Twenty-one months

I've been working on this for over a week. Blogger keeps deleting things! Ugh. But here it is...

Favorites

• Lining things up. And when I say "lining things up," I mean he is showing some perfectionist tendencies. (He comes by that honestly...from BOTH parents.) The lining up is usually with his cars (any and all of them), and if they aren't exactly how he wants, he will nudge them into the right place a bit at a time. We'll find things lined up all over the place...

An example of things being lined up. This was in April, and he's gotten even better at it since then. More "perfect" lines and all...

• His Bible. Aiden got his new Bible for Easter, and he's basically been inseparable from it ever since. He takes the thing EVERYwhere he goes - to the potty (yes), to the car, in the stroller, to the store, the zoo...everywhere. It's about the only book he ever wants to read, whether he's reading to himself or having us read to him. We (I'm sorry...the Easter Bunny) first got him a paperback Bible with just the new testament, but we quickly realized he would need it in hard cover b/c he was wearing the book out (not being rough, just from so much reading!), so he now has it in hard cover, also including the old testament. I have read through the entire thing over 4 times now (and Daddy reads it at his own pace, too, so who knows how many times he's heard the whole thing already!). We're certainly not complaining.

Reading his Bible. Doesn't he look so serious about it?!

• Tag Jr. Books. He got these for Christmas and played with them some, but it's like he REALLY figured it out all the sudden and just loves sitting and playing with them.
• Favorite foods: carrots, strawberries, and oranges. He will eat and eat and eat any of these until you tell him there is no more. We've been strawberry picking four times now, and if you ask him about going again, he's already headed to the car... (He actually doesn't eat the berries while picking! He's managed to learn that they're dirty and we need to wash them at home first. I'm quite impressed! He does squish a few while inspecting some after I've put them in the bucket, but...can't always win!) And oranges...we have to watch him with those. At home, I cut them so there is no peel, but when we're at the grocery, there are usually samples. And if you turn your eyes away from him for a moment, he will eat the peel. And like it.
• Reading out loud. It's so funny to watch. He'll sit in his boppy pillow, stick his feet straight out and cross them at his ankles (I think it's adorable how he sits when he reads!), and will proceed to read out loud. He'll make his voice go up and down and will sound like he's really telling a story. (He doesn't use many real words when he does this, for some reason.) And the best part, every now and then, he'll "read" something and then will start laughing out loud like what he read was the most hilarious thing ever! He'll just laugh and laugh for a while and then continue reading.
• His Veggie Tales cd. He calls it "tomato" because one of the characters is a tomato. Whenever he says tomato, he emphasizes it "TOE-may-toe" (because that's how we always said it when talking to him...), and he reaches down and touches his toe! Haha! He knows the difference, but still makes the connection. He does this when eating tomatoes, as well.
• Baby. I started watching a little girl, about 8-9 months old, a couple days a week. Aiden is absolutely crazy about her!! He asks for her all the time and goes around saying "baby, baby" in this cute, sing-song voice. For those of you that are familiar with Baby Signing Time, it sounds just like the intro song (surely where he got it from!).
• The B-I-B-L-E song or Jesus Loves Me - Bible related songs, who woulda thought? ;)
• Walking over to one of us, reaching out for our hand, and leading us to what he wants to do. He doesn't always have something big to show us; I think he just likes knowing he can lead.
• Taking certain toys along when he goes upstairs for a diaper change or whatever else. It's usually his Bible, another book, or cars. He likes to have something in his hands, though. When I say it's time to go upstairs, he scrambles to get whatever he wants and then runs to the steps.

Holding as many cars as those little hands can handle!

• Saying "sorry" to his toys. This mostly happens with his cars. He'll be playing and then suddenly say "sorry!" and then go right on playing. Ryan and I just giggle quietly and wonder what is going through his mind.

Least Favorites

• Having trouble getting things where he wants them (e.g. books on shelves, cars just how he wants). He gets so frustrated if things don't go how he wants them or if he has difficulty. He'll throw himself a little mini-fit and might throw down the object. Sometimes he'll end up asking for help after a moment, and sometimes he just figures it out himself.
• Not nursing during the (new) morning nap. We took out that nursing session a long time ago, so when we reintroduced the morning nap, I wasn't about to add in an unnecessary nursing session. He would get really mad...well, not mad, but sad. He would cry in a way that showed he was truly hurt, not just mad he wasn't getting his way. It just about broke my heart! He wouldn't even let me read to him, b/c as soon as we sat down, he tried to turn around to nurse and would get really upset. But...if I just put him in bed, he would roll over and go right to sleep. He's doing better now and will sit for a story without fussing too much.
• Pooh Bear running. He has this big Pooh Bear that will walk, run, etc, when you push his hand. (He also makes a comment when he falls over and then thanks you when you hug him - it's really too cute!) Aiden likes for Pooh to walk but not to run, so when he runs, Aiden gets mad. But you can't skip that option, so he gets mad a few times before Pooh gets back to the walking setting...
• People being in his way. If he wants to do something and you're in the way, he just pushes you. Um...we're not having that. He's slowly learning to ask us to move please (usually just saying please b/c he doesn't say "move" yet). We won't move when he pushes, and if you happen to be around and he does it to you...make him ask. Nicely. Just because he's little and cute doesn't mean he gets a pass at being rude. He has to learn manners, too. ;)
  

This is the face he made when I told him to sit back down.
He knows he isn't to stand on the chair but thought he could get away with it...


And this is the face he made when he realized he couldn't get away with it and those precious cars went into time-out.

New Developments

• Saying "uh-oh" - Yes, one of those other typical first words, and he's just now saying it. I guess we just don't say "uh-oh" much in general, and we intentionally didn't say it when Aiden would drop things to avoid that "uh-oh" game. He says it now, and it's adorable, and he only says it when it really is an accident. :)
• Going down the stairs (and now not). Well, for about a week he would go down the stairs. Remember, last month, he was TERRIFIED of going down the stairs himself. Now he's back to being terrified of it. He didn't fall or anything, just decided he had enough and was still scared of falling.
• Sand box. We're hoping this helps him get over his fear of sand, especially for when we visit the beach again soon. It seems to be working. He'll not only stand in the sand box, but he will pour sand over his legs. That's big!
• Enunciating words ("Bibe-UHL," "miLK," "duck"). It's funny how these things seem to happen overnight! One day, he was saying "mi-mi" for milk. The very next day, he was trying to add in the "lk," but that's really all you heard when he said the word. The next day, I kid you not, he was saying "miLK." It's just incredible how quickly these things happen. You can see him trying to enunciate many words properly, too. Even today, he was repeating milk over and over, trying to say the "i" different ways..."muhlk, meilk, milk." He'll slowly sound it out while paying close attention to how his mouth is shaped. So neat to watch him.
• Sleeping - two naps in the daytime. It's amazing how much he has been sleeping, and it just goes to show that he really does need more sleep than he's been getting. It's been tough going back to two naps a day (for me, not for him), but it's also been necessary.
• Toddler picky-ness. This is just your typical, run-of-the-mill pickyness (is that even a word?). You know...I might have liked this food yesterday, and I'll like it again tomorrow, but not today, thankyouverymuch...I know I said "no," but I really mean "yes" and am just saying "no" because I can...things like that.
  
• Saying two words together (e.g. Bye Camden, more cheese). This was another thing that just seemed to happen overnight! Suddenly he's stringing words together!
• Weight... Is this kid ever going to grow!?! We had bought all 18-24 month clothes for the summer, and this child is still fitting mostly into 12-18 month pants! And a couple 24-month or 2T that have the adjustable waist (thank God for those things! I guess he will need those, just like his big brother does!). His waist is TINY. But he needs to grow soon or else his entire wardrobe is useless (or the bottoms, at least). Geez kid. Up until now, he's fit according to his age, so it's not been a problem. I think he likes to throw us curve balls to confuse us from time to time.
• Mommy instead of Mama. And another overnighter...literally. One day he called me "mama" and now I'm "mommy." It's still cute, but it's also another reminder of how quickly he's growing!

Are we done here?