The most progress that Andrew has made this month was understanding and speaking words. Andrew understands quite a bit of things we say to him. Sometimes, he listens, but sometimes, h doesn't! There are times when we tell Andrew something and he does it that we are just amazed by how much he is comprehending.
Some of his latest words include: "waa" for walk and/or walrus; "wuh" for wheel; "eeee" for eat; "muh" for milk/milkshake; "huu" for here; "buu" for bus (we managed to correct it from him saying "da"; "bah" for bath; and "buu buu" for bubbles. He still says "backpack". Andrew will sometimes say "hey" or "hi", but it's not consistent. But my favorite thing he has learned to say is "yeah". He says it all the time in response to all kinds of questions. Sometimes, we know that he is saying "yeah" just to say it, but there are other times, that I think he really knows what he is saying "yeah" too. It is just too cute though! I will definitely post a video of it soon. Another thing that Andrew says is "mama" as opposed to "mum" or "mom now". I kind of miss mum, but mama just melts my heart too.
Andrew is making some ground with sentences saying two words together...though after much direction from Mommy. He has said "Mama here" when he wanted me to sit next to him on the floor and "Mama walk" one afternoon when he wanted to go outside. He will start by saying each word once by themselves and will string both the words after numerous attempts. We will definitely keep trying to work on this and see if he can get the hang of it.
From our mornings at Baby Time at the Freed-Montrose library, Andrew has learned to sign book and will sign and say "book" at the same time. We have also been teaching Andrew the sign for "sorry". He will basically sign for "please", but we are trying to get him to close his fist correctly. It's close enough for us. He also says "buu buu" for bubbles and also signs for them by tapping his pointer finger and thumb with both hands as if he is popping them.
Also, thanks to the PBS Music Time with SteveSongs and a song called So Many Shapes, Andrew has learned some shapes. He picked up triangle first and will do a makeshift sign where we hold up our hands above our hands making a peak. Andrew is pretty good about picking out triangle shapes in books or wherever he sees them. He is getting better at recognizing squares and circles too. Daddy has been trying to show Andrew letters and numbers (especially during tub time with the crayons). Andrew can usually pick out A and O when he sees them though more so capital As and not lowercase ones.
Andrew is really big into music and acting out songs. As I mentioned in a previous post, he loves to act out The Noble Duke of York with a stuffed animal on his lap. He knows most of the gestures to The Wheels on the Bus (another video I promise). Some of his new favorite tunes include Baa Baa Black Sheep, Row Row Your Boat, Itsy Bitsy Spider (to which he tries to do the spider part), and I've Been Working the Railroad. We are going to have to teach him the alternate version to that for sure!! ;)
Andrew is still a sponge when he comes to learning animals. I think going to the zoo helps him to learn them as fast as he has being able to see them live. He loves penguins and will put out his hands and try to say waddle waddle (because Mommy didn't know what else to do for penguins!) He can point out dinosaurs, squirrels, butterflies, mice, ants, bees, kangeroos, whales, frogs, and octopi (and probably some more). He loves ladybugs and will say "buh" for them as well as other bugs. He can also identify spiders and will mimic the itsy bitsy spider hand gesture.
We have (Daddy mostly) also used bathtime as another opportunity to teach Andrew his body parts while putting soap or lotion on his body. Andrew knows chest, toes, arms, legs, and penis. Yes, you read that right. Since he kept touching/playing with it, I figured we might as well tell him the word for it. And at first, I referred to it as his pee pee, but didn't want to confuse him later with urine. So my thoughts were to just teach him the proper word.
As for playing, Andrew still loves his Thomas trains. He plays with them every day never fail. Drew is able to identify Thomas, Percy, Emily, Billy, and Salty. What is sad is that we don't specifically work on teaching him their names. I suppose he just learned them by us saying them all the time. He doesn't watch the videos as much anymore (good news), but will watch them periodically. Another vehicle that Andrew loves to play with is cars...real cars. He loves to sit in the front seat of my car and play with everything! He will turn all the knobs and press all the buttons. You can imagine our surprise (and mild frustration) when we tried to start the car one evening to go out to dinner and the car didn't start. Apparently, he had left one of the lights on draining the battery. We really were more frustrated because we should have known better and checked that all the lights were off. But safe to say--lesson learned!!
Additionally, Andrew is able to stack blocks better now. He loves to build tunnels for his vehicles to go through (with help from adults). Drew is so much better at shape sorters being able to find the correct slot and put them in correctly by himself sometimes (other times, he still needs a little help). He also has made vast improvements doing puzzles too...being able to find the correct locations and being able to fit the puzzle piece in--for example, his animal puzzles. We got him these alphabet and number puzzles; and he still needs guidance with these.
Moreover, A.J. loves going for walks and playing outside. He is pretty good about holding hands and walking on the sidewalk. I think this boy could walk outside everyday for hours on end. When we take him to the playgrounds, he still doesn't like the swings, but loves slides. We now let him slide down by himself even the big ones...Mommy admits she still gets a little nervous about it. He has gotten so much better about climbing and scaling up the playscapes. We do still have to spot him and help him sometimes though.
As for eating, Andrew is still the same eater and drinker. There are days when he eats like it is going out of style, but other days, when he eats just barely enough. Andrew eats dim sum the best still, but he still loves mac and cheese, pizza, and chicken nuggets. He now likes alfredo pasta, hot dogs, and oatmeal. Drew will eat eggs now, but we have to have it with something else like chorizo or ketchup, but I am just happy he will eat it! He is back to eating bananas and grapes (probably because we got some really sweet batches of grapes lately). Drew is much better about drinking milkshakes--what we call milk and Pediasure even asking for it sometimes. When we are eating out, he will drink plain regular milk or chocolate milk pretty decently which is reassuring.
Andrew runs almost everywhere! I have been told on numerous occasion by other parents how fast they think Andrew is! Lucky me!? Ha ha! Andrew is pretty good about sliding down the stairs, but will still try to walk down them whild holding the railing or wall, which we allow him to every now and then just so he can practice.
Andrew has lots of teeth coming in--two on each side on the top and bottom and two of his left molars. Yes, six at one time. The two molars might be coming in faster than the other four. Poor kid. Sometimes, I think they really bother him because occasionally, he won't want to eat something that he normally will.
Our little boy is still a happy toddler (that's so weird to write versus baby), but his temperment is very much coming through. He can get pretty mad or upset when he doesn't get his way and he will throw a fit, but nothing too bad thankfully. There have been a few times that we have taken his toys away typically for throwing them to which we tell them they are in timeout. Sometimes, he will cry when this happens, but not for too long. We have also tried to put him in timeout for misbehaving usually for pulling hair (yes, unfortunately, he is back to pulling hair). Of course, he tries to get up or cries a bit, but I think he is starting to understand the concept of it. He is getting better about sitting in the assigned area. And I mean more so the concept of what he needs to do versus why he is there. I tell him he is in trouble and what he did wrong, but I don't know if he knows that is his punishment. I don't think he doesn't fully get it. We will see how it goes. I know it is a learning process.
For the most part, he is still a really great kid. He does have his bad moments, but what kid doesn't!? Andrew can be very sweet and loving--and that's so much more than the fiesty and fussy Andrew. There are times when he will come up and hug or kiss me without me asking. He loves to snuggle, which Mommy is so so happy about. He is happy probably 80% of the time. He doesn't cry too much and when he does, he only cries for a little while. I am fully aware that kids can cry harder and longer (I am sure we will experience it firsthand too). We totally count our blessings that we are so lucky to have such a great and amazing son!
Happy Nineteenth Month Birthday, Andrew! Daddy and Mommy love you so very much!
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