19.5 months
I guess it's been sort of a while since I said anything. Oscar is awesome. Best little buddy ever. He isn't saying as many words as some of the kids we know his age but he is signing tons, and getting across more complex thoughts. And his words are picking up. He added two new ones in the last 3 days: "yawn" and "baby". Other newish ones include "Hello", "Hi", "cool", and "cute". And he has been improving his pronunciation of things. "Boobie" is no longer "Boobah". "Really" still sounds like "ghee-ghee" and ball is still "daaa" but I am pretty sure he realizes he's saying ball wrong and is just unsure how to fix it.
One of his new favorite books is The Giving Tree. On the page where they play hide-and-go-seek, he points to the boy hiding behind the rock and says, "Dere'e'is!" (Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/ScottMcG214?feature=watch. . . Watch the sneaking one too--hilarious!). On the page where the boy cuts down her trunk, "And the tree was happy. . .But not really," he goes, "Ghee-ghee?" and I say, "nooo, not really." And he goes, "GHEE-GHEE?" and I go, "NOOO, NOT REALLY!" and then I go, "Reeeaally?" and he goes, "Nooooo!"
So freaking cute.
Also, if you tell him the story of the three little pigs, and you ask him what the piggies say when the wolf says, "Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in!" he goes, "NOOOOOOO!"
It's amazing how long a book he can sit through (often more than once in a row) and how many different long books in a row. We spend 1-2 hours a day reading. Yeah, he might not be saying many words, but he is getting plenty of language exposure. (And he babbles a TON! The pediatrician always comments on how chatty he is.)
He is super into vehicles. His favorite toys are all the trucks and diggers and hot wheels cars. Second best is the bin of animals. He also really likes an old Fisher Price little people playground set that I grew up with. It has swings, a slide, and a merry-go-round. I also have a VW bus for them and a car that seats two people. It has been so neat watching his development. When we got them from my cousin on our trip to Louisiana in February (14 mo), he wasn't that interested in them. Then about a month later he started liking it when I'd make the people play on the stuff. Then about 17 months he started trying to make the people do what I'd been doing with them, but he couldn't quite get them into the holes, etc. Now he can do everything. The people ride in the cars ("vroom vroom!"), climb up the slide steps and slide down, and ride the merry go round. I'm impressed he can even get them into the swings most of the time, because the swings, well, swing. Moving target.
Potty training isn't really on the horizon yet, I'm afraid. He CAN and has told me when he needs to go, but most of the time he's just too busy playing. I'm fine with it. I'm just happy he has such great concentration when he's working on things. But, I do reward him with ONE piece of candy (a yogurt raisin or a white chocolate chip) if he sits on the potty and tries when I'm using the bathroom. If he pees, he gets TWO! And he hasn't had a poo success in a long, long time, but that would get him THREE! So far he doesn't seem particularly motivated by the candy. He seems super happy when he earns it, but not enough to make him earn it more. Oh well. Mommy gets some every time he uses the potty, too.
Oh, oh! And I've noticed the use of the word "I" has started amongst his peers. He doesn't say it yet, but he points to himself a lot. So I model simple sentences for him. Such as, "Oscar says, 'I dunk!'" when he points to himself and says, "dunk!" and dunks his head in the baby pool.
In two weeks I start keeping Sophie full time. Yay!. . . and EEP! Honestly, I think it will be rough for a couple of weeks til we get in a groove (Oscar thinks there is something VERY WRONG about other kids touching his toys. . .), and then it will just be life, with a spunky little girl in our family on weekdays. The kids are going to preschool 2 days a week from 9-12, beginning Sep 4, so I've started keeping O up til at least noon before putting him down to nap. He is doing really well with this schedule, thank goodness. His naps were all over the place for so long I was really worried what was going to happen when school starts. I'm hoping to do yoga on Tues/Thurs when they're in school, and then sometimes--hoping for one morning a week!--take them to Patty's (his current 1-day/wk daycare lady) if she has room for them so I can get stuff done around the house or go to doc appointments. It will make me super happy if Patty can keep them. We already know and love her. Otherwise, I'll find somebody to come to the house, I guess.
Ok, almost done, but one more cool thing: He can jump, picking up both feet at once on the trampoline! I tried to get a video, but he kept running at me as soon as he saw the camera.
One of his new favorite books is The Giving Tree. On the page where they play hide-and-go-seek, he points to the boy hiding behind the rock and says, "Dere'e'is!" (Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/ScottMcG214?feature=watch. . . Watch the sneaking one too--hilarious!). On the page where the boy cuts down her trunk, "And the tree was happy. . .But not really," he goes, "Ghee-ghee?" and I say, "nooo, not really." And he goes, "GHEE-GHEE?" and I go, "NOOO, NOT REALLY!" and then I go, "Reeeaally?" and he goes, "Nooooo!"
So freaking cute.
Also, if you tell him the story of the three little pigs, and you ask him what the piggies say when the wolf says, "Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in!" he goes, "NOOOOOOO!"
It's amazing how long a book he can sit through (often more than once in a row) and how many different long books in a row. We spend 1-2 hours a day reading. Yeah, he might not be saying many words, but he is getting plenty of language exposure. (And he babbles a TON! The pediatrician always comments on how chatty he is.)
He is super into vehicles. His favorite toys are all the trucks and diggers and hot wheels cars. Second best is the bin of animals. He also really likes an old Fisher Price little people playground set that I grew up with. It has swings, a slide, and a merry-go-round. I also have a VW bus for them and a car that seats two people. It has been so neat watching his development. When we got them from my cousin on our trip to Louisiana in February (14 mo), he wasn't that interested in them. Then about a month later he started liking it when I'd make the people play on the stuff. Then about 17 months he started trying to make the people do what I'd been doing with them, but he couldn't quite get them into the holes, etc. Now he can do everything. The people ride in the cars ("vroom vroom!"), climb up the slide steps and slide down, and ride the merry go round. I'm impressed he can even get them into the swings most of the time, because the swings, well, swing. Moving target.
Potty training isn't really on the horizon yet, I'm afraid. He CAN and has told me when he needs to go, but most of the time he's just too busy playing. I'm fine with it. I'm just happy he has such great concentration when he's working on things. But, I do reward him with ONE piece of candy (a yogurt raisin or a white chocolate chip) if he sits on the potty and tries when I'm using the bathroom. If he pees, he gets TWO! And he hasn't had a poo success in a long, long time, but that would get him THREE! So far he doesn't seem particularly motivated by the candy. He seems super happy when he earns it, but not enough to make him earn it more. Oh well. Mommy gets some every time he uses the potty, too.
Oh, oh! And I've noticed the use of the word "I" has started amongst his peers. He doesn't say it yet, but he points to himself a lot. So I model simple sentences for him. Such as, "Oscar says, 'I dunk!'" when he points to himself and says, "dunk!" and dunks his head in the baby pool.
In two weeks I start keeping Sophie full time. Yay!. . . and EEP! Honestly, I think it will be rough for a couple of weeks til we get in a groove (Oscar thinks there is something VERY WRONG about other kids touching his toys. . .), and then it will just be life, with a spunky little girl in our family on weekdays. The kids are going to preschool 2 days a week from 9-12, beginning Sep 4, so I've started keeping O up til at least noon before putting him down to nap. He is doing really well with this schedule, thank goodness. His naps were all over the place for so long I was really worried what was going to happen when school starts. I'm hoping to do yoga on Tues/Thurs when they're in school, and then sometimes--hoping for one morning a week!--take them to Patty's (his current 1-day/wk daycare lady) if she has room for them so I can get stuff done around the house or go to doc appointments. It will make me super happy if Patty can keep them. We already know and love her. Otherwise, I'll find somebody to come to the house, I guess.
Ok, almost done, but one more cool thing: He can jump, picking up both feet at once on the trampoline! I tried to get a video, but he kept running at me as soon as he saw the camera.