Dennis said, "I'm actually kindof proud of him. I feel like I want to take a picture." So, take a picture we did.
And, a closeup:
As it turns out, his left knee is actually stained with whatever that is (mulberry juice?). Soap didn't help. Scrubbing didn't help much, and we didn't have the heart to scrub those scraped-up knees too hard anyway.
All that, and he actually didn't even get dressed and go outside until 3:21, AND he had a post-lunch shower because he was covered in blueberry yogurt. So, that's what less than 6 hours of outside fun will do to you, if you're Dexter. :)
We've been keeping track for a while. Dates represent when we wrote that word down, not necessarily when he said it. Obviously, while he was quiet for a loooooong time, he's making up for it now and even started using 2-word phrases at the end of April (just shy of 19 months old).
3/19 - baby
up ("puh")
MINE!
trash
uh-oh!
oops
yay!
shoes
sock
mop
tick tock (from the book "Mr. Brown Can Moo!")
boom (from same book)
eye
hi ("hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii")
bye bye
outside
down
thank you
yes
all done!
cheers!
3/23 - water ("wa-wa")
banana ("na na")
please ("peeeeeees")
light
uh-uh (no)
stuck (mostly just repeating this one)
3/25 - yellow ("yah-yoh" - at this point, everything is "yah-yoh" when you ask what color it is)
blue ("booooo" - mostly repeated. See above how everything is yellow.)
3/28 - apple ("AP-pullllllllll")
towel ("toww")
teeth
3/31 - NO!
4/2 - ball ("bah")
4/3 - nose
off
4/5 - down
4/21 - spoon
Yo Gabba Gabba ("go gah gah")
cookie
bath time
all clean!
all done!
all gone! (these 3 sound very much alike)
lawnmower ("MAH-moooooh") - boy is this his FAVORITE new word!
4/24 - "bye bye dog" (2 words together! said to Mary's dog Z when we were leaving)
4/26 - circle ("shah-shuh" - and yes, he points them out sometimes all on his own)
star
diaper ("dah-duh")
help (sounds like "apple," so context is key here)
dog ("Dah! wff wff")
car ("Tah")
hot ("ah-tee," followed by blowing on whatever is "ah-tee")
night night! ("nah-nat")
bubbles (said very clearly, actually, even with the L sound)
flower ("fah-fur" - not sure where the F in the middle comes from)
sun (identified it on his own in a book!)
4/28 - bear (a bear says "rawr")
5/3 - cow ("towwwww")
bread
beep beep! (with motion of hand on a car horn)
light off (two words again!)
5/9 - march (almost always followed by marching across the room)
hat
dance
ear
eat
pull
red
purple ("puh-pul")
sip
5/5 - seven ("sas-see" - but we know it's "seven" because it comes after "six.")
5/6 - shower
phone
green ("geeeeee" - mostly repeated)
rub rub rub (how we put on lotion at night)
fork
5/7 - cracker ("ca-cah")
5/13 - Butterfly
5/14 - sad ("Baby Sad" when Desmond is crying. So cute, and a 2-word phrase!)
And, since we say they count, the animal (and other) sounds Dexter knows, in no particular order:
dog (wff-wff)
car ("vm-vm")
train ("choo CHOOOOOO!")
cat
bear ("roar" with a hand as a claw. Strangely, this sound is barely whispered.)
lion (same as bear)
mouse ("squeek SQUEEEEEEK!!!")
monkey ("eee-eee-oooh!")
bird
penguin ("flap flap")
horse ("neeeeeiiiigh" with head shake)
cow
pig ("nn-NNK!")
duck
chicken ("Bok BOK!" and he tries to flap his arms, but it comes out as double fist-pumps. Freakin' adorable.)
owl
truck ("vm-vm")
So, 80 words + 17 animal noises. 97 "words," so not quite 100. Will append with the next 3 things soon!
5/16 update - Ah! I forgot "mama" and "dada," both of which he does finally say (and mean). Also forgot "orange" ("aahnge"). So YAY 100!
Would you look at those eyes? What a gorgeous man!
Have I mentioned Dexter's hair before? We call it "Cotton Candy Hair." That's the only thing I can think of that maybe looks like this. And it looks like this EVERY DAY. We've tried everything. Combing it after bath. Using conditioner. Using detangler. Not using detangler. Combing dry with detangler in the morning. Combing wet with detangler in the evening. The kid just insists on rubbing the back of his head all over things.
It also reminds me of the mad scientist from the intro of Robot Chicken.
Let's get on to the important stuff:
Teeth: We have more teeth! After six months of rockin' those one-year molars, Dexter is apparently ready to add 4 canines to the bunch. So we are up to sixteen. It doesn't seem to be bothering him too much, but really, what slows this kid down? He certainly doesn't mind when we put some baby orajel on his poor little gums, either.
Words & Signs: He is SO pushing 100 words. More on that in another post soon. I don't think he has any new signs since last month, really. Why bother signing when you can TALK, baby?!
Sleep: Ugh. No real progress on life in a toddler bed. He spends the 2nd half of most nights in our bed. I'm mostly OK with that, as long as he just comes in and sleeps instead of flopping around. (And mostly, he does sleep once he gets there.) Still, he gets REALLY upset if his Mom is not exactly where he expects her to be when he strolls into the bedroom at night, which is going to present a problem for his Dad when Mom is gone on a couple of work trips this summer. Ugh again.
Food: Nothing new here, though he may be losing his passion for bananas. Dennis and I still refer to them as "yellow fruit" in his presence, though, especially on the rare occasions when we have none on hand. Last week, we ended up with TWENTY bananas in the house and still managed to eat them all before they went bad. (For once, there were enough for Dexter's parents to have a few.) I still think he would live completely off of fruit if we let him.
Tricks: He's still doing his old favorites, like high fives and gesturing along with his animal noises. He also likes to blow (unbelievably ineffectively, I might add) on his food or anything else (stove, bathwater, BBQ grill) deemed "ah-tee" (hot). He can use a straw, zip his coat, play patty cake (ok, not 100%, but better and better all the time), and blow kisses. He LOVES to play "itsy bitsy spider" in the bathtub, mostly because in "DOWN came the rain," he gets to make a giant splash. He does a great job with "If you're happy and you know it" and gives great kisses with sound effects. He also randomly blows raspberries on any exposed skin. He is adorable when he says "SHHHHH!" (complete with finger on the side of his nose - I guess that's close to over his lips) when the baby is sleeping. Finally, he has all but mastered use of a fork and spoon, but he still does a really weak job of wiping his hands & face.
Books: I can't say we have any new favorites here. The cool part about books is how he really participates in book time now. I mentioned last month how he makes the sounds in "Mr. Brown Can Moo." Now he also does that for Sandra Boynton's "Moo, Baa, La La La." SO freakin' cute. And for just about any book you grab, he is on the lookout for things he recognizes - apples, circles, Elmo, bananas, dogs ("wff wff!"), shoes, butterflies, flowers, bears, the sun, cars - it is pretty cool. TV: Yes, I have just given up. He watches TV. Not much. Probably a few hours/week total. And it's almost all Yo Gabba Gabba, not war movies or anything. He's only asked for it a few times, though. Mostly we suggest it. He knows some of their songs and characters. There are worse things, right?
I know the time for monthly updates might be coming to a close, but I am going to try to stick with it until 24 months, at least. He's still doing new stuff all of the time, and I want to make sure I get it all written down.
