He’s Two

We still don’t have working internet at our house so I’m attempting this from the wordpress app. We’ll see how it goes.

Bowen had a wonderful second birthday. We celebrated with friends and family on his actual birthday.

My family came from NKY and almost all of Baker’s extended family came to celebrate. Bowen’s friends Easton, Ace, Brady, Quinn, and Graham came too. We had a house full.

He was his usual shy self and didn’t say much.

He grabbed my hand while everyone sang happy birthday and didn’t even attempt to blow out his candles, even though we had practiced for weeks.

As soon as he got a cupcake he asked for a fork and napkin. I love it. He likes good table manners and staying tidy.

He got too many presents. Oh my goodness, we love in a toy store. And to think Christmas is right around the corner.

It was a great party and a great time to show off our new home. We are so glad both sides of our family could come and celebrate Bowen.

Hopefully we’ll have internet in the next week and I can do a new house update and Bowen’s 24 month info post.

23 Months Old

My little boy is closing in on two.

Height: I’m not positive, but he has been growing about a quarter of an inch every few weeks for the past few months. His legs are looking longer and longer.

Weight: Around 26 lbs.

Sleep: He is still a horrible sleeper, and we’ve learned to accept it. His internal alarm clock goes off at 5:30 on the dot pretty much every morning. He doesn’t wake up during the night as much as he used to, thank goodness.

Likes: playing outside, going for walks in the stroller, his grandparents, dogs, swimming, water, tractors, cows, airplanes

Dislikes: being told “no,” his crib, strangers

I’m loving this age. Bowen and I have so much fun together. He is starting to comprehend the things we talk about and will say things to me that we talked about weeks ago. It seems like he’s saying a new word everyday. He’s started talking in phrases, mostly two or three words at a time.

Every morning we look for the ball in the sky (the moon), and when I forget to look he reminds me. He loves to read book after book after book. Puzzles are his favorite thing to do, either on the iPad or the chunky wooden ones we have. Of course, his favorite puzzle is a farm puzzle.

He’s becoming a little bossy. He wants to tell everyone where to sit and what to do. I love seeing his personality shine. He’s a rule follower, which I expected since I am too. He wants his friends to follow rules too, which is hilarious.

On to the next month.

22 Months Old

We are quickly approaching two. I can’t believe how fast time is going.

Height: Not sure, my best guess is 33 or 34 inches

Weight: He’s getting heavier, around 24 pounds

Clothes: mostly 12-18 month shorts, 18-24 month/2T shirts, size 6 shoes

Language: He loves to talk, mostly about bulls, farms, silos, and the dogs, but he loves to talk. He still babbles quite a bit, but he uses words I can understand inside all of the babbling. He uses some short phrase, like Where’s _________? I want ___________. 

 

Behavior: We are totally in the terrible twos. Bowen can throw a fit like I’ve never seen before. I’m pretty sure a lot of it has to do with his inability to communicate how he feels, so we’re working on understanding emotions. He can say when he’s happy, so I’m hoping he’ll soon tell us when he’s mad or sad.

He likes to do the body melt, where it’s like they have no bones in their body. He also likes to grab our faces and act like he’s going to bite us. We’re trying the time out approach, but it’s not really working very well yet. Redirection works well, but I sometimes feel like I’m letting him off too easy when I simply say No, be nice to Mommy and then redirect him to something else.

Likes: Carousels, snuggling, grandparents, animals, being outside, talking about bulls, snuggling, reading books, iPads, phones, apples (which are both apples and peaches), riding the Gator

Dislikes: going to the babysitters in the morning, leaving the babysitters house in the afternoon, sitting in the stroller, being told no

On to the next month.

21 Months Old

We’re getting closer and closer to 2, and it’s breaking my heart. Where has time gone?!?

Weight: around 24 lbs

Height: He’s really had a big growth spurt over the past month. I’m sure he’s over 31 inches, but he doesn’t slow down long enough to actually measure him.

Diapers: Size 4 still fit best. We bought some 5s, but they are too big. He has chicken legs and the leg holes seem much wider on the 5s. We also have a toddler potty in the bathroom, but Bowen hasn’t shown a whole lot of interest. We aren’t going to rush it, we just wanted him to have plenty of time to get used to having it around. My hope is that he will get curious about it at some point.

Clothes: Mostly 18-24 months, a few 12 month shorts, some 2T outfits, size 6 shoes

Likes: the iPad, playing outside, dogs, cows, music, running, cuddling

Dislikes: getting his diaper changed, being told no, getting dropped off at the babysitters, sleeping by himself

Words: He’s talking more and more. He’ll say most anything you ask him to say. His new favorites are – Mommy, Daddy, Coco, Milo, Bronkey, dog, farm, go, stop, don’t, no, bye bye, see you, let’s go, car, cow, vroom vroom, choo choo, train, candy, wa wa (water), mik (milk), fishy, blankie, peas (please), tank ya (thank you), elcom (you’re welcome). I’m sure there are more.

Developmental Milestones: He’s been stacking blocks, walking backward, going up the stairs holding onto the rail, following simple directions, and using manners.

20 Months Old

Bowen is now 20 months old. I can’t believe how fast this second year is going.

Height: He is seriously growing, which is beyond exciting for all of us. Of course, just when I start to worry, he takes off! Probably around 31.25 inches.

Weight: Around 23 lbs.

Sleep: We can’t seem to drop down to just one nap. He loves two naps, and he NEEDS two naps. Maybe I’ll just let the babysitter try to do that for me. He is sleeping better at night. We let him fall asleep on his own terms, so usually he goes to bed around 9:15 – 9:30. I know that sounds late, but he’s still taking two naps a day. I’m sure if I could keep him up during the day, he would go to bed earlier, but since I’m off during the summer we haven’t pushed it too hard. He wakes up in the morning around 7:30.

Eat: He’ll eat anything. During our vacation he tried lots of new things, including octopus, and not of the deep fried variety. His favorite foods of the moment are cherries, peanuts, raisins, craisins, goat cheese, blueberries, peanut butter, hummus, and string cheese. He loves Clif bars, and probably eats half of one everyday. He’s not the biggest fan of milk, but he’ll drink almost a whole sippy cup of it each day. If he sees you eat something, he wants it, which we use to our advantage.

Talk: Bowen’s adjusted age is 18 months, which is when many kids have a language explosion, and I think we’re in the midst of that. He has started to really talk about everything. He talks constantly. He knows everyone’s name and LOVES to talk about the dogs. He’ll repeat a lot of what you say if you ask him to. At this moment I know he can say dog, puppy, Milo, Coco, Bronky, Nana, Papaw, Mimi, Gramps, Daddy, Cassie, Baker, Roro (Robin), Shea, Jenn, KK (Kaitlin), belly, balloon, pee pee, no, don’t, yes, go, up, down, wawa (water), mik (milk), cow, moo, gator, baby, boo berry (blueberry), Bobo (what he refers to himself as). He jabbers and says things that I don’t understand, which can be frustrating. Currently, he refuses to call me Mom, instead he calls me Cassie. We’re not sure what that’s about, but it’s embarrassing and he’s thinks he’s hilarious.

          His receptive language skills continue to amaze us. Just the other day, I asked him to throw some trash away, not thinking he could do it. He took it into the kitchen opened up the right cabinet and put it in the can. On his way back he remembered he didn’t close the cabinet, and went back into the kitchen to close it. It seems so simple, but it was AWESOME!

Sizes: He still wears mostly 12-18 month clothes. His shorts are all 12 months, and we still have issues with them falling down or being too long. I did buy a few 24 month shirts recently, but they’re in a brand that runs a little small. He’s still wearing a size 4 diaper. He has moved up to a size 6 shoe, although he has a few 5s that still fit.

Likes: being naked, outside, water, family, sleeping in his carseat, snuggling, music, dancing, dogs, balloons, making the Buckwheat face

Dislikes: sand, being in the car for too long, sleeping in his crib, being held when he wants to walk, sitting in the stroller

On to the next month.

18 Months Old

Our little man has been around for a year and a half. That’s insane!

He’s learning, maturing, and growing each week. The biggest change we’ve seen this month was in his independence. He is eager to do things on his own this month. He’s still quite shy, but he likes to show us he can do things. He’s been climbing on the couch on his own, feeding himself with spoons and forks, and even wants to pick out what he is eating.

Height: we haven’t been to the doctor in forever :), maybe around 33 inches

Weight: not quite sure, but we think he’s thinning out a little, maybe 25 lbs

Clothes: Mostly 12 month or 12-18 months, even some 9-12 month shorts from last summer

Communication: Lots of grunting this month along with gesturing, he knows what he wants when he wants it. He likes to shake his head yes and no. We try to remind him to use his words, but he usually just ends up frustrated with us. He is saying quite a few words – up, down, Coco, Milo, What’s that?, ball, yes, belly, dog, puppy, Daddy, Mommy, milk, tickle, outside, gator. I’m sure I’m leaving words out. Every once in a while he will repeat things we say, but it’s not a regular thing. We try not to worry about his speech since his adjusted age is 16 months old.

Motor Skills: Bowen is walking, running, going up and down steps with little help (he would do it on his own if I let him), climbing on furniture if it’s not too high, jumping, dancing, throwing balls, attempting to hit golf balls with a golf club, playing basketball, and    taking things apart and putting them back together. He’s on the go constantly.

Sleep: one two-ish hour nap a day, bedtime around 8:00 pm, wakes up around 6:30 am – usually I cuddle and nurse him to sleep in our bed and then Baker puts him into his own bed where he stays for the night

Likes: playing outside, going for walks outside, the babysitter, playing on the bed, going downstairs in the basement, Coco, cows, riding the Gator, mooing

Dislikes: being made to eat (he’d rather graze all day or, on some days, not eat anything and just drink liquids all day), going to restaurants, being in the car too long, strangers, crowded places

On to the next month.