Twenty Months

Here we are at 20 months and Judah is as engaging as ever, and quite the little parrot. He continues to broaden his phrases and sentences and is getting increasingly verbal with big brother, particularly when he is sticking up for himself! He has learned a few of the verses from the kids music we keep in the car, so he'll echo out a verse after he hears it or babble it to Gabriel. He also will usually repeat the last part of anything anyone says, whether it's to him or not. For instance if Andy says to me "did you get the mail today?" Judah chimes "mail today?"

He also works diligently at making sentences. The other day we stopped on the way home from a trip to the mountains for Andy to get some coffee. I stayed in the car with Judah and told him where Andy was going. This was his response:

Daddy coffee.

Daddy go get coffee.

Coffee cup.

Daddy go get coffee in coffee cup. 

Well done! Other phrases used often are:  

I finished, I need a wipe.

It's pizza time!

I broke it.

I need napkin, please.

Look!

I some! (I want some, usually pointing)

I play legos (wegos)

I want that/I hold that.

I take a bath.
What ya doin'?

He also pronounces all of his "k"s or "ck"s as "t", so cake is cate, milk is milt and peacock is peatot (my fave). I will probably miss that one when he figures it out ... much more than the "f" for "tr"!!

In terms of gross motor skills, he has mastered the scooter! He can scoot, steer and keep his balance, even going down hills. Still no fear from this one, which I think stems a great deal from watching Gabriel whiz around on his bike and scooter. It appears he doesn't realize that he's not as big and fast as Gabriel. It won't be long!

My favorite development for this age is that Judah will FINALLY let us read books (plural) to him! I have been trying to read to this child since he was 4-5 months old and he would never let me. I think in nearly every blog update about him I have lamented this fact. But finally, he is choosing books for us to read to him, joining in when we read to Gabriel, choosing a bedtime story and even has a few favorite books he will request by name (baby giggles, cookie monster, and dos and donts). I love for him to curl up in my lap and let me read to him. I hope this is an interest that sticks!

Other developments include counting from 1-5 in the correct order, learning colors (he's best at green and blue), picking out animals from books or surroundings (elephant, monkey, horse, hippo, zebra, peacock, fish), he has learned how to run which is really cute to watch because he kind of looks like he's doing a high knees drill with his back very erect and knees pumping. He has also learned (or attempted I should clarify) to jump. Of course he doesn't actually get his two feet off the ground, but he kind of jumps up on one foot while the other stays on the ground and says "shump!".

Judah's defiant side shows up on a more regular basis as well, much to our chagrin. And it's so hard to discipline him when he is being so stinking cute about his misbehavior! Andy and I often are stifling laughs as we reprimand him. The thing about it is that he knows he's misbehaving, or disobeying, and he thinks it's funny. This one is going to be a tough one mold into obedience, but we're being diligent in setting firm limits without being harsh, the same principle we parent Gabriel with. 

Happy 20 Months! 

First Family Camping Trip

We've lived in Colorado for nearly a year now and have yet to embark on a family camping trip. At the advice from a mother of one of Gabriel's preschool classmates, we decided to book a camp site a local place that is literally 20 minutes from our house, the idea being that when things go terribly awry (we have an 18 month old, remember) we can just pack up and be home. We figure this will be a good test run, and we'll make it to the mountains next time.

Cherry Creek Reservoir has not only the campsite but also a lot of other outdoor activities like a lake and beach, playgrounds, bike and walking paths, etc. It's large enough that you don't feel like you are in the middle of Denver (ok, it's a little south of Denver proper, but it is still urban). 

The boys were so excited about going camping. Gabriel and Andy camped out in our house to get Gabriel used to sleeping in a tent, and as for Judah, well we are just winging it. We found the campsite with ease, set everything up. Family camping means bringing a big cooler with all kinds of fun food, a net enclosed food tent in addition to the sleeping tent, and camping chairs for all, just to name a few things. This makes camping with kids a lot more enjoyable than "roughing it" and it's easy to bring all of this stuff in the car, versus hiking it into the woods in a traditional camping sense.

After setting up camp, we explored the area for a while before coming back to start on the first night's dinner. The boys enjoyed hot dogs, watermelon, chips and smores. We were amazed at how much fun they had playing in the dirt. It was a rather dusty campsite and they practically bathed in it! They also enjoyed sitting around the fire after the sun went down, although keeping Judah away from the grill/fire area was taxing! When it was time for bed, we set the boys up in their sleeping bags and they each got to hold a few tea light candles as little mini night lights. As expected, Judah would not stay in his bag (he's only ever slept in a crib) and wondered around the tent for several HOURS. Gabriel fell asleep pretty quickly.  At some point in the night, after he had finally fallen asleep, Judah managed to get turned around in his bag and had his head buried in the bottom. Andy heard muffled crying and found him trapped and upset - poor boy! We all slept about as well as you would think we did :)

In the morning, our early riser, Gabriel, was the last one up! This is quite rare, for him to a) sleep past 6am and b) be anything but the first one up. We all enjoy some eggs and bacon for breakfast, then decided to head to the beach area for a swim. By late morning, we were feeling very tired and ready to head home. One night was enough for our first trial run! 

Overall, success though. Having to change Judah's diapers is not fun and he is a bit on the young side for camping, but both boys had a lot of fun and Andy and I, although tired, agreed we should definitely do it again. In the mountains next time, perhaps!

setting up the tent

Our campsite

So dirty! Bring more wipes next time.

Playing in the dust

The watch says 10:22, and that is a beer on the beach in the background. Yep.

Did I mention we brought Tsali? :)

Nineteen Months

I think that this month can be summed up with "phrases". Judah seems to be working really hard at communicating with us and has managed to start speaking, for the most part, in phrases and simple sentences. As I indicated in his 18 month post, there is no way to keep up with all of his new words, but he continues to add new words every single day. A sampling of his new phrases include:

- I funny

- I hungry

- I a big kid

- water please

- I want more

- I like it (wike it)

- I don't like it (i don wike it)

- Happy Judah, all done!

- I want it

- I go night night

- I go potty

At his 18 month appointment (which happened at 19 months) he jumped up in percentiles for both height and weight, and he did really well on his developmental evaluation. His current stats are:

Weight: 26# 5 oz. (74%)

Height: 32 3/4" (49%)

HC: 19 7/8" (98%)

One (kind of funny) note about his language development is the way he says "tr" ... like in truck. Yea, he pronounces the "tr" like an "f". SO a train is a fain and a truck is f---. And the thing is he LOVES trucks, so any time he sees one he squeals with delight f---, big f---! Oy. We have pretended it doesn't mean anything, especially so Gabriel doesn't realize what the word actually is and just encourage him to enunciate the "TR". The worst is when Gabriel gets adamant about correcting him and starts screeching "Judah! It's not f--- it's truck!!" Hopefully we won't have a cussing sailor for long!

He continues to be quite the climber and I am trying to get better with letting him find his limits, especially on the playground. I'm not all the way there yet and still spot him pretty regularly, but the fear is all me and zero from him. He is going to be our little dare devil. He almost completely self-reliant on the mini kick scooter at 19 months and we didn't even give Gabriel that scooter until he turned two. He also has started eyeing the balance bike, slow down Judah! 

Nineteen months and moving up Judah!

Mimi + DD Visit

My mom and dad came to visit for a week. The boys had a blast, of course, I will let the pictures do the talking!

DD took G fishing!

We all ran a race together, Mimi pushed the boys in the stroller!

Dad, Andy and I went on a beer tour at a local brewery where Andy and I know the master brewer. Yum. 

Eighteen Months

What is it about this milestone that feels so ... so ... monumental? Is one and a half that big a deal, or is it a fabricated age marker predicated on the fact that baby/toddler clothing includes "18 month" as a size? Well, in any case, it does in fact feel like a big deal, and perhaps it also has something to do with the fact that Judah is closer to 2 than 1 and will close quickly on his second birthday. I count it all joy to watch him develop on a daily basis and would never wish the reverse, although occasionally I look at him and wonder where my baby went. 

At this point I can't really keep up with his word bank. He has hit the stage where he can mimic almost any word he hears (careful!), but here is my best shot at a list of added words since 17 months (and this will probably be the last mention of vocabulary, it's all words from here!): 

- Belly

- Taco

- Outside ('side)

- Apple

- Hat

- Water (wa-er)

- Bite

- Cup

- Seat

- Buckle

- Down

- Empty (em-mo)

- Hungry (hun-gee)

- Lunch (yunch)
- Pizza
- Yes (ya!)
- Eyes
- Sure
- All right
- Whoa
- Bubbles

He also likes to say "no" for everything, but not emphatically. For example: "Judah, would you like your breakfast?" ... "no" and then proceeds to dig into his banana. When he is feeling strongly about his "no" he usually adds the head shake and holds the "oooo" sound for a few seconds to indicate dislike or disagreement. 

The eye teeth are arriving, ugh! He takes so long to pop a tooth through, poor thing, and they always come in in pairs. So, he's fighting with the bottom two eye teeth now and the upper eye teeth gums are red and swollen, just waiting their turn to torture Judah. Every time we think about phasing out his pacifier (which is still only allowed at bed time), he starts teething again, and he finds such comfort in his "froggy" we can't bear to take it away, especially because we avoid using pain relievers for teething. Well, as his pediatrician says, he won't go to college with it so don't worry too much.

Happily, even though he is 18 months, he doesn't see his doctor again until July. After his last reaction to the vaccinations his doctor said we could wait until July for another check, whew! I'll make another post with his stats at that time. I can tell you he is "fat and happy"! Everyone always comments on his cute little, round belly. Love it!

Back to the linguistic progress, he also seems to be experimenting with sentences. Like the other night, he walked over to the bath tub and said : "help please. bath." He also continues with "I want more" and has varied it to being specific like "I want frog" or "I want water". It's nice to do a little bit less guessing these days on what he wants or needs!

He is able to name a few body parts when asked, such as nose, eyes, ears, hands, feet, and belly. His appetite is as good as ever, his favorite foods being bananas, avocados and squeezies. He also is pretty adamant about his utensils  if you give him a baby fork or spoon, he won't eat his dinner until you give him an adult fork or spoon, then he digs right it.  

Half of his second year down, half a year to go - Happy 18 Months Judah!

Another Amazing Cake!

Gabriel has been telling us for MONTHS (since January to be exact) that he was ready for his birthday party and he wants a "Finn McMissile-Sile cake" .. this is how he pronounces the cars character Finn from Cars 2, combining the American Finn McMissile with the British Finn Mc-Miss-Ile. Funny guy!

So, who was tasked with pulling of a Finn McMissile-Sile cake? Andy, naturally. For anyone who remembers Gabriel's Cars race track birthday cake from last year (including Lightening McQueen jumping over flaming candles!), this cake had a lot to live up to. So, to top it (easy there Andy, you've got like 14 more of these to go!) Andy decided to make a cake in the shape of an opening scene of Cars 2. That's right, in the shape of a "scene" ... not the number 4, not a car shape, an actual scene out of the movie. To be exact, he constructed a cake to look like Finn escaping from the oil rig. Amazing. Amazing! And, he kept it a secret from Gabriel until his birthday party. Mind blown. Did he stay up all night making and constructing the cake? Yes. Did he have to reconstruct the oil rig made of poured chocolate no less than two times? Yes. But he will tell you that he would do it again, Gabriel was that amazed with his cake. And so were all of his buddies at his birthday party.

Happy Birthday Gabriel!

I think this pic was taken around 3AM

Helping Daddy ice the favor cupcakes ... yep Andy made those too!