April 29, 2010 Twenty-one months tomorrow! Jenny read that you can predict a child’s final height by doubling his height at age 2. If that’s correct, B should be over six feet tall. We haven’t measured him lately, but I’ll bet he’s approaching 36 inches by now.
Life with Brenden is exciting as always! I’m really amazed at how much he can talk. He has started pairing nouns and verbs and even saying a few full sentences, such as “Open door” and “Hold the bowl”. He can say his name and uses it to refer to himself and to ask for things. Books are still a hit. The other day he shocked me by recognizing and repeating many letters of the alphabet that were printed on a high chair. We need to watch our words more closely now because we are likely to hear them repeated. =)
We’re practicing different methods to manage the inevitable fits. Empathy seems to work much better than lecturing, with time-outs as our primary form of punishment. He likes to please us, but he is definitely interested in exploring his independence and testing his boundaries.
His schedule remains largely the same. One nap a day is the norm now, usually from about 1:30-3:30, and at night he sleeps from 8pm until 7am or so. Food is still unpredictable. Sometimes he eats what we’re having, sometimes not. He has learned how to use a spoon fairly well and can feed himself yogurt and chili from a bowl. It makes a big mess, but we figure the mess is worth the motor skill practice. We generally bathe both of them every other day when the schedule allows.
His favorite characters are Elmo, Mickey Mouse, Super Why, and Bob and Larry from Veggie Tales. For fun we play with him inside the house or take him to the park, to the Grapevine rec center, on a walk, or to the backyard. He still loves being a big brother and talking about Jonathan. Sometimes he tries to burp Jonathan, pours water on him during bathtime, or kisses him.
Exciting upcoming events include a new twin-size bed in May or June, his second birthday in July, the start of preschool in September, and potty training at some point this year.
February 3, 2010 Eighteen months now! Dr. Z says he’s still doing great. He’s up to 27lbs now (67th percentile) and 34.5″ long (95th) percentile.
We’ve been home with both the boys together for a couple of weeks now. Brenden still gets a little jealous when Jenny holds or feeds Jonathan and sometimes asks her to put him down (“Down? Down?”, he says). He still gets some time with her every day and is handling the transition well overall. He loves his little brother and says “Baby” at least ten times a day, especially if he hears Jonathan crying or one of us mentions Jonathan in conversation with B. Often Brenden gives him a good night kiss before going to bed.
He sleeps in a toddler bed, says several dozen words and understands many more, and remains in motion nearly every second he is awake. When able, we take him to toddler playtime at the Grapevine Recreation Center or to the park so he can burn off some energy. He loves to run and climb, even on things he’s not supposed to climb like his changing table, which we had to move out of his room. Normal toddler whining appears here and there, along with normal toddler food pickiness, but most of the time he’s very good-natured and tons of fun. I love his smile and listening to him talk and squeal.
Several things really excite him, such as lawnmowers (“mow-mow!”), planes (“peen!”), Elmo (“Melmo”), his grandparents, and Skippyjon Jones. Other favorite words include “hi!”, “bye!”, “uh-oh,” and “wa-wa” (water).
November 3, 2009 Fifteen months now! Dr. Z says he’s still doing great. He’s up to 25lbs now (60th percentile) and 33.25″ long (95th) percentile, so he’s still tall and skinny. He got a couple more shots at this appointment. Although he cries like you’d expect, he gets over it quickly.
Daily life for Brenden hasn’t really changed over the last few months, but we’ve now eliminated the bottle completely and started brushing his teeth before bed. Unfortunately, he seems to have picked up some of his parents’ pickiness regarding food. He likes a food one day and refuses it the next. They say that’s normal, but it’s no fun. We mostly avoid sit-down restaurants with him because he gets bored and wants to wander around. Sitting still is rarely acceptable unless he’s watching videos on the computer or reading a book. We’re trying to prepare him for Jonathan’s arrival as best we can by talking about babies, showing him pictures of babies, and showing him Jonathan’s room. He finally got sick for the first time with hand, foot, and mouth disease, but it wasn’t too bad at all. He also developed a nasty case of diaper rash that took a long time to kick. He’s still very active and adventurous, wandering all over the house and yard, climbing up on chairs and toys, and making us smile over and over. Although he gets fussy sometimes, overall he’s a very happy and charming little guy and a joy to be around.
August 6, 2009 Wow, our little guy is already a year old! The family came over on Saturday for his first birthday party, and we all had a great time. Brenden is such a funny, active, bright, and good-natured boy who brightens our lives every day.
We switched pediatricians to one closer to us, Dr. Erica Zwernemann at Southlake Family Medicine. His one-year checkup was Monday. He measured 31.25″ (90th percentile) and weighed 23.2 lbs (58th percentile). I’m pretty sure about the weight, but his height is difficult to measure because he squirms so much. I find it hard to believe he’s only growth 3/4″ in the last 3 months after growing so quickly before. Anyway, the doctor said he’s still doing great! We discovered he had a mild egg allergy a few weeks ago, but other than straight eggs, we don’t really need to modify his diet for now. He still spits up a bit.
His routine hasn’t changed much – he wakes up around 7-8am, naps around 10am and 3pm, and goes to bed around 7:30-8pm. We’re in the process of weaning him off the bottle and formula. We have eliminated the lunchtime bottle and cut back his other bottles to roughly 25% formula to 75% whole milk. Once we finish off the current can of formula, whole milk will be the standard along with finger food, much of which will mirror what we are eating instead of being a special pureed meal just for him. He’s been walking well for a couple of months now and even tries to “run” a bit. He can crawl up on the couch sometimes, shake his head to say “no”, remember hours later that a tasty snack is on top of the stove, “dance” to music, and obey some simple commands some of the time.