Dexter is twenty months old! TWENTY!
Doesn't he look like a four year old in that picture? Crazy. Hopefully by the time he's four, he'll have starting and ending consonant sounds on all of his words. :)
Let's go for the vital stats:
Teeth: Apparently, I gave him too much credit last month. He still only has fifteen teeth - that fourth canine, which I thought was already peeking through, has not shown its pearly white face yet. Still, the teething doesn't seem to bother him, so that's all good.
Words & Signs: Signing has pretty much tapered off, though Dennis and Daycare still try to teach him some. But, again, why sign when you can TALK?! I've quit counting his words, because there are too many to count! (3 months ago, I never could have imagined I'd be saying that at this point.) "Lawnmower" is still his absolute favorite word. He loves lawnmowers, will point out every lawnmower he sees, and will even say "lawnmower" if he hears any mechanical noise outside. It's great. He and Dennis ride the lawnmower together every chance they get. Other things he recognizes and tells us about include "airplane," "bird," "circle," (he told Dennis that his wedding ring was a circle, and he told me that the light on his ceiling fan was a circle), and "downstairs." He's still stringing lots of words together - "baby sad" (when Desmond cries) and "bye bye ____" (whatever's ending - banana, yo gabba gabba, Dad, etc."
Sleep: Dexter's been moved from the toddler bed to a mattress on the floor. At first, it was the crib mattress, but we got him a twin so he'd have a little more room to flop around. He seems completely unfazed by the change, but I'm glad he isn't falling out of bed anymore. He finally started sleeping through the night again about 7-10 days ago, when he got some antibiotics for a suspected ear infection and started getting claritin every night for his runny nose. Less coughing = less waking = happier kid in the morning. Going to sleep is hit or miss (mostly miss). A couple of nights ago, he got out of bed FIFTY NINE times over the course of an hour before finally staying in there to go to sleep. I don't know why it's so much fun to hop out of bed over and over, but apparently it's the best game ever! Then a couple of nights later, he only got up once and was sound asleep within 7 minutes. So, very inconsistent, and a lot of work to do there.
Food: He's kindof funny about food. Still asks for bananas the most, though he's OK if we're out of them (as long as he sees the banana-less bowl himself for proof). He's becoming quite skilled with a fork and spoon, though he chooses not to use them as often as he chooses to use them. He can also drink quite well from a regular cup (again, if he so chooses - almost always, at some point, he chooses to dump the contents of the cup all over himself and the floor, so we mostly stick with water for that one). One thing that hasn't changed is that he still eats a LOT. The other morning, he ate TWENTY-TWO mini pancakes. I microwaved a big batch for us to share, and he proceeded to take them all from the serving plate and put them on his plate. I laughed and never thought he would actually eat them all, but he did! Insisted on syrup, though. The boy loves his syrup. We use "light" or "sugar-free," so I'm OK with this. Finally, he's having fun eating raspberries from the plants in the back yard. Messy and fun - right up Dexter's alley.
Tricks: He's got as many intellectual tricks as physical ones these days, I think. Physically, I think he's skilled well beyond his age at kicking a ball. He can also hold a ball between his feet, jump, and land without falling. I do not believe that is something that 20-month-olds can typically do. So, Dexter continues his track record of being well ahead of the curve on all things gross motor.
OH! And he can reach the deadbolts on the exterior doors now, so we had to put slider locks at the top of the doors. Aah, adventures in Dexterland.
Intellectually, he knows a lot of stuff!
Colors - he knows yellow, blue, red, green, purple, and orange. Not a lot of love for black, brown, white, or pink. But for the ones he does know, he'll get them right whenever you ask him and sometimes will just point to something randomly and say "yellow!" And sure enough, that thing will be yellow.
Shapes - Really, he just knows circle and oval. But he recognizes circles out of context (see above). Really, he sees circles everywhere - the wedding ring, the light fixture on the fan, tires, pictures in his books, etc. He's also very good at recognizing balls. "Ball!" is an oft-heard refrain. We're working on Triangle, Square, and Rectangle, too. We have several books and a puzzle and the like, so hopefully that will help.
Body parts - he's had this down for a while. Hair, head, eyes, ears, nose, cheeks, teeth, chin, shoulder, elbow, arm, hand, fingers, tummy, back, bootie, leg, knee, foot, toes. (just in case my readers didn't know the body parts. Glad I could help.)
He's also getting better at understanding "first we do this, then we can do this." As in, "first we put on our shoes, THEN we can go outside." This is a nice development.
Books: We still read books every night, of course. Dexter is fun to read with, because he really participates a lot (saying animal noises, pointing out various things in the books, etc.). The Elmo "lift a flap" book is still a favorite, as is the train book (you push the train's nose, and it sings a loooooong song. Thanks Tootsie!)
Other Fun: Dexter still watches almost his fair share of Yo Gabba Gabba, but he mostly wants to play outside. He has a slide and a climbing toy on the deck now, so he's pretty much free to go out there and slide and play while we watch him from inside. Of course, since we still don't quite have gates on the deck, we have to watch him pretty constantly, though he hasn't yet tried to venture away from the deck. (You know the first time we turn our backs will be the time he decides to try it.) But of course we like that he plays outside. It's good for him, he loves it, it's healthy, and it wears him out. :)
And that's about it. He's still wearing 24m and 2T clothes, mostly, though the occasional 18m or 3T will fit him pretty well, too.
Excited to see what the next month will bring!
