Two Word Utterances

By 18 months, a child should begin putting two words together - like "Daddy bye-bye" when Daddy leaves for work. I know this because I'm an SLP. 😊  Jacob is on track and has been putting two words together lately. Tonight's was my favorite. He came in the house after falling in a puddle in the driveway and told me, "Nose......water." 😂 Yes, Jacob, your nose did indeed hit the water.

Katie's Names

Katie has been changing her name around for quite some time.  She's often Ms. Lucinda.  Other days she's Ms. Sparkle.  She frequently changes her baby's names as well.  Robin becomes Shaniqua who becomes Bella who becomes Sarah. 

Recently she started changing Jacob's name too.  Probably the most common name she gives him is Benjamin.  She also calls him Jeremiah, John, Thomas, or James.  She gets mad when I call him Jacob, so I usually give in and call him whatever the name of the day is.  I think it may be confusing to Jacob, but surely he'll catch up. 

Jacob's 18 Month Update

Jacob is 18 months old.  He weighs 25.4 pounds (43%ile).  He is 32" tall (41%ile).  His head is 50.5 cm (97%ile).  The kid still has a melon head.

He knows a lot of words - I can't name them all, but he probably uses 50-100 words well.  He has started to put two words together.  For example, the other day he said, "Mama bite" and then he attempted to bite me.  He's bit me a couple times.  He also likes to smack me.  I spend a lot of time saying, "Be nice to Mama.  Give Mama hugs and kisses."  He then gives me big hugs and kisses.  He likes to hug a lot, especially in the middle of grocery shopping.  He also plays a game where he knocks on the window or wall and waits for me to say, "Come in!"  He then turns and says in an exaggerated voice, "Hi! Hug?  Hug?" 

He loves books.  He follows me around the house all day saying, "book book."  His most recent favorite is "Otis and the Tornado." He'll pick one book and read it over and over and over until I make him stop.  Sometimes it's only a short book, and I'll read the same 18 words about twenty times before I tell him that he needs to switch to a new book. 

He loves to be outside.  He likes bugs, but he hasn't figured out how to pick them up without squishing them. He comments on all sorts of things outside - birds, bugs, trucks, wind, trash.  He likes to play in the sand box and only occasionally eats sand now.  He also loves to play in the water.  When it rains and there is a big puddle in the driveway, he runs around in it until he's soaking wet. 

He likes to eat and has a good appetite, but he's a finicky eater at times.  Sometimes he'll eat four servings of something, and then the next night when I serve it as leftovers, he won't eat it at all.  For breakfast he likes Rice Krispies or toast.  At lunch he likes pb&j, ham and cheese, and peas.  He can put down peas like nobody else.  Dinner is unpredictable.  He also loves popcorn and cheese - not together.  He drinks milk and water well.  I tried to give him juice once when he was sick, and he wouldn't drink it. 

His best tricks are still raising his eyebrows at people and making funny faces.  He keeps a pretty serious face around strangers, but he's silly around us.  He likes to be held - all the time - all 25 pounds of him.  He cries and throws his head on the ground when he doesn't get his way - like when I can't hold him and make dinner at the same time.  He's highly attached to his blanket which he calls "B."  He won't sleep without it, and it's the cure to most bumps on the head. 

I'm still not quite sure what he's going to be like as he grows older, but he's a sweet boy that I'm thankful to call mine.  He brings me much joy - except at 5:00 AM. 

Katie's Wedding Dance

Katie got a new dress-up princess dress from Aunt Cristi and Uncle Brian.  She was wearing it the other day and decided that it was her wedding dress.  She started acting out her wedding.  She's never been to an actual wedding, so she only knows a few pieces of what happens.  She quickly got to the first dance.  When I asked her what her song was, she replied, "The Chicken Dance." 

When I laughed, she said, "Well, I won't really dance like a chicken though." 

I couldn't find the chicken dance song on the keyboard she was using for her music, so she quickly settled for "Home on the Range" and softly swayed to the music with her imaginary groom.

The To-Do List of a Seven-Year-Old

Daniel wrote out a to-do list on Saturday. It read:
List one...
Make card for Luis
Finish erasing puzzle
Take care of Jacob
Pray
Practice piano
Practice soccer
Dig hole
Catch bugs
Exercise
Do puzzles
Move dots
Make something with toys
Find items to donate
Add beans to jar
Color puzzle

Breakfast Champ

Jacob is a good eater.  He eats a bowl of oatmeal almost every morning for breakfast.  His current favorite is oatmeal with peanut butter, cinnamon, and applesauce.  I noticed recently that he would start crying and throwing a fit near the end of breakfast.  After watching a few mornings, I realized he begins his fit when I first start having to tip the bowl to get more oatmeal out. He's crying because he realizes there are only a few bites left!

Daniel

At mass on Sunday, I caught Daniel doing something sweet. I almost missed it which makes it even nicer because I don't think he intended for anyone to know. As the collection basket went by, he slipped in three dollars that he'd put in his pocket. He is a kind and good boy, and I'm so very proud of him.

Katie's 4th Birthday

 

 

Katie turned four last week! She had her checkup yesterday, and I believe they said she weighed 35 pounds and was 40 inches tall.  She has grown up a lot this year. She still enjoys playing with babies.  She also likes to play cars/trucks, board games, color, paint, read books, and ride her new bike.  She doesn't like to play outside as much as her brothers, but when we go for walks, she can run long distances!  Some of the things she likes to eat are ham and cheese sandwiches, yogurt, cereal, crackers, raw red peppers, cheese, peas, apples, pears, grapes, cantaloupe, and steak.  She doesn't like to eat onions, tomatoes (unless they're raw grape tomatoes), or most soups.  She knows all her letters and can count to 100.  She can tell you the first and last letter of most words you give her.  She's really good at jigsaw puzzles.  She sleeps with special blankets, but no stuffed animals.  She likes to read the Bible for bedtime stories.  Sometimes I can convince her to take a nap, but often I can't.

For her birthday, we celebrated at our house with the Calvo and Kuszmaul families and Buelo and Buela.  She had a Candy Land cake that came out pretty cute, but tasted sort of terrible. The kids all liked it! David made her a dollhouse, and she received many presents related to that.  Grandpa and Grandma got her the furniture for the little girl's bedroom.  Buela and Buelo got her the furniture for the baby's room.  Aunt Cristi and Uncle Brian got her the living room furniture, Aunt Pam and Uncle Josh the kitchen, Aunt Heather and Uncle Brian the dollhouse family, as well as some arts and crafts kits.  Uncle Luis got her coloring books.  The Calvos got her a pillow craft, headbands, rings, a stuffed owl, and a bracelet craft kit.  The Kuszmauls got her more dollhouse furniture - another kitchen (which has worked well to fill out other areas of the house) and a bunkbed and other kids' furniture.  She was so excited about everything! She had been counting the days til her birthday since about 120 days beforehand!  The kids at the party all did a sticker mosaic craft and then ran around the rest of the time.

We are blessed to have Katie in our family. She's a sweet and funny girl who we wouldn't trade for the world!

Married Birds

In the car this afternoon:
Catherine: Mommy, how do birds get married?
Me: What do you mean?
Catherine: I mean that I thought birds have baby birds, so how do they get married?
Me: Ohhhh, well birds and other animals don't have to get married to have babies. God made them different than He made people.

She was satisfied with this answer!

Why is this here??

Jacob hides things all over the house. I don't remember the other kids doing that as much.

This week alone I found two bracelets in the spice cabinet, two toy animals in the bathtub, one sock in the Tupperware drawer, and three candlesticks, four bottles of glue, and one bottle of paint in the hamper. I think the hamper is your best bet if you're looking for something.....