You are TWENTY-THREE MONTHS old today! Oh my goodness, we are going to blink and you will be TWO! I need to take some deep breaths because this is just almost too much for me to believe. Where has the time gone? How are you almost two? Is there anything I can do to convince you to stay a baby (can I even call you my baby anymore?) for just a little while longer?
The big news this month is your verbal communication. Everyone has been telling me now for months that you "are on the verge of a verbal explosion" and they were right! We can barely keep up with our list of words you now can say. Now, this is still not to say that you are using words regularly. No sir, you still would rather gesture and grunt that say anything, but you CAN say a whole lot. Now we are working on getting you to CHOOSE to say those words regularly. Your favorite word is "BUB-BLE!" We hear "bubble" at least 5 times a day, usually accompanied by an excited face, pointing and running to the back door. My favorite is hearing you say "mama" when I pick you up from school, followed closely by "da-dee."
You still love your little sisters, running to find them first thing in the morning like it's your job. You enjoy hugging and kissing them, although you do it regardless of if they are awake or sleeping, so we need to work on leaving the girls alone when they are sleeping. We have taken to closing our bedroom door while they nap and you DO NOT like that and will stand at our door and knock until you are allowed in. You still love to point out and name all of their body parts "eyes, nose, and ears" being your favorites. You also try to hold their hands a lot, especially in the car. You steal their pacis faster than we can keep up with and will pop their bows on their heads if they are wearing one. You like to love on them with all that you have, so we still need to practice loving on them more gently.
This last week you came down with hand, foot and mouth disease and it has easily been my least favorite week of the month. Maybe of the year. You have generally handled it like a champ and still eat and walk even though you have blisters covering your mouth and feet. You have been pretty fussy and I can tell you are relying on your Motrin to relieve the pain, but still overall in good spirits. I'm so thankful this hasn't been worse than it has been.
My favorite time of the day is still bedtime while Daddy is in offseason. I love that time where it's just the three of us in your room and you are so HAPPY. We definitely need to spend more time with you just the three of us, but I'm sure that will come easier once the girls get a little older. You love having our undivided attention and are just precious while we hang out with you. You love to play hide-and-seek with Daddy around the dresser, sit in my lap to read "B is for Bulldozer" and help Daddy put your books away. We have a pretty sweet little system/routine going and I look forward to it everyday. The sweetest part is after Daddy has turned off the light and left the room while we are saying your prayers. Each night you always wait until we are finished praying and you reach for me in the dark, hug my neck for a long time and then kiss me on my cheek before laying back down. It melts me every night and I hope you never get too old to love on your mama before falling asleep.
You still love to be outside and mainly want to play bubbles and push your cars around. I've never seen such pure, unadulterated, sheer happiness as I do when I turn on the bubble machine. You go crazy over the bubbles and it is hilarious to sit and watch you play in them. You just run back and forth through them and then try to eat them. You love to run over to Auntie Sara's and play with Sophie through the window and try to open her door with the key. You are obsessed with keys and doors this month. Along with that you have learned how to lock the doors inside of our house and have locked yourself in various rooms several times. You also spend a good portion of your day standing at the window in our dining room and looking out the window. You wave at everyone that walks by, point out everything you see, and knock on the window when anyone leaves so that you can wave bye to them.
I do believe you are the pickiest eater on the planet. You used to be so good at eating your fruit and now I have to hide it in a smoothie for you to eat any. Your meat selection used to just to chicken nuggets from CFA but even that you won't touch anymore. What is Dr K going to say at your 2-year checkup next month?!? You love milk, cheese, crackers and oatmeal. Other than that we never really know what you will or will not eat. You won't even touch cake or ice cream!
Telling you "no" is becoming more of an occurrence, and something you really hate to hear. We never really know what is going to set you off into full meltdown mode, but taking something away from you (usually something you shouldn't have) or telling you "no" is a surefire way to start a tantrum. Boy, are you strong willed! I know your persistence, strong will and stubbornness will serve you well later in life, but right now it makes you a little monster. Our biggest battle with you everyday is being consistent with your discipline, which is hard to manage with two infants who demand so much of my attention. I know a lot of this will taper off as you get older and more communicative, but right now you make me want to pull my hair out. Thankfully you don't tell us "no" even though you can say the word. You will, however, tell Sophie "no no no" and shake your finger at her. It's too cute to watch you do that!
Carter Man, we have so much fun with you these days. You could play and laugh and be outside all day if we would let you, never slowing down to eat or nap. You are so full of energy and life and I hope that never changes. We love watching your relationship with your sisters develop and seeing you become a big brother has been heartwarming. We love you to the moon and back.
23-Month Stats:
Weight: 29.4 pounds
Length: 32ish inches
Eating: milk and water, cereal or oatmeal, PB&J or nutella sandwich, yogurt, fruit, smoothies, and a hodge podge of food at dinner
Bedtime: around 7:30pm
Awake: around 7:00am
Nap: around 1:00
Diapers: size 5 Huggies, size 6 overnights
Clothes: 2T
Shoes: 5.5 wide
Favorites: playing outside, anything with wheels, your paci, books, watching TV, bubbles, window watching, playing in the car or garage
Dislikes: meat, people leaving the room, being in the stroller, diaper changes, not being able to hold/touch/hug/kiss the girls when they are sleeping
Dislikes: meat, people leaving the room, being in the stroller, diaper changes, not being able to hold/touch/hug/kiss the girls when they are sleeping
Development: communicating verbally more
Words:
baby, ball, blue, bubble, bucket, bug, button, bye, cheese, cooper, cup, dada, deer, diaper, dirt, dog, duck, dump, hello, hey, hi, John Deere, mama, more, move, movie, nana, nemo, night night, no, outside, paci, spoon, star, stuck, that, tractor, truck, uh oh, up, yes, zip
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