24 Months

 It's official, I have a two year old. No more counting in months, no more monthly updates. How on earth did he get to be two already? It really does seem like just yesterday we were holding this tiny little baby, and now he is anything but tiny.

He sure is proud!

- Michael is now 35" tall! They say if you multiply a child's height at age two, that will be how tall they are when they are full grown. If that's the case, Michael will be just under 6" tall. I think he is going to end up being taller though. He has his two year check up on Monday, so we will see what the doctor says.

- He is talking in full sentences now. We are trying to make sure he adds "please" to all of his requests. He is really good about saying Thank You. He is in this habit of saying "mama" or "Daddy" at the end of phrases. Like when he is showing us something, he won't just say the object, he will say, "Tractor, Mama." or "Book Mama." It took him forever to say Mama, and now he is making up for lost time. I hear "Mama"  a hundred times a day. And it never gets old.

- His favorite songs are Jesus loves Me, and Twinkle Twinkle. He knows almost all the words to twinkle twinkle. I am hoping to get it on video soon. We have to sing both songs at night before bed.

- He now knows all of the letters except for F, N, R, V, and X. He also gets J and L confused, but after looking long enough, he figures it out.

- We are working on shapes, and he can point out a circle, star, and a triangle.

-Since we babysit a little baby two times a week, Michael is getting a bit jealous of the time I spend holding the little baby. He has started asking us to "Hold me like a little baby." and we happily oblige. Any chance we get to hold and cuddle him, we jump at.

- Potty training is still a few months away, but he does sit on the potty everyday. Some days he will go pee, and others he won't. It isn't something we are forcing, just trying to get him familiar enough with the process.

When I ask him to say "cheese", he says it and signs it.
That is what he is doing with his hands.

Michael, you are our pride and joy! We love you so much and having you in our lives for 2 years has been the biggest blessing of my life.

23 (1/2) Months

I am super slack this month! Seeing how this post is 2 weeks late! I guess my trip to the Bahamas kinda got me side tracked.

See how tall I am?

 So, what has Michael been up to?
- Since taking away the binky, his sleeping habits have changed. He is not sleeping as well, and has been waking up in the night crying, which he never used to do. But, I know that this will pass.
- He has grown another 3/4 in. He is measuring some where between 34 and 35 inches. I'll be interested to see what the Doctor office measures him at. His legs are getting so long.
- He is such a character. He makes himself laugh all the time. And in doing so, makes us laugh, which makes him laugh harder, and try harder to make us laugh more.

Standing on his tip toes

- He is doing great in the pool. We have actually tried swimmies on his arms, and he does great with them. I thought he wouldn't be able to balance, but he loves wearing them.

- He is in the process of getting his last molar. He started a few months getting his 2 year molars, and that could be the reason for the lack of sleep too. I'll be so happy once this last one breaks through. I feel like he has been teething for 1 1/2 years straight.  His poor mouth needs a break.

- He loves going to babysit with me. It is teaching him all about sharing and playing with other children.

Sweet moments

 - His favorite movie is Toy Story. He asks all the time to watch "Buzz and Woody." He also loves Mickey Mouse clubhouse. We only have 1 Mickey DVD, so I think it's time to invest in another one.
- He is still fascinated with Motorcycles. The other day while driving down the road, he said, "Motorcycle, where are you?"

Showing off his first tattoo

 - He is a little picky when it comes to food. The things he will always eat and usually asks for are, Cheese, Applesauce, a baked sweet potato, noodles, peanut butter, and cookies. There are other days where he will eat whatever we are eating, and will usually try different food if we ask him. Like the other day he ate a few green beans! I couldn't believe it. We are working on this, and hoping he will go back to eating whatever he can get his hands on. I know it's a toddler phase, and he will one day eat real food.

What a little stud!

 - He is talk, talk, talking! If full sentences!
- He knows all of his basic colors!
- He knows the letters, A, B, C, D, G, M, P, S, and T.  He does really well when I associate a name with a letter. Like P - Papa. Every P he sees he yells, "P Papa"
- He tries to sing Jesus loves me, and it is so cute. He only knows a few phrases, but loves for us to sing it.

 - He loves to pray. Every night at dinner, we hold hands and pray. Usually we have to pray more than once, because he reaches for our hands and says, "More, Amen" or "More, Pray." I love that he loves to pray! The other day, in Wal-Mart, he grabbed my hand and said, "Amen..." I asked him if he wanted to pray, and he said, "Yes!" So, So Sweet!

Popsicle Break with the cousins

I can't believe that in 2 weeks, he will be turning 2! It's crazy to think about. We are in full birthday party planning mode! Here is my Pinterest Board for his party. It is not going to be extravagant, but it will be a lot of fun for him.

Future Drummer

22 Months

So, not much new or exciting has changed with Michael this month.

Michael is 34" now!!

- He did get his first hair cut from Mommy, which turned out good.
- He has grown another 1/2 inch, putting him at 34 inches!! I haven't weighed him in a while, so I'm not sure how much he weighs. But if I had to guess, I would say he is around 30 pounds!
- He loves to put our shoes on his feet, and walk around and thinks it is so funny!

This is his "I Don't Know" Expression

- When he has two of something, he says, "One-two, one-two." We are working on adding "three" to that.
- He loves the pool! Both little and big pools. He does really well kicking his legs when he is in the float in the big pool. We are hoping that by the end of summer, he will be swimming a little bit.

Here are some pictures of Michael from this past month.

Wearing Mommy's slippers

Taking a Green Bath. He loves the color change tablets!

Playing with Maggie, Memorial Day weekend

Riding the shark in Papa's Big pool

Loves the "water slide"

SPLASH!

Wearing Daddy's Boots

21 Months

21 months! We have gone from saying his age in months, to either, "1 1/2" or "almost 2" when people ask how old he his. I really can't believe how fast these 21 months have flown by. Here is what Michael is up to this month:

- He has grown another 1/2 inch, which puts him at 33.5 inches.
- He is talking, talking, talking. Mostly he talks in 2-3 word sentences instead of just saying random words. It won't be long until he will be able to have a conversation with us.

- He isn't eating much these days. He loves eating Applesauce, because he can feed himself. He does really well spoon feeding himself, and doesn't really make too much of a mess. I'm actually really impressed how well he is doing. He also loves cheese, Peanut butter sandwiches, and strawberries.
- I have been renting the Baby Signing Times movies from the library, and he loves them. He goes around singing the theme song, and signing the theme song too!

- We got the baby pool out yesterday, and so far, Michael loves it. I knew he would, since he loves bath time so much.

- Everything else is about the same. He is just so sweet, and so funny, and all of the little stuff is what makes him such a wonderful little boy!

20 Months

This month, it has really been noticeable how many words Michael can say. I have stopped counting, but I would guess he is up to 100 or so. He tries to repeat everything we say. Sometimes he is spot on, other times he gives it a good try, but you can't understand what he is saying. He has been putting two words together, but not consistently. He did say his first three word sentence today! He said, "daddy go work"

He didn't grow any taller this month, but he is up to 28.5 lbs!

We have spent lots of time outside playing in his new sand box, or at the park this month. He loves being outside.

He is doing really well with his colors. He knows blue, red, yellow, brown and pink. He has a hard time with orange, green and purple still.

He wanted to see how tall Daddy was too. 

He loves his ABC book that I made for him. He can point to A, B, and C and can also tell you what they are when you point to them.

This is how most picture turn out these days.
He's too busy to sit still for a picture! 

His current obsession is tractors. He will watch daddy cut the grass the entire time Andrew is on his tractor. He also has a tractor that he got for Christmas from his aunt Amy that he carries around the house. All day long he will ask where the tractor is, referring to the lawn mower, and then answers himself and says "away".

Trying out Daddy's Tractor

He is still sleeping anywhere from 14-15 hours a night. He goes to bed around 7:30 and wakes up between 9-10. He takes a two hour nap each day also. Some days it is only 1.5 hours, and other days he sleeps for three hours. He is a great sleeper, and we are so thankful!

Swinging like a big boy at the park.

Meals are hit or miss. It really just depends on his mood, I guess. He does ask for a few things everyday, like cheese, "bread" with "butter" (peanut butter) and o's (Cheerios). He is still drinking three cups of milk a day, so I know he is getting plenty or nutrients.

His first Popsicle. He loved it!

He got his first haircut this month, and it has really filled out. It won't be long till its time for another haircut.

He's getting brave at the park!

Michael is such a sweetheart, and loves to give and get hugs and kisses. Everyday, I feel more and more blessed that God has allowed Michael to be my son!

19 Months

Michael is now closer to two, than one! Where did my baby boy go??
Here is what he has been up this past month:
- It seems like he is saying new words everyday. He is up to saying 58 words!
- He has grown another 1/2 inch this month. He is 33 inches tall now.
- He is wearing size 24 month pants but they are too big around the waist. All of his 18 month pants were getting too short. He is still wearing 18 month tops.

- He loves to read books! His favorite book currently is the ABC Book that I made for him. He loves looking through it, and pointing out everything that is familiar.
- Every night after dinner he says, "Play??" I think that is the highlight of his day, playing with his Daddy after dinner.
- He loves to be outside. He mostly just wanders around the yard, picking up sticks. But he loves it, so we spend a good portion of the afternoon, walking around the yard, looking for a good stick.

- We have also started letting Michael watch "movies". I usually put on a baby Einstein, or sesame street while I am in the shower in the morning. He sits so still, and watches the entire thing. But when it's over, it's over, and he doesn't ask to watch more, or cry that it's over.
- He keeps me smiling and laughing all day long, and I feel so blessed to be able to spend all day with him. I love being his mother, and feel so blessed to be able to call him my SON!

18 Months

So, I have a 1 1/2 year old!! Crazy!!

Here is what is going on with Michael these days:
- He had a good check up at the doctor. He weighs 27 lbs (67%) and is 32.5 inches tall (54%)
- He can say 38 words and sign 14 words. One word he says really cute is Molly. He calls her Lolly. He will walk around the house calling out Lolly. He loves his dogs! Another word that is really funny to hear is the way he says milk. He calls it "gooah" (no, I did not count that as one of the 38 words). When I walk into his room in the morning with his milk, he is signing milk and saying gooah. If I ask him if he wants some milk, he responds by saying gooah. If I ask him if he wants some gooah, he signs milk. I'm not sure how in his mind milk sounds like gooah, but it does and it cracks us up every time he says it.
- His favorite book right now is Brown Bear, Brown Bear. He loves to make all the animal sounds and gestures as we read it.

Look how tall I am! 32.5 inches!

- He loves to pray at meal time. We have prayed with him before meals since he sat with us at the dinner table. We all hold hands and Andrew prays. At first he didn't want to hold hands, and then one day, at dinner, we put our hands out, and he grabbed them. Then he started saying "Amen" at the end. Now, after we get done praying and we say amen, he lets go of our hands, and then signs "more, more" and wants us to hold hands again and pray. I love then fact that my son loves to hold hands with Mama and Daddy and pray. This is one of those things that I hope he never outgrows!
- He is sleeping anywhere from 13-14 hours every night and takes a 1.5-2 hour nap every day.
- He loves to take a bath. Since we are home during the day, we usually save bath time for after breakfast. Anytime I say, Let's go upstairs, he responds with "Bath...Bath..." While signing the word for bath. He will stay in the tub forever, usually 30-45 minutes.

Showing Bob the Builder how tall he is

- I bought him a little potty this month just for him to get used to seeing and sitting on. No, we are not anywhere near ready to potty train. But when I sit him on it, I say "Pee Pee in the Potty" And he repeats, "pee pee...potty...pee pee." And just in case you were interested, we won't be starting until after we get back from vacation in September. I really don't want to deal with potty issues while on vacation.
- He has been eating, and eating and eating... He used to not like any fruit except for grapes and applesauce. Over the past couple of weeks, he has really started eating a lot more fruits and veggies. He loves peaches, pineapple, strawberries, green beans, peas, corn, and tomatoes. We just keep trying new things, and if he doesn't like it the first time, we wait a while and try again. I'm so excited that he is finally eating more fruits and veggies.

Blowing a kiss to Mama

- We have really enjoyed going to story time this month. We go the library every other week, and to Chick-fil-a every week. He loves to play on the playground at chick-fil-a and will climb up without any help.
- We also went to the park and he loved the slides and swings. Love 70 degree weather in January/February!
- We usually go to see Daddy once a week at work, and as soon as we pull in the parking lot, he says, "Daddy!!" He loves his Daddy so much!
- He has come to love his Binky and Blanket. He only gets them as naps and bedtime, but When he gets a hold of his blanket, he hugs it and loves it! (I think it is one of the cutest things)

Right after nap time, loving on his "Be-Be"

- Usually every night, after Michael goes to bed, Andrew and I say to each other, "He is so cute..." And then talk about all the cute things he did that day. We are so blessed to have Michael and I can't imagine my life without him!

17 Months

Wow, this one snuck up on me. Usually I have in mind when the 7th of each month is, but not this month.
So, here is what Michael is up to at 17 months:

- He is talking more and more each day and is starting to repeat words back to us. He will try to repeat everything I ask him to, but it doesn't usually come out right. There are a few that do come out right, and it is so cute when that happens.
- He loves for me to sing songs to him. His favorite are ABC's and Frosty the snowman. He has books with these songs written in them, so he is constantly bringing me these books to "read" or sing to him.

- He has grown another inch, but his weight is about the same, so his big belly is slimming down some.
- His hair is coming in, finally! It is still soft and curly. We haven't cut it yet, and really don't plan to for a while.
- He has learned how to slide down the stairs on his belly (feet first) and is getting faster each time. It won't be long till he is shooting down the stairs.

- He has started coloring with crayons. He doesn't try to eat them either ;)
- He loves to play with his little people barn and knows where each animal goes, based on the sound it makes.
- He knows and can make the following animal sounds: cow, monkey, sheep, dog, cat, and sometimes horse. He knows the sign for duck, but won't say quack. He also knows that the pig makes a funny sound he just hasn't figured out how to oink yet.

- He loves playing with his big cousins and follows them around everywhere.
- He plays really well by himself at home. He loves his blocks and loves to knock them over when I stack them up. He has just recently started stacking them up himself to knock over.

- He loves to dance!! That was his favorite thing about the cruise, I think. He dances with just his arms mostly, but it is so cute!
- He keeps me busy, but there is nothing else I would rather do, then spend my days being his Mama!