, or watches me play outside with my friends behind the corner of the wall. I'm getting really good at sensing when she is there though
-New words: "cheese," "turtle," "socks," "grass," "leaf," "choo choo," "beep beep," "number," "splash," "vroom," "buzz" (for a bee, but it comes out, "sssss"), "Emma" (Grandmommy and Grandaddy's doggie), "Keith" ("teet"), "Chad" ("tah"), "monkey," "star" ("daw"), "fish" ("shish"), "hippo," "stuck" ("uk!"), "snack," "yogurt" ("oh-gerk"), "Avery" ("ay-bee"), "yes," "eat," "ih-bee ih-bee" ("ribbit ribbit"), "blanket," "pants," "shirt," "jacket," "applesauce," ("apple-ass," "apple-boss," apple-dauce," or correctly!), "clock," "outside," "push," and "pull" (and using them correctly!), "pig," "er-uh-er-uh-ooo!" (that's what a rooster says), "gorilla" ("ih-la" with my tongue flapping out of my mouth for the L sound)
-I've also learned the word "Elmo" at school. We don't have any Elmo toys at home, but I found him on the box of crackers! "Elmo box!" Uncle Keith found me an Elmo video on YouTube that I ask for now. I will also tolerate Big Bird singing, but say, "No, no, no!" when Snuffy starts singing!
-I'm still a fan of naming animals and thier sounds!
-I know that the stove is "hot" and that my eggs are "hot" too
-In the morning, I ask, "Play Ay-bee." That's what I call my buddy, Avery
-My teachers taught me to sign, "more," and even though I can say it, I'm trying to sign it too. Right now, I put my pointer finger tips together with the rest of my fingers spread out and pointing down. I'm not sure Mommy would have known what I was doing unless I said, "more" at the same time!
-When I get out of the car in the morning, I wiggle out of Mommy's arms and ask to "walk"
-I've been sick a few more times and had to sleep on Mommy's chest at night a few times to help with the congestion. My cough was back too and it took awhile to go away. It was never in my lungs though. When I coughed, I gagged, and I threw up a lot at school and at home. I went through lots of extra clothes this month!
-I threw up at school on the day that Mommy forgot to bring an extra outfit (of course!), so my teachers put me in an outfit from the donation closet: a tan and white striped shirt with "Baby Animals" written on it over and over in the stripes and small yellow animals, black sweat pants, bright red socks, and my navy blue sandals! Mommy cancelled our errands for that day
-I have an appointment with a GI doctor. When I was at the doctor for my most recent round of cough and cold, she said it sounded like I was throwing up more often than I should be, even when I'm not sick. The appointment isn't until mid-December
-I've been a very picker eater this month and Mommy is hoping it's just because I've been sick a lot
-Mommy thinks she figured out why kids always seem to have dried boogies on their noses- it keeps the wet boogies in your nose!

-One night, I didn't want anymore banana so I signed "All done," said, "No nani!" and shook my head, "No"
-Mommy had her first night away from me (not counting the hospital stay). Daddy and I had quite the adventure too, since I woke up with a fever and had to go to the urgent care clinic. Daddy did a great job!
-I'm trying to learn how to say "please," but still have to repeat it after someone ("peas")
-I can also repeat, "happy"
-My teachers at school taught me all of the hand motions to "The Wheels on the Bus" and when Mommy started singing it, she was surprised when I did then all!
-I got to pick a pumpkin from the "pumpkin patch" at school. It was really just a bunch of pumpkins that they had bought at a local farm and put in their field! (It's the same pumpkin that I painted). My pumpkin was short and squat, with no blemishes, and a really long stem!
-Sometimes I will ask to watch videos by 'name.' I like to watch "Elmo," "Ol-mee" (Old MacDonald), "Bus" (The Wheels on the Bus), and "A B" (ABC Song). If Mommy puts on the wrong video, I will let her know by furiously shaking my head "No" and saying, "Neck! Neck! Neck!") ("next"). I will clap my hands and smile when she finds the right video. And my preferences change often! One time, I had to point to the ABC video at the bottom of the screen because Mommy didn't put the right one on!
-Uncle Keith took me to the petting zoo in Delaware and I got to feed goats! I had a bit of trouble walking through the pumpkin patch there because there were a lot of old vines. I loved walking through the open air market though and saw pumpkins that were bigger than me! I picked out the tiniest pumpkin ("puh-key") that they had with a long stem. The long stem's make it easier to carry!
-I put a puzzle together and then clapped for myself and said, "Good boy!"
-My favorite books these days are the ones that have a lot of realistic pictures on each page and aren't really stories. I love saying the words for the pictures I know and pointing to the pictures that Mommy asks. My favorite shape is a star and I have to smell all of the flowers in my books, and sometimes smell the stars because they kinda look like flowers!
-I'm still a little upset most days when Mommy drops me off at school, but my teachers have learned to distract me with books. One days, through my tears, I blew kisses at Mommy and said, "Bye bye, Mommy!" I think she cried too that day
-I really enjoy pumpkin pancakes and veggie muffins these days, or as I say, "hah-pate" and "more-nee." But yogurt is probably still my favorite ("oh-gurk!"), with cheese ("tee!" being a close second. I pick out the cheese from my cut up turkey and cheese sandwiches! I love anything cookie-like. I get Cheez-its and graham crackers and goldfish and cheerios and animal crackers for snacks at school! Mommy was holding out on me!
-When I bring a book over to someone to read to me, I can pivot and turn around to sit in their lap now
-I got another haircut and I still don't like when they snip around my ears
-My dinosaur shoes came in the mail and I was very excited to open the box and try them on. "Shoes! Shoes! Shoes!"
-When someone pulls out a camera, I look at them and say, "Cheese!"
-I can repeat, "Love you!" (finally!)
-I \point to a circle, square, triangle, star, oval, and rectangle!
-My teachers told Mommy that I like to go into the infant room and look at the babies
-I'm still into dancing, well stomping, and rock back and forth if I'm sitting and music comes on
-I started eating from a divided plate instead of just straight off of my tray. I feel so grown up! I also use a fork, sorta. I hold the fork while I use the other hand to feed myself!
-Mommy and I play a blinking game while I'm eating sometimes. I will look at her and blink my eyes really hard and then she does it back and then I do it again. Then I smile and keep eating. Every once in a while, I will remember that we do that and blink really hard at her again
-I'm drinking from a sippy cup with a spout and a cup with a straw. I still get confused about which one is which and will often tilt the straw cup back or try to drink from the spout cup without tilting. Sheesh!
-I can walk backwards...very slowly, to back up to sit in someone's lap or on the edge of the fireplace. And I say, "beep, beep, beep!" like a truck backing up!
-I liked watching the rain during Hurricane Sandy
-Elmo is a new interest. Not quite obsession level, but definitely an interest. Like when the toy catalog came and he was in it - "Elmo!!"
-Daddy let me taste a tiny bit of his beer on his fingertip. I made a silly face, but then asked for "more!" I cried when he wouldn't give it to me. So the next day, I found his bottle in the recycling and stuck my finger in the bottle and then licked it! I cried again when Mommy took it away!
-When something I'm eating is really good, I'll say, "nom nom nom" or "nom-mee!" (for "yummy")
-I run to my highchair when Mommy asks me if I'm hungry, "Eat, eat, eat!"
-I finally figured out how to open the green snack cabinet and retrieve the cookies myself!
-Shaking my head "yes" is more difficult than it should be and I end up either rocking my entire body or letting my head fall back and then picking it back up (instead of nodding it forward first)
-Wrigley is now "rih-ree"
-Mommy and I had the following conversation while I was laying on the changing table (or rather these are the words I strung together while Mommy listened): "diaper...pee pee...wet...pee pee...Shay...trash...poopie....trash....UP!"
-When Mommy wipes my nose, I say, "Boogies, Boogies!"
-I know the letter A!
-I'm still working on running. I get going pretty fast and I'm sorta bouncy, but I'm not quite running. And my arms tend to go back up in fists for balance like they did when I first started walking
-One morning when I woke up, I started calling for Mommy. When she didn't come after a few tries, I started calling for Daddy. After calling for a while, I finally asked, "Elmo?"
-I got a new winter coat!
-I can hum the entire alphabet, but only sing a few of the letters
-I had my first ear infection (and fever over 102). My tonsils were swollen and the doctor made me throw up when she tested for strep. It was not a fun couple of days
-When someone sneezes, I repeat "ah-too!"
-There's a little potty in my house now. I'm deathly afraid of sitting on it, but I'll play with it for a long time, putting my toys in the bowl, and then taking them back out again. "No potty!" I say when Mommy tries to sit me on it (fully dressed!)

My pieced together outfit from school

"all done"


I picked a pumpkin with a long stem!

Refining my fork skills

Emptying the snack cabinet...again


Where I spent most of my time - at Mommy's feet

Love pancakes!



Daddy ran me out into the hurricane!!!


Bundled up for the cooler weather



Snuggles with Daddy

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Pumpkin Painting

The pumpkin that I picked at school was starting to go, so we decided to paint it...

This is pretty cool...
Wonder what it tastes like...
That's not food!



What? I have something on my face?
Did I get it?
How about now?
My masterpiece!


Saturday, November 3, 2012

Halloween | Shay-o-saurus



On the hayride with Mommy

Leaving the house to go trick-or-treating!!!

ROAR!!

Putting candy in my bag

I was really good about only taking one piece of candy




I insisted on walking most of the time



@20 months...

-My favorite word is, "Bye bye!" When I leave the room, when someone else leaves the room, when we say we are going for a walk, always! I even throw my pacifier back in the crib when Mommy gets me out in the morning and wish it a fond farewell - "Buhbye, pap!"
-Mommy taught me the Baby Bumblebee song and showed me the hand motions, then I walked around with my fingers interlocked and sang, "bay-bee-buh-buh-buh!" I even started to do the hand motions later when she started whistling it. She says I'm a musical genius!
-I know the sounds for a dog ("woo woo", cat ("mouw"), duck ("kack kack"), owl ("whoo"), bird ("tee tee") and (sometimes) elephant ("high-pitched "ooo")
-New word: "shoes." When Mommy or Daddy tells me to go get my shoes, I can do it. I also like to bring them my shoes and tell them, "Shoes bye bye!" since I know we need shoes when we are leaving. I can sort of put them on my own feet too. Sometimes I insist that we go for a short walk outside too
-I surprised Mommy and Daddy one morning, when I pointed to my cup and said, "Malk!" It was supposed to be "milk" but it didn't come out right! Since then it has also been, "Mork"
-I know some of the actions to the Itsy Bitsy Spider song, so I wiggle my fingers together, and twist my wrists, and put my arms up when it's the part about the rain
-When the 49ers scored thier first touchdown of the season, I was able to signal my first real touchdown!
-I'm putting more words together, like, "Go bye bye." and "I got it!" and "More nah-nee" (banana) and "I want dat" (while pointing) and "What dis?" and "Mommy more" and "More cookies!" "Daddy shoes"
-Being dropped off at school is getting a little better. I know that Mommy is going to come back, but I still wish she didn't have to leave. I still cry everyday, but it's not very long.
-I went with Mommy and Daddy to get sushi one night. They had the sushi, but I ate the edamame. Yum! I tried the rice off of chopsticks, but it was not my favorite. And then I flirted with the waitress and she gave me a small bag of M&Ms! I got such a sugar rush from the few tiny bites that Mommy shared with me that I was in the middle of the street that night at 8:30 trying to walk it off! Mommy said she was afraid that I was going to fall because I was walking so fast!
-I can hum parts of the "Wheels on the Bus" song
-My teachers at school taught me how to sign, "All done." by opening my hands and twisting my hands at the wrist. Now, I can say it too
-I tell my toys, "Nai nai." (night night) when I'm cleaning them up
-For some reason, every time I say, "Thank you." it comes out, "Thank you, Daddy." instead! It doesn't matter who I'm talking to either. Which gets Mommy some pretty strange looks in the grocery store!
-I'm also learning to say "Please" (sounds like "peace")
-I'm wearing size 12 months pajamas, and size 9 months pants
-I hold Mommy or Daddy's cell phone up to my ear and repeat, "Hi! Hi! Hi!"
-Sometimes, I ask for "more pap" if I'm not quite ready to wake up in the morning
-I've learned to bark ("woo woo!") at all of the doggies when we take Wrigley for his walk. It's what he does, and I want to be just like my big brother! I also like to point out all of the cars ("car!")
-I finger-painted at school, and chose green paper for Mommy's favorite color, and blue paint for Daddy's favorite color
-My second favorite word is probably, "Cookie!" I think it's because I usually get one after I say it
-After school, I'm a bit cranky. It's a long day, and I usually need about 15-20 minutes of sitting with Mommy watching YouTube videos to decompress! I'm starting to ask for videos by name ("Baa Baa" for Baa Baa Black Sheep and "Row Row" for Row, Row, Row your boat, and "Duck" for Five Little Ducks or "Baby" for the Baby Animals song or "Ol-mee" for Old MacDonald or "Bus" for The Wheels on the Bus and "Bee" for the Baby Bumblebee song)
-I say "play" when I'm walking into school
-I can answer questions with, "No." (and shaking my head, sometimes furiously if Mommy is attempting to get me to eat veggies again!) but don't say, "Yes" yet, so I usually just repeat whatever it is that I would like if I mean "yes." I can repeat, "Yes" though
-I've said "more" for a while now, but it's coming out "moy-ee" recently, kinda like "muy" in Spanish. Daddy thought there might be a little girl at school who speaks Spanish that I was trying to impress!
-I've been sick a few times with colds that I've caught at daycare, and Mommy will let me lay on her chest and sleep for a few hours at night so all that yuckiness can drain a little bit and I can breathe again!
-One weekend morning, after I woke up, Mommy put me in bed with her and Daddy and Wrigley. We were practicing everyone's name, so I said, "Daddy" when she pointed to Daddy, and then I said, "Mommy" when she pointed to herself, and then she put my hands on my own chest and said, "Shay" so I repeated it, "Yay." We did it all again and I repeated, "Tay." The third time we did it, Mommy put my hands on my chest and I tried to say my name before she told me, but it came out wrong and I said, "Puppy!" We all giggled!
-I can correctly repeat, "Shay" now
-I had my first over night away from Mommy (if you don't count the first several months of my life!). Mommy and Daddy went to a wedding and I stayed at home with Grandmommy and Grandaddy. I got to say goodnight to them over the phone though
-I still say, "Oooooh!" after I burp
-The war on all veggies still wages!
-One of my favorite things to do is walk in circles around the dining room table. I'm still getting a kick out of the fact that I can walk!
-In an effort to show Mommy that no, my tantrums are not meant to be funny, I've upped my arsenal of tantrum behaviors to include: putting my head on the floor, throwing myself on the floor, going completely limp when she tries to move me, and throwing my head backwards, in addition to the usual whining, protesting, crying, and stomping. Note to self: attempt in public more often as I am usually given animal crackers from Mommy's purse in response to above behaviors
-A car doesn't count as an animal, but I know it's sound: "Vroom! Vroom!"
-When Mommy holds a tissue to my nose and tells me to 'blow.' I just make noises with my mouth!
-I help wipe my face and hands with a washcloth after I eat. And usually my feet and hair too!
-I smell all of the flowers in all of my books. It's just what you do with flowers
-Almost every time I see Daddy, I 'beatbox' at him (blow short bursts of raspberries). I smile really big because I know it is our special thing
-My flipflops went missing for a week. It turns out I had put them in the doggie toy basket instead of the shoe basket!
-I can hold the bubble wand and dip it myself. Still need help with Mommy holding the bottle even though I try to get her to give it to me. I know to put the wand to my lips and can make bubbles now. Every once in a while though, I can't resist and stick the wand in my mouth! I'm not sure why I can't remember that it tastes bad!
-I had picture day at school. Mommy didn't end up ordering any because she couldn't decide if I was cuter in the picture where I was crying or in the picture where I was staring blankly at the camera with my mouth hanging open!
-My bottom molars are almost all the way in and my top ones are barely peeking through
-When Mommy picks me up from school, I immediately drop whatever I am doing (even if it's a spoon full of applesauce!) and run to her. I always say, "Mommy!" then smile SO big, while tucking my chin to my chest giving me at least a dozen chins, and put my arms out, fingers spread, palms up, for a hug, while I walk bouncily over to her! Sometimes, I'm even so relieved to see her that I start crying. God help the teachers who need to take me back to wash my hands off or change my diaper after I have spotted Mommy!
-I like to alternate between walking on the sidewalk and walking on the grass when I walk inside from the car. Three steps on the sidewalk, three steps on the grass, three steps back on the sidewalk, three steps back on the grass...
-When we go on walks without Wrigley (when I am literally walking, not being pushed in the stroller), I like to pick up everything ("Leaves!"), and pull the stuff from the drainage grates, and poke my fingers in every spider web I can find on people's tires in the parking lot!
-Mommy didn't even have to say, "Thank you, bye bye!" to the lady at the deli counter who gave me a small slice of turkey
-Apparently I talk in my sleep. Mommy said it's mostly in the morning when I'm waking up, and usually I talk about Mommy or Daddy, but sometimes, "puppy"
-I'm learning to use a fork to eat my egg in the morning. I can hold it correctly and put the egg and fork in my mouth and get the egg off, but it's the getting the egg on the fork part that's the hardest!
-I can stack four large blocks like a champ!
-One morning, when Daddy got me out of my crib, he flicked on the big overhead light, and I told him, "Bright!" (Mommy taught me to say that when the sun gets in my eyes)
-All the kids in my books are "boy." Even the child on the side of my yogurt cups is "boy."
-I felt silly one week and added "ie" to the end of some of my words, so "duck" was "duckie" and "bup" was
bup-ee" and "book" was "bookie"
-I remember certain things about books that then become the 'title' of that book to me. So one of my books is called, "Moo" because there is a cow in it and that's what I like to find in that particular book. Sometimes, I will stand in front of my book shelf and say, "bubble bubble bubble" over and over while pulling out each book until I have found the Clifford book about bubbles! Mommy and Daddy eventually caught on and help me look for the book I want
-My third favorite word is "muffin" ("muh-in"), and this is also because I usually get one after I say it! Mommy told me that she put shredded sweet potatoes and carrots and zucchini in them so I would eat veggies, but I can't taste them
-I like taking books outside with me when I go to the playground at school. One of my teachers said I must be more mature than the other children because they eat the sand and I like to sit and read books!
-I had a little bit of a rough time adjusting to my later naptime at school and was upset during the first outside time of the day for a few weeks
-Mommy showed me a picture of a girl in a bed in one of my books, and said she was going 'Night night," so I put my head down on the book, closed my eyes, and said, "Nai nai!"
-I tell Mommy, "NECK!" ("next") when we are listening to music in the car and I don't like a song!
-In the morning when we are getting ready to leave, I will tell Mommy, "Hurry up and put on your shoes, because I am excited to get to school and play with my new friends!" but it comes out: "Play. Bye bye. Play. Boys. Shoes." Sigh, I wish my speaking skills would catch up to my typing abilities!
-I try to open the fridge my myself, and when I can't, I say, "Pull!"
-I announce, "Hot!" if I feel my eggs and they are still a little bit too warm!
-My favorite game right now is 'chase' but I usually get so excited that I end up running toward the person and falling into their arms! I also love being ticked and laugh/scream/squeal when Mommy tickles my collarbone or squeezes my thighs! She calls them my "fat legs" even though I don't have a bit of fat on them!
-I've been sick a lot more since starting school. I didn't have a fever and I wasn't acting sick when I had a cold this month, but I had a pretty nasty cough that made me tired since I didn't sleep much at night
-Mommy hung a clothesline in my room for me to hang my artwork on. We do crafts a lot at school and I'm always bringing things home that I've made!
-I've finally decided to call Wrigley something. I thought that I would have figured it out a long time ago, but Mommy and Daddy call him so many different nicknames and he's also "Dog" and "Doggie" and "Puppy" so you can see why I was confused! It sort of sounds like, "Dee Dee" but there also times where it sounds like, "Ree Ree"
-When Mommy takes me to the library to pick out new books, I think it is my job to pull every board book off of the shelves and yell, "I got book!"
-I like to point out the babies in books and magazines ("Baby")
-Daddy is trying to teach me about soccer. I repeated "Sah-kuh-bah" (soccerball) a few times and stood extremely close to the TV when it was on. I also got my soccerball from the toy bin and told Daddy, "Kick!" I'm getting better at using my feet to move the ball around, but might have to be a goalie since I pick it up a lot too!
-One of the teachers at school told Mommy, "He's a really good boy." She was talking about me!
-I've learned to say, "No more" when I'm finished eating (often combined with signing 'All done' and repeatedly saying, "No no no no...")
-I like to feed Wrigley treats, so I go over to where his treats are kept and grab on of the bag of treats and bring it to Mommy or Daddy and say Wrigley's name. Sometimes, I start to move the treat toward my mouth, but they remind me to let Wrigley eat it, not me. I'm getting much better. They don't taste very good! And I make sure to tell him, "Good Boy" when he takes the treat nicely from my hand
-I finally got my fourth lower center tooth...after all of my molars came in. I don't remember hearing anything about preemies and weird order of teeth emergence!

Ta-da!



"Neck!"


I thought this was supposed to get easier...

Oh, well this way is pretty easy!

Nope...Mommy said I had to use the spoon...

Maybe if I just open my mouth wider!



Taking a lap around the dining room table again!



Maybe if I hold the food still...

"Boy!"

"I got book!"

Eating a "muh-in"