Jack's 20 Month Update

I know I say this every month, and will probably continue to say this until he is a grown-up man, but I absolutely CANNOT believe how much Jack is growing up. My little baby is now a little boy and he will be 2 years old in 4 months. As fun as it is to watch him change, grow and learn news things each day, it makes me sad to think of how fast these precious toddler days are going and that I will never get them back. Don't get me wrong, the days can seem never ending and Jack, being one of the busiest toddlers I know, is constantly getting into some sort of trouble and keeping me on my toes. However,  I don't necessarily look at this is a bad thing, rather I embrace it. The way I see it, his extreme curiosity for the world and everything it has to offer will only benefit him in the future and it teaches him cause and effect skills that he can only retain from real life situations. This past month his development skyrocketed. He now comprehends most of what I am telling him, as long as I keep it short and sweet and because of this, I am able to do more structured activities with him, such as simple art projects, fine motor and sensory activities. We are doing the kind of stuff that I imagined and dreamed about doing with him before I became a parent and it's so much fun for me. I realize most mothers think this of their children, but I really do believe that Jack is extremely bright and gifted. When I set out to teach him something new, he catches on fairly quick. He is mechanical, assertive, strong willed, and ambitious, yet sweet, sensitive, kindhearted and thoughtful all at the same time.I think these are all great qualities to possess and I can see great things in his future.

At 20 Months Old Jack Can...

- Name and and distinguish all three of the primary colors and some of the intermediate colors. He shows me this being naming and pointing to the colors in his tent, through stacking and sorting activities, and also when we are coloring together.

- Get all of his shapes into his shape sorter without assistance.

- Can walk up the stairs holding my hand, but has also shown signs that he can do it independently.

- Go poop and pee on the potty, though we are just introducing and familiarizing him to the world of potty training. At times he has been able to tell me when he has to poop, by fanning his hand in front of his nose and saying the word poop. When he is successful at utilizing the potty, we let him dump it into the toilet and flush all on his own, wash hands with "ope," which he loves to do, and reward him with 3 chocolate chips. Sometimes we examine and talk about his poop and pee together. As of late, he brings his baby to use the potty as well. Being that he is only 20 months old we are not pressuring him and if he chooses not to go, we don't force him and simply tell him we will try again later.

- Sequence certain things, such as, getting undressed before getting into the tub at night. He will point out what comes next. The shirt is always first and the socks are always last. There have been times where I have forgotten to take his socks off and he reminds me.

- locate where pieces go on a puzzle and put them in the right way. He is most successful at large knob puzzles, but he has been able to do chunky and small knob puzzles as well.

- Sit through "longer" books and is starting to prefer them over his smaller, more "babyish" books.

- Take and twist lids on and off of things. He especially loves doing this with my make-up and soaps in the bathroom, because of this I purchased a stackable medicine holder at the dollar store as a safer way for him to practice. I encourage this kind of play because it's great for fine motor, dexterity, and wrist rotation, all of which will help him when it comes time to write. 

- spin, roll over, stomp his feet, go on tip toe, kick, throw, and catch a ball. he is also in the beginning stages of jumping, but still is not able to get his feet of the floor. His teachers at the little gym remind parents that this skill usually isn't acquired until age two, but I have a feeling he will get the hang of it before then, since he is so close now.

- Say 20 or more words, though I have quit keeping count. These past few days he has been in full "parrot" mode, so I'm expecting his language skills to continue to progress in the months to come. Some of the more difficult words he can say are careful, tickle, cracker, purple, tricycle, chicken, and tractor. I do have to say that unless you know him really well or pay extra attention it may be difficult to comprehend what he is saying at times. Though I am not concerned about this, as the more he repeats the word, the more clear it becomes.

- Drink from an adult cup and eat with both a fork and spoon, though half of the time still chooses to use his fingers.

- Stack several blocks. He can usually get to six or seven before he decides to knock them over.  I'm sure he could do more if he wanted to.

- Point to most, if not all of his body parts.

- Name and distinguish a few shapes, such as circle and oval.

- Efficiently pour water, rice, beans, and other sensory objects from cup to cup.

Sleep Habits...

- Jack goes to bed at 7pm and usually wakes up for the day at 6am. From 8-16 months of age he was sleeping through the night, however in the past four months he has been experiencing sleep regression and wakes up as many as 3 times a night, but sometimes will only wake up once.  It is basically a toss up at this point and we are taking it night by night. When he does wake up and is unsuccessful at settling himself back to sleep, we will wait 1-2 minutes before rushing into his room and when we do go in there we keep it short and boring by simply telling him it's not time to wake up, give him "gaga" and usually he will flop back down to sleep.

- On a good day Jack will nap from 12:30-2:30, and sometimes even til 3; however, on a bad day he will only sleep for 30 minutes. It all depends on what kind of day he is having and how well he slept the night prior. We have found that the better he sleeps at night, the longer he naps.

Favorite Foods...

- Yogurt
- Frozen Blueberries
- Goldfish Crackers
- Guacamole
- Peas
- Chocolate Chips

Stats...

-  He comes in at a whopping 35 pounds.

- He is tall for his age and has always been in the high 90's. I'm not really sure of his exact height. I will measure tomorrow and update then.

- 2T, boarder line 3T

- Size 7 shoe

Extra Curricular Activities...

Jack goes to "The Little Gym" every Tuesday and Play group at the library on Fridays. He will also start going to the "Child Watch" program at the Y whenever we go to work out. 

Other...

- Jack loves to help us with various household chores, such as doing the dishes, throwing diapers and wrappers into the garbage, vacuuming the floor, feeding and giving treats to the dogs, turning on and off the lights and wiping up spills (that he usually makes).

- Jack is getting very into dramatic play. He has absolutely been loving the play kitchen we got him for Christmas. It's fun to see him stir things in a pot and put things into the microwave and oven. He also loves "talking" on the phone, "fixing" the doors and vents with his tools and feeding his baby and stuffed animals.

We are loving this particular puzzle right now because not only is it good for fine motor, but it has also helped him learn colors and shapes.

Watching a little "Daniel Tiger" while sitting on the pot.

Bathroom Literature

Twisting the cap on and off stackable medicine container from the Dollar Tree. Again, this "toy" serves as double duty, as it's also teaching him colors.

 

It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.

Today was a good day. I love being able to say that. It all started when Jack got me up around 6:30, which as of late, is actually "sleeping in" for him. We cuddled on the couch and watched Sesame Street, as we do every morning. Our cuddle session lasted about 15 minutes, when Jack decided it was time to eat breakfast. He tells me this by going over to the fridge, stands there, and yells until I finally drag myself off the couch and feed him. This morning was extra special because Jack got to eat at the table for the very first time. Until now, he's only ever eaten in his highchair or the occasional snack at the small table in his playroom. Lucky for us, we didn't have to go out and buy a booster seat because our highchair is convertible. When he first walked into the dining room, he was a bit flustered as to why his highchair wasn't in the corner, as it always is. I proceeded to tell him, "Today you get to eat breakfast at the table because your a big boy now." He smiled proudly and began to make sweet, happy noises as I helped him into his booster seat. He did really well and surprisingly didn't make too big of a mess. 

After a taking a whopping two and a half hour nap, which coincidentally always seems to happen on Matt's weekend, we headed to our Local YMCA to sign up for a family membership. I'm super excited about this because the program has tons to offer. They have a child watch program, which allows Matt and I to work out, while Jack plays, which will not only be good for us, but for Jack as well. It will teach him to be independent, away from Matt and I, a skill that is unfamiliar to Jack, since I stay at home with him. The child watch program will provide him with social interaction, a skill that I believe is so important for a child. The Y also has an awesome pool, with both a slide and splash pad and a padded gym specialized for small children. On top of all that they also offer various Enrichment classes for jack and I to do together at a low rate for members. We didn't waste any time and decided to take advantage of our new membership today, by going for a dip in the pool. Jack has not done this since we were home in Minnesota, last summer, at my parents house, so as you can imagine, Matt and I were both anxious to see how Jack would react. Although he appeared to be very curious of his new surroundings, he was also very cautious and only wanted me to hold him while we were in the water. The pool had one of those water buckets, where when it got too full, it would dump a large amount of water back into the pool at a high distance. Oblivious to the fact that we were standing underneath it, out of nowhere water dumped over our heads all at once. I was expecting Jack to flip out, but to my surprise he found it rather amusing and from that point on he slowly began to warm up to the idea. Matt and I took turns bouncing and dipping Jack around the pool. His favorite part was watching Matt and I take turns going down the water slide. He kept signing for more, but after the 4th time, Matt and I decided it was time to distract him with something else. Overall, our experience at the pool reassured us that the $75 monthly fee will be well worth every penny and I can't wait to go back.

Pretty sure Jack approves the new arrangement... and his breakfast.

He thought he was such a big boy getting in and out of the pool on his own.

This isn't so bad after all, mom.

Boys that clean together, stay together.

Snack time! He is dipping his celery into peanut butter.

RIP my favorite Buster cup. I owe you my sanity. Thank you for getting me through MANY restless mornings.

D is for Doctor

Today Jack had a doctors appointment to get his final booster shot until his two year appointment. YAY for finally being caught up! I say that because when Jack was diagnosed with cancer as an infant, ourselves, along with our doctors agreed that it was in Jack's best interest to go on an alternative immunization schedule, meaning he would only get one at a time, in a 2 week minimum interval. Yes. it's more trips to the doctors office than we would like; however, it gives us peace of mind knowing exactly what is going in his body and what effect each booster has on him. The original reason for this decision was due to the fact that Jack's body already working double time to fight cancer, and when immunizations were added to the mix, his body was being overloaded, which lead to extreme irritability. Because Jack is such a frequent flyer at the doctors office, he has become very familiar with the practice and what goes on there. So much so that he starts to cry even before we get in the door, but not today. When we walked in, he kept a very close distance to me and  as I was checking him in, he held onto my leg, with his head buried. When we went to sit down, he continued to keep his guard up, but remained calm. The entire time we waited, he sat quietly and still on my lap, which is very unusual for him. When the nurse called our name, we followed her back, and I could start to see the fear come out of his eyes, though he still managed to keep his cool, and only fussed for a second or two. Then, when we laid him down so that the nurse administer the shot, he got really worried and began to cry, but to my surprise , when it was over, he pulled himself together and stopped as soon as I scooped him up in my arms. WAY TO GO, JACK!

Now for the fun part. The pictures from our day. Enjoy!

Helping daddy put air in his tires.

Such a good little helper! If only all mechanics were this cute. ;)

Bringing daddy a tray of food from his kitchen. He is becoming very good at dramatic play, which is so much fun for me.

I bought Jack an Elmo balloon when I was at the Dollar Tree today. He thought it was the Bee's Knees, so much so that he had to eat dinner holding onto it.

I wish I could have gotten a better shot of this one. Matt was blowing fake fruit out of his mouth, into the air and Jack thought it was hilarious. The things us parents do to make our kids laugh...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I realize it's a little early to put up Easter decorations, but I was just too excited. Can I just say that I LOVE the Dollar Tree. You can make adorable, crafty things, for a ridiculously cheap price. Everything you see here I either got from the Dollar Tree or it was something I already owned.

Cute, right?

Same here, everything was a ONE DOLLAR! The entire craft totaled to $4. Crazy, I know.

Don't Judge. It's hard work writing a blog every night. Just kidding, I just had an extreme case of the sweet tooth, and we never have any on hand, so my ever so kind husband made a late night run. He's a keeper.

"Friday"

Warning: The story I'm about to share may be considered TMI for some, but seeing as this is a blog about being a mom, I'd say you'd have to expect that from time to time.

Ever since Jack has become mobile, it has been near impossible to be able to use the bathroom in peace. He is always at my feet playing with the flusher, trying to get between my legs, so he can see what's going inside of the bowl, and let's not forget the ever so popular pulling toilet paper off the roll game. I've grown pretty used to his toddler antics and I usually keep my cool and get my business done. However, today my patience was being tested to the max. It could have been because he was extra clingy this morning and didn't want to do anything without me, or maybe it was because once again he thought 5 am was a good time to wake up for the day and seeing as it's the end of the week for us and today is our Friday, I was beyond ready for Matt to get home from work. As Jack was grabbing at my legs and getting on my last nerve, I kindly asked him, "Jack can mommy have a little privacy?" For a split second, I thought he actually understood what I was trying to tell him, because he started to walk towards the door. Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief, I looked over to him and he was closing the door so "we" could have a little privacy. He appeared to be very satisfied with himself and had the "Don't worry mom. I took care of it. The dogs won't be able to get in here now," look on his face.  It was pretty impossible to be mad after that.

Seeing as it's "Friday" night, I'm gonna go cuddle with my honey and watch a little Downton Abbey. He even offered up a back rub tonight. Lucky me.

Excited to go to "school" to see Ms.Kristin and of course Nae Nae had to come too.

Shooting some hoops. The other moms and I were comparing weights today and it's no surprise that Jack comes in on top.

Ms. Kristin giving him his stamps after class. He loves this part. It's so cute to watch him put his feet and hands out when he sees the marker come out.

Post nap time cuddles with my boy.

No Place Like Home

Last night, Matt handed me a bunch of papers for potential transfer locations. The list included Grand Forks, Cleveland, Columbus, Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago and Kansas City. From that pile, he wanted me to choose my most desired locations. I sorted them into 3 piles; yes, no and maybe. Grand Forks, Kansas City, and Milwaukee all went in the "yes" pile, simply because they are all within a manageable driving  distance to Minnesota, which not only means that we could we go afford to go home more often, but also makes it easier and more feasible for family and friends to come see us as well. My "maybe" pile included Cleveland, Columbus and Chicago. Although Cleveland and Columbus will get us closer to home, it's still a 12 hour drive, meaning that we would probably still have to travel by airplane to make the trip home worth our while. In my opinion that isn't any different from our current situation and I'd almost rather stay in New England, where everything is a hop, skip, and a jump away. Chicago on the other hand, would be a great place to live, with plenty to do and still within a reasonable driving distance to Minnesota; however, it's a level 12, which is the highest you can go, as far as traffic and skill level.  Matt told me they are desperate for people and there is a strong possibility he could hear back from them. That's probably because their  percentage of wash-outs is significantly higher than other facilities. Although I have complete faith that Matt is capable of working level 12 traffic, it still makes me feel anxious and worried that something could go wrong and we'd have to start over yet again. With that said, if Matt were to make it through training in Chicago, we'd be more financially secure than we are now, meaning I could possibly go back to school. BONUS! As for Detroit, I have no reason why it's in my "no" pile, other than I just don't want to live there. Sorry Detroit. You are not for me. The bottom line is that I just want to go home. I miss my family and friends and I'm sad that the only time they ever get to see Jack is on Skype or photos that I put up on Facebook. So if moving to a place like Grand Forks, where there is absolutely nothing to do , means we will be one step closer to home, I'll take it.

I think I'm going to cut this short tonight because I'm exhausted and If Jack is going to follow the same pattern that he has been for the last couple of nights, I'm gonna need all the sleep I can get. Here are some snapshots from our day. Again in no particular order. Enjoy.

Since I was too lazy to cook dinner, we went out to eat at the Mexican restaurant near our house. Jack got to have his very first Churro tonight. I ended up eating his portion, because he was far more interested in the whip cream on the side.

Jack give is Horse, Nae Nae a drink of milk. Such a good sharer, he is.

Mmm... fresh guacamole that they made right before our eyes. Matt ate most of it since Jack wasn't a fan and I didn't want to spoil my dinner.

He thought he was so cool drinking from a cup like mom and dad's.

My boy took a 2 hour and 15 minute nap today. Yay for both of us!

Jack has been enjoying walking down the stairs like a BIG BOY.

Jack fell asleep in the ergo again today when I was folding laundry, and when I tried to carefully get him out without disturbing him, he woke up. To my surprise, even though he woke up, he stayed cuddling me like this for a whopping 20 minutes while I watched "Kelly and Michael."

He is becoming a pro stacker.

It amazing how quickly he caught onto lacing beads. It takes a lot of concentration and I'd say that's pretty advanced for his age.

Afternoon coffee run! I was desperate because someone, not naming any names, woke me up at 5 am. I got a small because it was 4 pm and I didn't want to be up all night.

   GOOD NIGHT!

Hugs and Sticks

Today was a good day, despite the fact that Jack had yet another blow-out last night and woke up a handful of times. I was expecting him to be extremely moody, but to my surprise he was actually quite pleasant. I made an interesting discovery today. Jack only has 16 teeth. 8 on the top and 8 on the bottom. This came as a shock to me, since for several months now, I had been convinced that he had all his teeth and was even told by his pediatrician that they were all there. Today was one of the rare days where he actually let me get a good, hard look into his mouth and I think I may have noticed one of the bottom 2 year molars peeking out. This is very good information to have, since Jack has never been what you would call a "good teether." It also explains a lot about some of the things that have been going on around here, including the diarrhea and the recurrent night waking, which have both been factors in previous teething experiences. 

Something sweet happened in the grocery store today that I can't seem to get out of my head. We were in the frozen food section at Stop and Shop and I was trying to find organic sweet corn and out of the blue Jack decided to give me a hug. I completely stopped everything I was doing to savor the moment and to let him know how much it meant to me. Twenty months ago, I would have never thought that such a simple gesture would make such a big imprint on my heart.

Here are some snapshots from our day. They aren't in any particular order. Enjoy.

One of Jack's current obsessions is taking caps on and off of things.

"Helping" me in the kitchen, while I prepare dinner.

Caught him sorting the dry noodles into an ice tray.

He insisted on wearing his headphones around the house today and kept asking me to help him put them on.

We can never get past the produce department without Jack requesting an "pople."

My nap time snack. Plain Greek yogurt, honey, frozen-thawed blueberries, granola and ground flax seed. YUM!

I thoroughly enjoyed watching him try to figure out why he couldn't back up any further.

Boys and their sticks...

Studying the snow on his mittens.

Taking a break from a hard days work.

Lunch Time! The menu for today was a Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, frozen blueberries, carrots and dip, and goldfish, which are one of his current favorites.

He Fell asleep while I was folding laundry. BONUS!

He's almost 2 years old and I still can't believe he's mine.

Jack and daddy's artwork on the chalkboard, which is CRAZY considering that Matt despises chalk.

Jack's new thing is to bring his snacks to his play kitchen. It's pretty adorable.

Here he is putting his shredded wheat in the oven.

THE END.