I tried my best over the past 2 years to keep the blog up to date plotting each mile stone met along with accomplishments and struggles and other fun stuff. My grammer, spelling and thoughts are sometimes scattered (but hey, that's me). I plan to continuing doing the same---I find keeping this blog really rewarding and scrolling back over these years makes me laugh, cry and smile. So, don't say I didn't warn you, there will be more of the same.
So getting on with the same...Here we go.
In the last 2 months we have seen a lot of changes in Harrison. His language is starting to pick up. Some of his favorite words include car, bus, Elmo, Mickey slide, cookie, fishy, puppy, elephant baby, please and he is fluent in the animal sounds, sheep, horse, duck, cow, monkey, kitty and imitates a gorilla beating his chest and walking like a penguin.
His imagination is soaring! Play has changed overall, he has introduced lots of sounds and imitation. He tries to help fix EVERYTHING. We have worn out the phrase, "if it's not broke, don't fix it." Favorite toys include cars, trucks, and fire engines. Daddy picked out the loudest set of rescue vehicles for his birthday, and what present did we give him early? You guessed it. Thank you daddy, now hand me the Tylenol.
Harrison's height and weight are up in the air. He refused to get weighed the last 6 times at the doctor and refuses to step on the scale at home, so finally last week I weighed us both and did the subration and he is about 26lbs (best of 3). Height wise, he seems so much taller, but I clearance shopped for him yesterday at Gymboree (one of my favorite stores) and bought him 18-24 month jeans. He swam in them all day. I guess we get out moneys worth out of them as he will probably be in them for at least a year or longer. On Friday Harrison has a 2 year check-up with Dr. Gerhard (his primary doctor). It seems like forever since we visited him (almost 6 months to the day). I would like to say that Harrison will get out of the appointment without shots, but he hasn't got his flu shot yet and I feel like a bad parent waiting this long to vaccinate him (which reminds me, I haven't got mine yet either). I am also hoping this appointment goes smoother than our last appointment with the immunologist, that was an experience worth forgetting. From what I read, reading to a toddler and getting them a doctor's kit to help ease their fears. From first hand experience, I can't say I agree with this.
Looking around our living room as I am typing this, I see books, and more books and more books. If Harrison isn't busy playing with cars/trucks or helping fix something that isn't broken, he can be found paging through books (which he is finally gentle with) and going through his touch and feel flash cards. These cards have been an awesome aide in getting him to talk and expand his vocabulary. Harrison was observed by a speech teacher a couple of weeks ago. Through the observation she noted Harrison was behind by about 3 months in language development, but his vocabulary still falls within acceptable for his age range. She was impressed with his ability to make different noises although she couldn't make out all the words they were having him repeat, but she likes the start. So at this time, no further intervention will be done. At home we will continue to work on sounds, sound effects as well as teach new signs and reward Harrison for using words and signs is what was suggested by the speech teacher. In January Harrison will be re-evaluated to see where he falls with his language. We have also been reminded that boys talk later and less than girls.
Some other things Harrison is advancing in is learning to take off and put on clothing. Sometimes he has patience and the task goes just fine and other times he is easily frustrated and just gives up. I would say he can take his own coat off about 75% of the time. We have noticed more of his Independence of trying to take off his shirt and pull up his pants. Socks and shoes are really difficult for him.
I love all the little things he does---most for attention, but still I have to love. The newest thing he started just in the last few days is pretending to hurt himself. He will come running or limping to me and say, "Owie, owie." He protests until you kiss his owie and make it feel better. Now this is what mommy's are supposed to do.
Behavioral issues persist. Hello, we are in the "terrible twos." The newest thing, throwing things or shall I say whipping them. I think he certainly has a future career in pitching fastballs. He also likes to climb more than ever and is getting more possessive in saying, "this is mine." There is still kicking, hitting, pinching and biting, which is done in moderation. When he attempts mis-behavior, he likes to see that you are directly observing him doing it---again for the attention. We have time outs to be very effective. Sometimes all we have to say to him is, "do you need a time out?" and behavior change is complete 360.
Nutrition is on the down-slide. Up until about a week ago---Harrison was the best eating toddler I knew. At his birthday party he ate everything in sight, which included 3 ham sandwiches, puppy chow, cake, gold fish and list goes on. For the past week I doubt if he has ate an complete meal or even a quarter of meal. We have never thrown away so much food. Makes you a cookie rather than woof down the whole thing---he hasn't even ate a whole can green beans this week, which is way out of his realm.
Potty training has been at a stand still. About 3 months ago we started introducing Harrison to the potty. He liked sitting on the potty and let us know when he did a number 1 and a number 2 and then everything stopped. From what I read, most likely this was just a phase, something new for him and once the newness ran out, he lost interest in it. Until yesterday it had been more than 2 months since I successfully got him to sit on the potty. To my amazement when I stepped out of the shower yesterday he was sitting on the potty. I asked him if he was going potty and he said, "yeah." He is also thrilled when you let him flush the potty. Baby steps in the right direction perhaps? We are striving to have him potty trained by summer.
Security blanket and plug. Harrison still clings to his blanket and plug (aka a pacifier). As parents I am sure some of you are shunning us for letting him still hold on to the plug. This is our choice. We use it at home and in the car. He goes 8 + hours a day without it at daycare and usually doesn't have it when we are out in public. I know there are those people out there that have a 4 or 5 year old with a plug talking out the side of their mouth---we do draw the line somewhere.
Bedtime is going better. Daddy struggles a little more with putting Harrison to bed as well as daycare drop off. I usually put him to bed 5 out of the 7 days a week and drop him off 3-4 times a week. I think what Harrison and I have is more of a "routine" or Harrison likes daddy better. :)
Some other fun things we do around here is play with play-dough, read books, play horsie, airplane, hide and seek, dance and watch Mickey and Elmo (over and over and over and over).
Life is good.
So getting on with the same...Here we go.
In the last 2 months we have seen a lot of changes in Harrison. His language is starting to pick up. Some of his favorite words include car, bus, Elmo, Mickey slide, cookie, fishy, puppy, elephant baby, please and he is fluent in the animal sounds, sheep, horse, duck, cow, monkey, kitty and imitates a gorilla beating his chest and walking like a penguin.
His imagination is soaring! Play has changed overall, he has introduced lots of sounds and imitation. He tries to help fix EVERYTHING. We have worn out the phrase, "if it's not broke, don't fix it." Favorite toys include cars, trucks, and fire engines. Daddy picked out the loudest set of rescue vehicles for his birthday, and what present did we give him early? You guessed it. Thank you daddy, now hand me the Tylenol.
Harrison's height and weight are up in the air. He refused to get weighed the last 6 times at the doctor and refuses to step on the scale at home, so finally last week I weighed us both and did the subration and he is about 26lbs (best of 3). Height wise, he seems so much taller, but I clearance shopped for him yesterday at Gymboree (one of my favorite stores) and bought him 18-24 month jeans. He swam in them all day. I guess we get out moneys worth out of them as he will probably be in them for at least a year or longer. On Friday Harrison has a 2 year check-up with Dr. Gerhard (his primary doctor). It seems like forever since we visited him (almost 6 months to the day). I would like to say that Harrison will get out of the appointment without shots, but he hasn't got his flu shot yet and I feel like a bad parent waiting this long to vaccinate him (which reminds me, I haven't got mine yet either). I am also hoping this appointment goes smoother than our last appointment with the immunologist, that was an experience worth forgetting. From what I read, reading to a toddler and getting them a doctor's kit to help ease their fears. From first hand experience, I can't say I agree with this.
Looking around our living room as I am typing this, I see books, and more books and more books. If Harrison isn't busy playing with cars/trucks or helping fix something that isn't broken, he can be found paging through books (which he is finally gentle with) and going through his touch and feel flash cards. These cards have been an awesome aide in getting him to talk and expand his vocabulary. Harrison was observed by a speech teacher a couple of weeks ago. Through the observation she noted Harrison was behind by about 3 months in language development, but his vocabulary still falls within acceptable for his age range. She was impressed with his ability to make different noises although she couldn't make out all the words they were having him repeat, but she likes the start. So at this time, no further intervention will be done. At home we will continue to work on sounds, sound effects as well as teach new signs and reward Harrison for using words and signs is what was suggested by the speech teacher. In January Harrison will be re-evaluated to see where he falls with his language. We have also been reminded that boys talk later and less than girls.
Some other things Harrison is advancing in is learning to take off and put on clothing. Sometimes he has patience and the task goes just fine and other times he is easily frustrated and just gives up. I would say he can take his own coat off about 75% of the time. We have noticed more of his Independence of trying to take off his shirt and pull up his pants. Socks and shoes are really difficult for him.
I love all the little things he does---most for attention, but still I have to love. The newest thing he started just in the last few days is pretending to hurt himself. He will come running or limping to me and say, "Owie, owie." He protests until you kiss his owie and make it feel better. Now this is what mommy's are supposed to do.
Behavioral issues persist. Hello, we are in the "terrible twos." The newest thing, throwing things or shall I say whipping them. I think he certainly has a future career in pitching fastballs. He also likes to climb more than ever and is getting more possessive in saying, "this is mine." There is still kicking, hitting, pinching and biting, which is done in moderation. When he attempts mis-behavior, he likes to see that you are directly observing him doing it---again for the attention. We have time outs to be very effective. Sometimes all we have to say to him is, "do you need a time out?" and behavior change is complete 360.
Nutrition is on the down-slide. Up until about a week ago---Harrison was the best eating toddler I knew. At his birthday party he ate everything in sight, which included 3 ham sandwiches, puppy chow, cake, gold fish and list goes on. For the past week I doubt if he has ate an complete meal or even a quarter of meal. We have never thrown away so much food. Makes you a cookie rather than woof down the whole thing---he hasn't even ate a whole can green beans this week, which is way out of his realm.
Potty training has been at a stand still. About 3 months ago we started introducing Harrison to the potty. He liked sitting on the potty and let us know when he did a number 1 and a number 2 and then everything stopped. From what I read, most likely this was just a phase, something new for him and once the newness ran out, he lost interest in it. Until yesterday it had been more than 2 months since I successfully got him to sit on the potty. To my amazement when I stepped out of the shower yesterday he was sitting on the potty. I asked him if he was going potty and he said, "yeah." He is also thrilled when you let him flush the potty. Baby steps in the right direction perhaps? We are striving to have him potty trained by summer.
Security blanket and plug. Harrison still clings to his blanket and plug (aka a pacifier). As parents I am sure some of you are shunning us for letting him still hold on to the plug. This is our choice. We use it at home and in the car. He goes 8 + hours a day without it at daycare and usually doesn't have it when we are out in public. I know there are those people out there that have a 4 or 5 year old with a plug talking out the side of their mouth---we do draw the line somewhere.
Bedtime is going better. Daddy struggles a little more with putting Harrison to bed as well as daycare drop off. I usually put him to bed 5 out of the 7 days a week and drop him off 3-4 times a week. I think what Harrison and I have is more of a "routine" or Harrison likes daddy better. :)
Some other fun things we do around here is play with play-dough, read books, play horsie, airplane, hide and seek, dance and watch Mickey and Elmo (over and over and over and over).
Life is good.
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