Monday, May 13, 2013

23 Months


Dear Carder,
You are growing up so fast.  You are almost 36” tall now (taller than the kitchen counter!!!).  You might be a tiny bit heavier (about 26.5 Pounds), but you are still one skinny little boy!  Your Daddy and I regularly compare you to a Spider Monkey when you are running around in only your diaper or naked because you really are all arms and legs.  You are all over the board in the size of clothes you are wearing – pants are a 2T and have been for a while due to the length – but if they aren’t an adjustable waist I have to add one in or they will literally fall off of you.  In shorts, you are still in the 18 month ones from last summer – and some of those are still too big in the waist.  Shirts you are wearing either a 2T or a 3T as both seem to fit you, but I have a feeling that come fall you will be in all 3T shirts because the sleeves on a 2T are often a bit short for you.  You still have a couple 2T pajamas that fit you, but you are also wearing some 3T pajamas as well.  And anything with footies that was 2T was put away weeks ago.  I can’t believe that my sweet little preemie baby isn’t even 2 yet and is already outgrowing some 2T clothing!  Your shoe size seems to be around a 7 ½ right now.

And although I just wrote a whole paragraph about your size, I am more amazed at your developmental growth lately.  Every day you surprise me with the things you say and do. 
Your vocabulary is getting so big and you are saying words I had no idea you knew.  You are identifying some of your letters (E and R), you know quite a few colors (red, blue, yellow, green, orange, pink, purple, brown, white), and you are learning to count and your numbers (you have 1 & 2 down pat and are working towards the others).  You know your first and last name.  You also know both Daddy and my first and last names.  You know the names of our neighbors and their animals.  You know you will be 2 on your birthday.

You speak in broken sentences – sometimes up to 6 or 7 words strung together – and most of the time there are a subject and a verb.  You are identifying things and describing them by the number of them, what they are doing, what their function is, and the color they are.  We have whole conversations about what you see around you.  This week I have heard “Trash Truck Alley Up Carder Dirty Diapers” multiple times as you were telling me that the trash truck had been in the alley picking up your dirty diapers.  In addition, you are no longer content with a response of “uh huh” when you point something out to us – we have to repeat what you said so that you know we understood you.  This can be frustrating if we don’t know what you are trying to say – but you will often find an association to help us figure out what you are trying to say (“crying” was “wa wa wa” and “slide” was “wheeee!”).  
If you think I am not paying close enough attention to you, you will place your hands on both sides of my face to make sure I am looking directly at you. 

Your favorite songs right now include “The Wheels on the Bus” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep”.
You still love to read, but your favorite book changes from week to week.  Some recent favorites were “LMNO Peas”, “I Love Trucks”, and “Go Dogs. Go”.

Your favorite toy in the world is a ball and you LOVE to “shoot hoops”.  You cheer for yourself when you make it (and often say “Yay Carder, 2 points” or “score”) and you will say “almost” and “so close” when you miss.   Other favorite toys right now include trucks/tractors, your blocks, puzzles, and your farm.  And roughhousing.  And anything that involves being outside.
At swimming lessons this past month, you started requesting to swim by yourself with your puddle jumper and you kick your legs so hard to get from one place to another.

Technology comes second nature to you and you are whiz at the iPad.  You can open it up and find your games by scrolling through the screens.  You also know how to open your games and get them started on your own.  You will also hand me the iPad and request to talk to one set of your grandparents or the other on FaceTime.  And you know how to end the call as well.
Your favorite food is still any type of fruit (blackberries and melons this week).  You still love still things like hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato fries, waffles, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and cereal.  You are beginning to get more adventurous in your food choices and have begun requesting to taste things on our plates and then eating more.  A recent discovery is that you love tomatoes with fresh mozzarella drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  And chips dipped in salsa.  You have also started calling your drinks "coffee" because that is what mommy and daddy drink.

Sleep still isn’t stellar, but you have 4 teeth breaking through and swelling indicating that your 2 year molars are trying to come in as well.  We have made progress in this department though as you now lie in your crib each night to go to sleep.  I am still in the room but we are making progress and the bedtime routine is getting shorter so I think it is a win.
I love you, my little man.
Mommy

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