As per usual #secondchildproblems, poor Peanut's birthday post is late- by almost a week. Oops. We've just been so busy celebrating this goofy little booger that I haven't had time to blog! Let's take a look at how much he's grown.
Growing tall! He certainly looks like a two-year-old now, losing some of the chunk from his thighs, but that belly- oh that belly. When he feels the need to really walk with purpose, he juts that belly out and leads with it.
Eating whenever it suits him, to be honest. He is, unfortunately, becoming a picky eater- not in that he'll only eat certain favorite foods, just in that he has to be in a specific mood to eat pretty much anything. His current favorite meal is "burger-fries," which is exactly what it sounds like (and they must go together, no burger-fruit or burger-chips for him) but it doesn't mean he'll eat it every time it's placed in front of him. Sometimes he'll even order it himself and then when it arrives he'll suddenly change his mind! And he's like that with everything- he doesn't universally reject green vegetables (not anymore, anyway), or meats, or starches, he just randomly decides when he's going to eat the thing he said he wanted in the first place. And about that food allergy... Daycare, as ever, selectively enforces his dietary requirements, and we've found that the reaction is starting to become less severe. Buttered toast will result in a red face covered in itchy spots, but cheese is much less severe. And either way, thoroughly cleaning his face will clear up the reaction. I still only allow him to drink non-dairy milk (we've all adopted almond milk in this house now rather than buying multiple kinds) and eat non-dairy yogurt, but he tried some of my homemade ice cream and did just fine, and he demands cheese on his food if his sister is having some.
Talking much more now, just in the last 5 months or so. He's got some pronunciation problems that his sister never had- there's a bit of a lisp we're going to have to work on- but he's making much more of an effort to put his thoughts into words. He has improved his pronunciation on some things- he still can't quite say his sister's name properly, but his approximation is much closer to the real thing now. He's still firmly in the point-at-things-and-name-them stage, but his vocabulary to describe those things has grown tremendously. He's starting to form sentences, but mostly just commands- and mostly just directed at his sister! (He loves wagging his finger at her and saying "Not nice!" if she's getting fussed at, with a big ol' smart alec grin on his face to boot.) One area he's doing tremendously well in are his (spoken) manners. He always says "please" when he asks for something and "thank you" when he receives it, and will even through in a "ah welcome" if you thank him for something. And if anybody sneezes or coughs he says "bess you", and he'll say it over and over again until you respond with "thank you." It's so cute that the daycare teachers have taken to faking a cough around him just to hear him say it! But the best is if he sneezes or coughs and nobody immediately says anything- he'll say "bess you, Pepu" as if to remind you what you're supposed to say! So all in all, he's just as bossy as his big sister, really.
Making facial expressions that sometimes make me want to call up a modeling agency...and sometimes make me exasperated. Just as he was doing six months ago, he will precede naughty behavior with a sly little grin, only sometimes now he'll say "hey!" to get your attention before he touches something he's not supposed to or throws something on the ground. And he has started telling jokes- mostly visual jokes, but sometimes he'll call something by the wrong name on purpose and then smile at you broadly until you laugh and acknowledge that he did it on purpose. There is a teacher in the toddler room at daycare that Mr. Geek and I don't necessarily care for, and I don't think Peanut does, either, but he politely tolerates her and will give half-hearted hugs to her at afternoon pickup. She sings a little song to him when she sees him and I don't think he particularly likes it, but he knows she'll stop if he smiles, so he does- but it's a smile he only gives in response to this song, with his nose wrinkled up, as if to say, "Yes, okay, you're enjoying this, but I'm not, please stop so I don't have to yell about this." I've never seen a toddler be sarcastic like that before but he does it masterfully- and I'm not sure the teacher has caught on that that's what he's doing (or at least she's not offended by it). She'll clap her hands and laugh and show everyone- "Look at that cute little smile!" and ultimately stop singing the song, which appears to be his goal. He's a clever little stinker.
Listening to all types of music, especially Disney movie soundtracks. He loves dancing to music, clapping his hands, stomping his feet, swaying side to side. And he has started attempting to sing some of his favorite nursery rhymes- "The Wheels on the Bus" is his current favorite. I think we've got another dancer on our hands!
Sleeping really well, thankfully, even napping! Sometimes he fights bedtime- he'd rather sit in his big sister's bed and play with her stuffed animals than get in his own- but after just a few minutes of complaining, he'll sleep all night. Sometimes naptime seems inconvenient for him, but most of the time he'll go down without a fight- and we're all the better for it.
Loving dinosaurs; puppies; Elmo and Cookie Monster and Abby Cadaby; books; creating abstract artworks with crayons or (especially) markers; grocery shopping; picking out his own shirt to wear; Pokemon; Cheerios; burgers; Mickey Mouse.
Hating when his hands are dirty; puppies that want to actually touch him; meeting Elmo in real life; the word "no"; if his sister touches any of his stuff; getting out of bed in the morning.
I can't believe he's already two. It feels like we only just brought him home!
Much love,
The Geeks
Growing tall! He certainly looks like a two-year-old now, losing some of the chunk from his thighs, but that belly- oh that belly. When he feels the need to really walk with purpose, he juts that belly out and leads with it.
Eating whenever it suits him, to be honest. He is, unfortunately, becoming a picky eater- not in that he'll only eat certain favorite foods, just in that he has to be in a specific mood to eat pretty much anything. His current favorite meal is "burger-fries," which is exactly what it sounds like (and they must go together, no burger-fruit or burger-chips for him) but it doesn't mean he'll eat it every time it's placed in front of him. Sometimes he'll even order it himself and then when it arrives he'll suddenly change his mind! And he's like that with everything- he doesn't universally reject green vegetables (not anymore, anyway), or meats, or starches, he just randomly decides when he's going to eat the thing he said he wanted in the first place. And about that food allergy... Daycare, as ever, selectively enforces his dietary requirements, and we've found that the reaction is starting to become less severe. Buttered toast will result in a red face covered in itchy spots, but cheese is much less severe. And either way, thoroughly cleaning his face will clear up the reaction. I still only allow him to drink non-dairy milk (we've all adopted almond milk in this house now rather than buying multiple kinds) and eat non-dairy yogurt, but he tried some of my homemade ice cream and did just fine, and he demands cheese on his food if his sister is having some.
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| bundled up for the snow at 18 months |
Making facial expressions that sometimes make me want to call up a modeling agency...and sometimes make me exasperated. Just as he was doing six months ago, he will precede naughty behavior with a sly little grin, only sometimes now he'll say "hey!" to get your attention before he touches something he's not supposed to or throws something on the ground. And he has started telling jokes- mostly visual jokes, but sometimes he'll call something by the wrong name on purpose and then smile at you broadly until you laugh and acknowledge that he did it on purpose. There is a teacher in the toddler room at daycare that Mr. Geek and I don't necessarily care for, and I don't think Peanut does, either, but he politely tolerates her and will give half-hearted hugs to her at afternoon pickup. She sings a little song to him when she sees him and I don't think he particularly likes it, but he knows she'll stop if he smiles, so he does- but it's a smile he only gives in response to this song, with his nose wrinkled up, as if to say, "Yes, okay, you're enjoying this, but I'm not, please stop so I don't have to yell about this." I've never seen a toddler be sarcastic like that before but he does it masterfully- and I'm not sure the teacher has caught on that that's what he's doing (or at least she's not offended by it). She'll clap her hands and laugh and show everyone- "Look at that cute little smile!" and ultimately stop singing the song, which appears to be his goal. He's a clever little stinker.
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| daycare glamor shots at 19 months |
Sleeping really well, thankfully, even napping! Sometimes he fights bedtime- he'd rather sit in his big sister's bed and play with her stuffed animals than get in his own- but after just a few minutes of complaining, he'll sleep all night. Sometimes naptime seems inconvenient for him, but most of the time he'll go down without a fight- and we're all the better for it.
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| celebrating his birthday with a bubble wand at Sesame Place |
Hating when his hands are dirty; puppies that want to actually touch him; meeting Elmo in real life; the word "no"; if his sister touches any of his stuff; getting out of bed in the morning.
I can't believe he's already two. It feels like we only just brought him home!
Much love,
The Geeks
