20 months

by now, 20 months and some weeks. he is such a little boy. all traces of baby are virtually gone and we are quickly approaching two years. it's still a hard concept for me. two years ago i was pregnant. he has had every first holiday, and almost every second holiday. it's crazy.

i don't have any stat updates as we don't see the dr. until two, but he's slightly heavier than at 18 months and taller for sure. he can reach things that used to be safe from his grasp. he is active and sleeps less at naps. he's had trouble sleeping at night and wakes between 5:45 and 6:45 am sobbing but still tired. i've tried to let him cry it out because honestly, no one in our house is ready to get up then, but most days i have to go in and put him back to sleep for another hour or so. he's always slept later (7:30-8:45am wake up) so i don't believe that he is ready for the day at 5:45 am.

he eats fine but is more independent and picky as the weeks go by. one day he loves kiwi, the very next he gags over it. sometimes he'll eat dinner that the family eats and other times he won't. i dont make two meals but i do add items to his plate (in advance, not after he rejects other food) that i know he will probably eat.

developmentally, he is growing leaps and bounds. we've only had three total EI session (developmental only) but we've spent a considerable amount of time working on structured activities rather than all day open play and it seems to be helping. he is great at puzzles already and he will spend a bit more time doing things he doesn't prefer. verbally, he is just beginning to advance. a day or two before his EI eval he said his first officially word: car. that was less than a month ago (i think?).

for my own sake, here are the words he can now say:
mama (technically his first word, but it hadn't been used with purpose)

dada


ball
bee
baby
bus
boat
bye
car
go
hi
more
uh-oh

he knows most of his body parts, the signs for more, please, all done, thank you and help, and a variety of animal noises/actions. his fish mouth is particularly cute ;) he threads beads, matches items, plays with play doh, uses finger paints - typical kid stuff.

we start speech therapy this monday so i am anxious to see how it helps him. he seems to finally be interested in saying words with purpose and understanding their connection with communication and objects, so i'm hopeful that he'll catch up in no time and chatter my ear off soon :)

halloween 2011

perhaps a bit late, but we had a good halloween. finley went as nicholas the bunny from richard scarry's i am a bunny book. it's his favorite story and we read it 5+ times a day.


(not sure why this image quality is poor...)

i tried to dress him as a lion since he can roar, but he hated the costume. every time we put it on him he freaked out and had a sob story meltdown. i decided to go the homemade route in hopes of keeping it more like everyday clothes. i bought the red overalls on ebay and he already had the yellow shirt and brown shoes. i made the bunny hat, tail, hand covers, and shoe covers out of fur fleece. easy, and even though it looks homemade, he was cute.



i thought he would hate the makeup but he didn't mind me putting it on. the first time he saw himself dressed up he cried and shook his head, but eventually he'd run to see himself in the mirror. and he only rubbed a bit of the makeup off while we were out.



he wasn't as into the pumpkin carving this year and did not enjoy touching the seeds and strings. it was a short lived project :) happy (belated) halloween 2011!

15 minutes as a toddler

i have lots of updates but for now, a run down of the last fifteen minutes inside my toddler's head:

3:55pm i should army crawl. right now. ok, yes, belly on floor dragging body. good. done.
3:55pm i need to take off my pants. pretty new to this...
3:57pm pants back on, thanks mom. let's ride my wheely bug towards the dogs. and again!
3:59pm hmmm, mom is cutting up meat. she's busy. i will take over on the computer.
3:59:20sec vvvvvvvcchhhhhhh (oh, hai mom!)
4:01pm this office chair in the middle of the room is no good. i can't reach the computer.
4:02pm vvvcc... oh, hi mom. ::gets down from chair::
4:03pm wheely bugged! ::leaves room::
4:05pm then i'll just carry this laptop around instead.
4:06pm rude! ::minor fit after laptop removed from arms::
4:06 35sec ok, better now. ::throws ball 17 times:: ... ::turns printer on::
4:07pm which shoes are mine?
4:07:30sec these women's pink gym shoes fit perfect. clomp clomp.
4:08pm walking to the kitchen. walking to the living room, walking to the kitchen. ::trips::
4:09pm wheeeeellllyyyy buuuuggggg! printer!!
4:10pm ::sits down:: "mama?"

somehow i thought a 50 minute nap would leave him more tired than this. i was obviously mistaken. i may have missed turning the printer on and off possibly 3-4 more times, as well as a minimum of 3 musical/sounds toys/books being operated.

DIY chalkboard tray

i had some leftover chalkboard paint and decided to make finley a little art tray so he could craft without making a huge mess. the chalk can't roll off the table and he can't draw off the edges onto other surfaces.

supplies:
martha stewart chalkboard paint in gray (these are medium sized bottles perfect for smaller surfaces and i got mine for $4.00 on sale at michael's)
unfinished serving trays (set of 2 for $3.99 at michael's)
chalk and a disposable/plastic cup

do:
paint 3 layers of chalkboard paint onto the inside of the tray. i taped mine off at the edges and used a foam brush. i'm considering attaching the cup to the tray but i'd also like to stack it so i'm not sure.

he loves it! very simple, very cheap, and somewhat portable so i can bring it (vs. a chalkboard table) into various rooms. and i must mention that the chalkboard paint comes in a variety of colors (pink, blue, black, possibly others) but i really love this subtle gray version.

the trays come in packs of two, so i used the larger one as a drawing board. i glued one clip onto the top center so we can secure paper onto the tray. same concept - he can't draw off the edges onto my tables and the markers/crayons won't roll onto the floor.

early intervention

there are times in parenting (in life) when things seem equally good and bad simultaneously. qualifying for early intervention is one of those times, at least for me.

i went into our evaluation this morning believing that finley has a speech delay. i know what he can and can't do based on daily (everyday!) interaction. i know he doesn't speak. but to hear a professional speech therapist, after evaluating him, say that he is performing at a 50% delay for his adjusted age and that he needs weekly therapy...that feels like a low blow. to top it off, the cognitive/developmental therapist determined that his fine motor skills are also behind. he qualified for weekly developmental therapy as well.

more than sharing with everyone else, i'm writing this down because it's part of his life, part of who he is, and i'd like to remember it. and maybe this might help you. maybe your child is doing big things, exciting things...but maybe they also aren't talking. or they are easily frustrated with seemingly simple tasks. maybe our journey through EI will help someone else. hopefully it helps us :)

basically, finley has trouble problem solving and gets upset with his inability to put together puzzles, match objects, put pegs into holes, or stack blocks into a tower. he can't communicate his need for help or his frustration, so he throws said items and moves on to something he likes to do. something he can easily do. things like pointing out semi-complicated concepts in books. things that older children do. like pretend play - creating scenarios in his mind and acting them out without prompting. climbing narrow beams a few feet in the air after easily hoisting himself up alone. yes, he can grasp tiny objects. he can paint plaster animals. but requesting the completion of a task he doesn't excel at? if he can't do it, he cries or turns away to focus on something else. his attention span is short and he doesn't transition well (getting up from naps, leaving the table, putting away/exchanging toys). he is smart. so very smart. but he struggles with communicating verbally, following commands of problem solving, and doesn't imitate actions or sounds.

so we'll meet with two therapists on two different days every week. i don't know for how long but i hear it's fun for finn and that he'll learn quickly. they say his social skills (already great!) will help the process. he'll also get a hearing test to be sure everything is fine. and EI isn't the worst thing in the world, obviously. yeah it's hard to hear he's behind. but it's good that he has the opportunity to get help.

arts & crafts

(click it for bigger)

as fall arrives and cooler temperatures hit us, i'm starting to think about things to occupy us in the house. soon the standard head to the park or beach won't be an option for long periods of time. i've been on pinterest watching for toddler activities and pinning things i know finn might like.

i'm pretty artsy so i tend to gravitate towards those activities and it seems finn doesn't mind :) i had collected some non-toxic paint on clearance (29 cents each!), a plastic paint try, and some plaster dog and cat figurines for a painting project and was surprised to see him totally "get" it.


to prepare, i stripped him down to his diaper, taped paper bags to the surface, and slid an intact one over the back of our chair. he's now at a ($10, made-from-receycled-materials, fully dishwashable, from walmart) booster seat so this was easily done at the table. not that this is rocket science, but i showed him the materials first. i squirted the paint and demonstrated brush strokes on a figurine. i gave him a brush (he's painted before but it was a mess and he ate most of it) and he put it into his mouth, so i told him no and he seemed happy not to do it again. (who is this kid?) his favorite part was dipping the brush into all of the colors repeatedly. this made for some cool swirling and when he did paint his cat figure, the paint remained uniquely swirled. a true visionary, i'd say. my budding artist sat and painted for about 25 minutes before he took to his ear (no, he didn't chop it off) with the paint brush and i called it quits. he was upset to finish but enjoyed the subsequent (extended) hand washing.

and now we have this lovely hand painted cat figurine to display on our bookshelf. bring on the cold weather crafts!

first bike ride (take two)

mr. h3b is an avid biker and has been searching for a gently used bike seat for months. he finally found a great one and was able to take finley for an evening bike ride a few weekends ago.



he was unsure at first. he didn't mind the helmet because he wears it outside when he rides his trike, but he wasn't so sure about being strapped into the seat. he didn't cry but remained pensive (typical) rather than excited.



but then they were off. a quick jaunt and he was fine, so they set off for an evening cruise. admittedly i was nervous because his precious skin was exposed but he came back free of injury (of course) and happy to have had the wind in his face.