Mutual Admiration Society

People ask me all the time how Dexter is acclimating to being a big brother.  Truly, he's been really great since day one.  In the beginning, he was always giving Desmond his pacifier (whether he wanted it or not), sharing toys, being gentle, all of that good stuff.

Now that Desmond is older, Dexter is still a great big brother, and Desmond is appreciating it a lot.  As often as not, I'll look over to see Dexter giving Desmond a big hug for no reason.  And, since they face each other in the car, they are often making goofy grins at one another and giggling back there.  All Dexter has to do is smile or laugh at Desmond, and he'll smile or laugh right back. (And the reverse is usually true, too.)

I resolve to remember these times vividly and am glad to have these videos to refer to, because I know later I'll be doubting it ever happened.

ident-a-kid

So they had this program at Dexter's daycare - they take your kid's photo, vital stats, and fingerprint and put it on a card you (and other caregivers) can carry in your wallet to show authorities if you lose the kid at the mall or whatever.

Here's Dexter's card:

Poor kid.  Doesn't he look like he's just been kidnapped?  So sad.

Dexter is TWENTY Months Old!

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!

A Fun Day

At least, we hope it was, given the carnage:

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. :)

Dexter's Frist 100 (or so) Words!

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!

Dexter is 19 Months Old!

 

Ready to face his first day as a 19 month old!

 

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.

Hey, Dexter! Give us a kiss!

THIS was worth waiting almost 19 months for!