Jameston turned 21-months-old last Monday (but thanks to food poisoning on Father's Day and general summer busyness, I am just now getting around to blogging about it). Here is his growth picture (the last one we'll do with Mr. Bear), taken along with his favorite lovies at the moment: Elmo, dolphin, and his "doggy," an Alaskan Husky from Granny and Papa.
At-home measurements:
Length: 34 inches
(almost half the height of his Mommy)!
Weight: 30 1/2 lbs.
He's a "big boy," as he often tells us :-)
He wears size 7 shoes, size 5 diapers (since he was 18 months), and size 24 months to 2T clothing
I am going to try to be as succinct as possible, which I will find hard to do as I feel this age is FULL of all sorts of fun stuff for our little guy. Some of Jameston's favorites at the moment are:
- ELMO! Oh my, the boy is obsessed. Sometimes this is his first word of the day when we get him out of his crib in the morning. At 19 months-old, he was obsessed with "shadows." At ages 20-months, the Elmo craze began, and as of late he is hooked on LEGOs. Love it!
- His tool box and hat. I know I've blogged about this phase some already :-)
- Being outside...even in triple digit weather. From helping Daddy with yard work, to blowing bubbles,to going on wagon rides around the 'hood to to the playground, to kicking/throwing balls, he's all boy and loves the outdoors! Some nights we have to bribe him to come back inside.
- Pillows! I know, who would've thunk it? And when we have a playroom full of toys? If he's having a rough time, we just have to simply mention the word "pillows" and he lights up with excitement!
- All things ANIMALS, or "Am-mulls" as he calls them, and Choo-Choo's
- Reading! He will bring us books no matter where we are in the house. We often pack some for him to read when we are in the car for long periods of time. His current favorites are: "Go, Dogs, Go!," "The Giving Tree," "Count with Me," and his "It's Great to be an Engine" Thomas the Train book. His favorite reading companion is his Granny!
- Stickers and coloring
- His cousins: this boy loves his cousins SO MUCH! He can say all of their names (all four of them in a row), and we often do daily, when we are praying OR if we mention the word "swimming." He has been swimming with two of our nieces in our community pool, so when we drive by it, he'll say "Swimming, Layne" or "Swimming, Aspen." Too cute!
Things I want to remember about Jameston at this age are:
- How he exclaims, "Amen!" after each prayer when we say, "In Jesus' name."
- How he signs "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," how we sing our "ABCs" and "Jesus Loves Me" during teeth-brushing, and how we motion/play to "Ring around the Rosies" and "Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes"
- How he claps at the end of songs and books
- How he shouts a really long "Ewww!" when he sees a bug, goes near the trash can, and when we change a dirty diaper. We are starting not necessarily potty training, but what I am calling "Potty Acquainting." He will sit on the potty before bath time and after naptime some days. Sometimes, he will tell us when he's gotta go #2, and walk over to the potty and sit on it with his diaper on. I am glad that he's becoming familiar with the concept, although I know it may be a LLOONNGG time before we have success!
- When it comes to food these days, Jameston is a pretty good eater. The only issue is that he's preferring juice over milk some days. Oh, and the boy loves ketchup! Like mother, like son (or so I've been told that I was a ketchup fan at his age).
- Regarding sleep, he goes to bed between 8:30 and 9 (later than we'd like), gets up between 6:45 and 7:15, and takes about a 2-3 hour nap after lunchtime.
- How he LOVES Boomer, and how we sometimes catch him trying to give him table scraps
Of course, like most parents, we think our little guy is the smartest kid around! But we also have others telling us he is, as well :-) His teachers at daycare adore him (and vice versa), and they are teaching him how to say words in Spanish (hola, adios, uno), Hindi, and French (from the teachers there of those nationalities).
Other developmental milestones we want to remember about JW at 21-months are:
- Has counted to ten with us on several occasions and sometimes needs some prompting on the next number. He knows 1-3 no problem, and 6-10 as well. Now if only we can get 4 and 5 figured out!
- Thinks every color is "lellow" or "geen" and that every letter is "W." At least he knows one of his initials :-)
- Is such a copycat in all things we do. He is definitely exercising his "pretend play" skills and starting to show his imagination with toys.
- Is saying sentences! Albeit short, from 2-4 words, but he continues to be our little talker and is putting together verbs with pronouns. LOVE IT! These have included, "Look at me, Mommy!," Mommy(insert any name) finished," "Sit by me," "Daddy's turn," "Oranges (all foods really) yummy!", "One more time," and one that melts my heart, "Rock/hold you." And we hear, "Where's Jameston/Mommy/Daddy?" and the subsequent "There he/she is!" on a daily, maybe hourly, basis :-) My not-so favorite new words/phrases of his right now are "nope" and "Jameston not sleeping/hungry." He'll even say, "Happy birthday to you." I need to upload the video!
- Also, he REALLY started emphasizing his /k/ sounds, whereas before the words would run together. "Wor-Kah, Mil-K, rocK," you get the picture. It's all too cute!
- And his /f/ sounds are b's. So fix it is bix it, funny is bunny, etc.
- He's been clingy-McClingerson over the last month, I think primarily related to his 2-year molars coming in on the bottom :-( Poor boy, but Mommy doesn't mind the extra snuggle time...
- He'll "smile for the camera and say "cheese!" when he sees it.
- He's oh-so courteous, too! He is continuing with "pease" and "tane you." He'll go to shake peoples' hands after we do (cracks everyone up!), say "Bess you!" after I sneeze, etc. My absolute favorite: How he will motion with arms stretched to the side and say "this much" after we give hugs and kisses to say how much we love each other...I LOVE THIS BOY!
Jameston, we are amazed by you daily! You are truly such a blessing and joy in our lives. As we have learned over the last several months, you are our sunshine! Can't believe you'll be two in just three short months...let's hope I post that one on time!
At-home measurements:
His second project: our fence. When we made an offer on the house in December, we knew we would have to rebuild the fence (just not 4 months after we moved in). But with all the rain and thunderstorms April and May brought, we had to bite the bullet and start sooner than we had planned on! And to save money, we (I mean, Brett) built it all.by.himself. Sure, he had some help, but not much.
