18 months old
The long-awaited milestone of turning 18 months has finally arrived! I have been longing for him to reach 18 months because that's when toddlers are developmentally ready for much more activity-wise than before. Now I just need to start planning out some activities to do regularly with him to help him master and expand his skills! I got a preschool curriculum for 2-year-olds intended to start it this month, but after looking at it, I decided to wait until September to start it. Meanwhile, I have a bounty of resources from which to choose activities until then.
As part of this milestone half-birthday, Barrett got his hair cut for the first time a couple weeks ago, he got his last vaccinations for a while (will start again at four years), and all four of his canines were starting to cut by that point. He measured at ~50th percentile for height (32.25 inches) and ~15% for weight (21 lb, 6 oz) on the WHO charts. He's running and climbing, putting puzzles together, signing and saying more words. And just this week he started frequently demonstrating the classic independent toddler rebellion by shaking his head vigorously when I ask him to do something.
Words Barrett speaks now:
Mama
Dada
clock (sounds like c'k c'k c'k--he repeats the k sound several times at once)
cheese (started as hees, now sounds more like cees)
drink (sounds like k-aa, k-aa)
shoes (he started saying that repeatedly yesterday as I put them on)
uh-oh (sounds like aa-oo)
owie (he stresses the E sound at the end)
peas (sounds like tees)
Words Barrett signs:
milk
more
car
cat
dog (not official ASL; tongue in and out like a dog panting)
shoes
apple
banana
pear
grapes
peas
bread
airplane
bird
light
book
crab and lobster (not the official ASL signs)
fish
ball
key
fan
butterfly
elephant
all done
cookie
maracas and rattle (not official ASL, but how I demoed them: He shakes his hand and makes the S sound)
gorilla (not official ASL, but beating on his abdomen, which comes from a book about things animals do--the gorilla thumps on his chest!)
snake (not official ASL, and it's really funny. He puts his palms a couple inches apart and gets all intense, like he's trying really hard to put his hands together. This is because, in a book, there's a "scary snake," and I demoed scary to him by holding my hands out and shaking as I talk about it.
I've been trying to teach him chicken, rabbit and orange forever, and he may have tried to sign them once or twice, but he doesn't use them when seeing or hearing them like he does with all other things. He started doing please at one point, but we haven't been consistent enough on using it, so I don't think he truly understands the concept.
We're working on beans. I do a finger play with bees where I buzz and fly my finger around, so he thought that was the sign for bee. Well, bee and bean sound very similar, so now he does a buzzing sound while waving his finger around like a bee when he sees beans. Now I'm working on enforcing the two different signs. (And he is super cute when he does the buzzing, his face all lit up.)
Over Christmas he started hooting perfectly like an owl at Grammy's, but shortly after he started humming the hoot instead. He continued to do so until today, when he started doing it right...and then quickly reverted back to the humming.
We have a book called Rainy Day Alphabet, about all the alphabetical activities a brother and sister do together on rainy days. In one scene, they are playing the piano and singing, and their dog is with them howling along. Well, when I told Barrett about it, I demoed the howling, and so that's what he does when he hears the word sing.
Other than words he actually communicates, it's obvious that he knows most of what we talk about because he will point or otherwise indicate so. He can follow directions but often chooses not to.
And he's just so cute!
As part of this milestone half-birthday, Barrett got his hair cut for the first time a couple weeks ago, he got his last vaccinations for a while (will start again at four years), and all four of his canines were starting to cut by that point. He measured at ~50th percentile for height (32.25 inches) and ~15% for weight (21 lb, 6 oz) on the WHO charts. He's running and climbing, putting puzzles together, signing and saying more words. And just this week he started frequently demonstrating the classic independent toddler rebellion by shaking his head vigorously when I ask him to do something.
Words Barrett speaks now:
Mama
Dada
clock (sounds like c'k c'k c'k--he repeats the k sound several times at once)
cheese (started as hees, now sounds more like cees)
drink (sounds like k-aa, k-aa)
shoes (he started saying that repeatedly yesterday as I put them on)
uh-oh (sounds like aa-oo)
owie (he stresses the E sound at the end)
peas (sounds like tees)
Words Barrett signs:
milk
more
car
cat
dog (not official ASL; tongue in and out like a dog panting)
shoes
apple
banana
pear
grapes
peas
bread
airplane
bird
light
book
crab and lobster (not the official ASL signs)
fish
ball
key
fan
butterfly
elephant
all done
cookie
maracas and rattle (not official ASL, but how I demoed them: He shakes his hand and makes the S sound)
gorilla (not official ASL, but beating on his abdomen, which comes from a book about things animals do--the gorilla thumps on his chest!)
snake (not official ASL, and it's really funny. He puts his palms a couple inches apart and gets all intense, like he's trying really hard to put his hands together. This is because, in a book, there's a "scary snake," and I demoed scary to him by holding my hands out and shaking as I talk about it.
I've been trying to teach him chicken, rabbit and orange forever, and he may have tried to sign them once or twice, but he doesn't use them when seeing or hearing them like he does with all other things. He started doing please at one point, but we haven't been consistent enough on using it, so I don't think he truly understands the concept.
We're working on beans. I do a finger play with bees where I buzz and fly my finger around, so he thought that was the sign for bee. Well, bee and bean sound very similar, so now he does a buzzing sound while waving his finger around like a bee when he sees beans. Now I'm working on enforcing the two different signs. (And he is super cute when he does the buzzing, his face all lit up.)
Over Christmas he started hooting perfectly like an owl at Grammy's, but shortly after he started humming the hoot instead. He continued to do so until today, when he started doing it right...and then quickly reverted back to the humming.
We have a book called Rainy Day Alphabet, about all the alphabetical activities a brother and sister do together on rainy days. In one scene, they are playing the piano and singing, and their dog is with them howling along. Well, when I told Barrett about it, I demoed the howling, and so that's what he does when he hears the word sing.
Other than words he actually communicates, it's obvious that he knows most of what we talk about because he will point or otherwise indicate so. He can follow directions but often chooses not to.
And he's just so cute!