I can hardly believe our baby is nearly two. It is hard to remember what life was like before him, yet the first time I held his tiny body doesn't seem like it was that long ago.
Even though he'll always be our "baby", it's hard to deny that he's becoming quite a little boy.
-His understanding of various concepts is really starting to be apparent. He responds to what we say, like when he wasn't feeling well this past week and I was able to talk to him and calm him down. He takes words he knows and uses them in new contexts, like asking us to "close the door" when he wants the shower curtain pulled shut at bath time.
-He is using new words daily. There is no way to keep up with them now.
-He is very opinionated and let's us know what he wants... whether it's turning on his favourite song (still "Firetruck", followed closely by "Jingle Bells" these days) in the car, having us dance and where ("Mama! Dance! Carpet!), what he wants to eat ("Applesauce. Cinnamon."), or who he wants to see (Skype Grandma).
-Despite the demands he is very sweet. He often uses "please" and "thank you" without prompting, and not just when he wants/gets something. If we tell him something along the lines of, "Your teeth look so nice and clean" or "You look great in that sweater", he will say thank you. He has also started telling us "I love you MUCH". Heartmelting.
-With regards to the previous two bullets, he has also starting telling us "Great singing" or "No sing", depending on how he's feeling. The first is so sweet. The second a little upsetting, though we try not to take it personally.
-Two of the funnier things he says are, "I help you?" when asking for help and calling water "yoyo" --we're not sure where this one came from as he used to call water water. Kids!
-He is very social. He loves it when people come over. We had a neighbour we usually see at the park over earlier this month and they had a blast running around together. He also does well with adults and seems to have great recall for names/faces. That said, he still does not recognize the photo of himself with Grandma that we have on the fridge, and insists that it is "Jean Luc", his baby doll.
-He has been enjoying Christmas lights, tree, music and books. We celebrated (early) with my family this past weekend and he had a blast. It is so fun having a little one around during the holidays. He played nicely with many of the toys he opened, and his favourites (so far) seemed to be a ramp set from my brother and his fiancee and a harmonica from us.
-He eats well, but is still somewhat picky. We've found pouches with a blend of fruit and veggies are a good way of getting some different vegetables into him. He's not big on meat, but will eat milk products and eggs. We have mostly cut out cow milk from his diet and it seems to be improving the bowel issues he was having. Grapes have been a newer favourite fruit and we've found canned peaches in water are also typically well-received. He doesn't seem keen on crunchy fruit and vegetables. It makes me wonder if more of a BLW approach and less purees would have been a better way of introducing solids. He eats though and his healthy and growing, so I suppose I shouldn't worry.
-His motor skills continue to develop. He requests colouring fairly often and has continued to enjoy working on puzzles. Gross-motor wise, he is getting quite good at actions like marching, walking sideways and backward, and mimicking other movements. He loves to run and climb and jump, though with the colder weather and darker evenings, we haven't been getting outside to give him opportunities to do so quite as much as I'm sure he would like.
-He continues to be a good sleeper (*knock wood*), but has been fussing a little when we put him down. He usually settles quickly, though sometimes one of us has to go in and rub his back or talk to him calmly for a minute or two. I really hope the new baby doesn't mess up his sleep too much. I think he takes after his mommy in regards to needing his sleep. He typically sleeps from about 7:00pm to 6:30 or 7:00am. On weekends he'll nap for 2-3 hours in the afternoon, though at daycare it seems to be more like 1-2 hours.
This next month is going to be a big one for our family. (More) Christmas celebrations. A new baby. A second birthday. It's been such a joy watching The Bean grow into this little boy he is becoming. I can't wait for all everything this coming month and the many months ahead have in store for us all.
The Bean sounds like he's doing wonderfully!
ReplyDeleteFantastic post. Time really does fly by. It seems like just yesterday that we were sitting in Te Aro with your 6 week old. He's going to make a wonderful big brother :)
ReplyDeletethe bean is such a joy, and such a big boy! so sweet.
ReplyDeleteas for the food -- we've done more BLW-style (by the zunzun's choosing, not necessarily our own), and he still has plenty of texture "preferences" (he gags mightily and is adept at spitting things right back out, thank you). there's no accounting for eating preferences, i think. as long as he's healthy and growing, i think it's all fine!
enjoy this month of exciting events!