Little man - 31 & 32 months

Communication 

There are some words that you say that are just too sweet to correct you - cumbas is one of them, for cucumbers of course! - and then it's gone and you start using the correct words.

I try to savor each funny little Jonny- ism since they seem to come and go so fast!

The phrases that you use and your level of conceptual understanding is amazing.

We have recently been reminiscing about when you were a baby and watching videos of you when you first started talking.  We've brought back "cokem" for "welcome" and sometimes we say "bam" just to be silly.  It's such a funny experience for you to see how much you've changed and be able to laugh about it with you.

Phrases this month-

You shouldn't ...

Sweet boy

I can't believe how sweet and helpful you are with your sister.  You bring me diapers, wipes, pacis and you always check to see if I have a burp towel before I give her milk.

You also tell me what she is saying - if she wants a toy or needs something!

Play

Your level of independent play has skyrocketed.  You build your own vehicles and dinosaurs and trains.  

You use blocks, foam shapes and Legos to "cook" dinner for us.  You put all the pieces into a box lid or pan and you serve us the food. 

Your imagination is so funny and you now pretend that your toys are talking to each other or playing together.

Your new favorite show is Daniel Tiger and you especially love the shows with baby Margaret.  

Our little drummer - I mean musician! You are obsessed with playing your xylophone drums and basically anything in our house has become a drum.  You close your eyes and kind of sway back and forth like Stevie wonder style.  Hilarious.

We took swim lessons at CLU again this month.  You are getting way better at kicking - now we need to work on getting your arms moving!

Little lady - 4 month update

Ahhh sweet girl!  Your smile lights up the room.  You open your mouth suuuuuuper wide when you are happy and when we give you kisses.

You are laughing a bit more - your laugh is like a deep giggle.  Love.  You like to be tickled on your belly and under your arms.

You are getting so big so fast.  I want the time to slow way down.

You rolled over this month - both ways!  It was like all of the sudden you figured it out and flipped over.  You haven't done it much since then, now you've moved on to other skills ;)

We saw fireworks after a concert in the park and they were really close and very loud! I was worried you wouldn't like it but you were totally unphased.

You are doing a lot of cooing and baby talking to your toys and your mobile.  Your voice is quite forceful.  

We had our first Santa Barbara zoo adventure.  You napped through most of it but woke just in time for the train ride.

So far you are definitely mamas girl and you are happiest in my arms or in the pouch - that's definitely your favorite place to be.

Little lady - 3 month update

3 months

14.2 pounds 23.5 inches

You are talking! The baby babble is hilarious :). You are definitely carrying on full conversations - if only we understood.  I would love to know what's happening in that little brain.

You are getting much stronger and can hold your head up at 90 degrees on your belly.

You laughed at me a couple of time when I was singing the Noble Duke of York.  You are such a happy girl and you are full of smiles - especially for your brother.

You are sleeping a nice long stretch at night and you usually wake up just once to eat during the night.  I'm putting you to bed late so that helps!  You take two long naps during the day plus a couple catnaps as well.

You are such an easy going baby.  Your real cry is almost always because something is wrong - we just have to figure out what! But recently you've started crying when you're not getting enough attention ;) you scream so loud and then as soon as we come close and talk to you, you put on your biggest smile and start talking to us. Such a girl already!

Little man - 2.5 year update

You get funnier every day.  You will now repeat anything we say - which we can use for our own entertainment ;)

You constantly repeat what people say and you like to give everyone the updates on what's happening.  Your vocabulary is incredible - and the concepts you understand are at such a high level.  We are amazed by you!  Lately you've been very interested in where people live and how old we are.

You've started to use the correct pronouns when speaking, so you say "come with me" instead of Jon, and you say my and mine and you and yours.

A few funny phrases from this month-

"Oh, you're welcome!"

"Where us going?" - you ask me this every morning when I'm packing up the backpack. It's just too cute to correct you.

"Our whole family" - you say this whenever we are all together doing something.

Play

Your imagination is sky high! You love to pretend you are going to work or going to the store and you come back and give hugs and kisses and show us what you got while you were gone.

You want to do everything yourself and often have a hard time letting us help you - even when you need the help.

You love building with Legos and you could play with your cars all day long.

This month we finally got a water table for the backyard - you could easily spend an hour pouring water into cups and watering things around the yard.  

You love books - I've noticed this month you'll ask us to read the same book over and over almost as if you're trying to memorize it. I wouldn't be surprised, you have many of your books memorized and you read right along with us.

Your fine motor skills are getting better and yours starting to enjoy coloring a bit more. You "write" the letters in your name  - no real letters yet but you draw a scribble for each separate letter while you say J - O- N.

You love to sing and you are starting to get more and more of the correct lyrics when singing your songs.  Sis's favorite song is Wheels on the Bus and you sing it to her all the time - with hand motions of course.  You really like Skinnamarink and Ram Sam Sam too (both from school with Mrs Kandy).

Eating

You are the BEST eater!! I am the happiest mommy every night at dinner when you eat whatever we are having for dinner and you love everything! I've never seen a kid more excited to come and see what's on his plate for dinner! Hilarious.  You love salad - of course you do, you're my child - and you like things that have lots of flavor.  It's so fun to watch you eat - you really enjoy food!  You've had frozen yogurt a couple times this month and while you do like it, it's a bit too cold for you and you make the funniest face while you're eating it!

Sleep

Your naps and nighttime sleep have remained consistent.

Dentist

You went to the dentist for the first time!  You did AMAZING.  They showed you all

Of the tools and checked and counted all of your 20 teeth.  They flossed your teeth and cleaned them too.  Then the dentist checked them.  Quite a process!  You were a champ.

Little lady - 2 months

Wow! You have quickly adapted to our family life and you are such a sweet and easy going baby.

We are so lucky!

Your smile lights up the room. Your favorite thing to smile at is your brother.

You are a amazing sleeper.  You sleep for 5-6 hours and you eat once and then go back to sleep for a few more hours... Well  most of the time!

And you are getting soooo big!

We have your doctor appointment on Friday but I'm guessing you are close to 12 pounds. (Actual weight 11 lb 13 oz)

You are starting to coo and "talk" to us.

You like to be outside and you love going for walks in the stroller. You also seem very content sitting in your bouncy chair in the kitchen watching me cook or clean.  We sing songs and brother is always showing you what he's building so you are plenty entertained!

Little lady - 1 month

Well little one the first month of getting to know you has been lovely. You are a super mellow baby (and I think I'm a more mellow momma the second time around).

You are a good eater and you weigh 9 lbs 12 oz at your 1 month doctor appointment.  

You are a pretty good sleeper - you give us one longer stretch of 4 ish hours at bedtime and the rest of the day and night you eat about every 3 hours.

You are a very noisy sleeper - you make lots of squeaks and grunts and sometimes you cry out while you are sleeping.  

We've done tummy time a few times now and your neck strength is already improving. You can turn your head from one side to the other.

Brother loves to lay with you on your playmat. So sweet. Talk about good entertainment!

Little man - 28 & 29 month update

Communication

You have turned into a small adult seemingly overnight.  We now carry on full conversations and you literally understand everything we are talking about.

Some funny phrases we've noticed the past couple months...

- You've always called your elephant "yaya" because you couldn't say Ellie or elephant.  But now you say "yaya elephant" like it's all one thing.

- To ask us if you can do something you say "It's ok if Jonny...."

- Ok, ok with the head nod

- When we talk about going to buy things you say we should get it "At the bookstore" no matter where we need to go

- You shake hands and say "nice to meet you" with this funny little facial expression. We're not sure where this started but it's quite funny.

- you've started asking us how we are doing and what we are doing all the time 

- You love saying hi to people everywhere we go - the park, the market, target- and no one can resist your adorable smile

- You LOVE to sing! You sing all of your nighttime songs now - it it quite hilarious to see and hear a 2 year old singing The Beatles (In My Life), Kenny Rogers (The Gambler), Louis Armstrong (Wonderful World) mixed in with Old Macdonald and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. 

- You can count to 13 and you count everything

- You sing the ABC song perfectly and you know many of the letters too.  I'm still amazed by this because many kindergarteners don't know their letters!

Siblinghood

You are the sweetest brother EVER - you give your sister her paci, cover her with blankets and you love laying on the playmat together.  She truly likes looking at you more than anyone or anything else.

Play

This month your favorite show is the Bubble Guppies. While I'm still not a fan of TV watching.... It is a pretty cute show and its educational. And it allows me time to get ready and get your sister ready in the morning without you creating too much drama! :)

Your new play obsession is Legos!  We've graduated to the duplo Legos which are much smaller than your first Legos but bigger than regular Legos.  You have such an imagination when playing, both with Legos and playing in general.  I love to see your little brain create ideas and pretend all sorts of things.

Eating 

You are now officially eating regular food almost all the time!!  You love tacos, salad, chili and you even tried sushi and chicken legs this month.

Amazing. And couldn't have come at a better time for mommy since I'm now trying to balance feeding sis during meals too!

Sleep

Your sleep has remained consistent with a minor blip right when Sis came home.  We had a few rough nights where you did not want to sleep or you would only sleep with Daddy laying on your floor.  But it seems we have passed that with no lasting effects and you are back to your regular nights of great sleep.

You take one afternoon nap from about 1:30-3:30 most days.

You've been my little buddy for a while but now you are my little helper too. And you really are super helpful. You love to help (especially in the kitchen) with making your lunches, cooking, unloading the dishwasher and you even set the table! I'm amazed at how capable you are and it seems like every day you do something new that surprise me!