Desmond is 18 (and a half) Months Old! (with official stats)

Dude. These boys never want me to blog about them. At least, that must be the case, because they keep me way too busy feeding them and cleaning up after them and reading to them and going outside to play with them. :)

About 2 weeks ago, Desmond turned 18 months old!
(Even though this post is dated May 24, I am actually writing it up on June 11.)

So much has already changed in those two weeks that I don't want to wait any longer, or I won't have anything to write about when he turns 19 months old.

The short version is that we've (finally!) had a Word Explosion! Our Desmo is talking up a storm, speaking surprisingly clearly for someone who's really only been doing some serious talking for a few weeks.

Let's get down to business, shall we?

Official Stats:
Weight: 30 pounds (91st %ile)
Height: 34.5" (95th %ile)
Head Circumference: 18" (14th %ile)

So yeah. He's tall. I hope you were sitting down for that one.


Teeth: Still hanging strong at 12 teeth! I keep waiting for those canines to pop through, but they aren't quite here yet.

Sleep: Desmond is still a very good sleeper. He has started to fuss a little bit at night when he goes down, but he either stops quickly on his own or is easily soothed. He still has his pacifier in the crib, though. Hopefully none of that changes when we take it away. (Which will be soon. We hope. We're trying to find a few days where it won't be tragic if we are sleep-deprived.)

Food: Desmond is still a good eater, though he seems to have slowed down a bit. He has some favorites - still mostly vegetables and carbs, though he is also a big fan of scrambled eggs. Daycare likes to joke about how much he eats. (But really - their "normal" breakfast is half of a waffle and 1/3 of a banana. At home, he's more of a 2 waffles, a whole banana, and 8 ounces of yogurt kind of guy.)

Signs: Really, we're down to "more," "please," and "done." Which is fine, especially since all are accompanied by their respective words. This will probably be our last "signs" update.

Words: At his official 18-month appointment, Desmond had about six words. Which was fine, because they were only looking for him to have 3 or more. (They set the bar really high over there.) Anyway, it was good to know he wasn't literally pathologically behind in his speech development.


But NOW he has at least 45 words:



Fish
Uh-oh
Blue
Dad
Airplane
Ball
Dexter
Pop
Please
Diaper
Thank you
Hot
Mine
Mom (as of May 29. Finally!)
More
Up
Down
Apple
Horse
Boat
Bear
Book
Birds
There
Spoon
Bread
Pee-pee (as an anatomical structure, not urine)
Feet
Bus
Car
Outside
Downstairs
Arm
Baby
Bee (Story below)
No
Sip
Truck
Dirt
Stuck
Help
Tractor
Flowers
Table

Shoes

The Bee Story: The evening of June 6 (a Monday), we were all out on the back deck, mostly doing our own things. Desmond suddenly let out a huge wail, followed by another plaintive "Beeeeeeeee!" Disbelief generally delayed my reaction speed a little bit, but sure enough, a bee had stung him on the tip of his right index finger. The stinger was still there.  It was clear that it hurt a lot. Poor baby.  His dad, ever the Eagle Scout, quickly whipped up a paste of baking soda and water to help ease the sting. Even Dexter was eager to go get him some ice for his finger. It was probably only 5 minutes or so before it started feeling better, but it seemed like an eternity. For days afterward, he'd show you his index finger and say a sad "Beeeeeee."  Poor baby. :(


Likes & Dislikes: I hate to say it, but Desmond likes TV. I mean, he really likes TV. All you have to do is mention "TV" or "a movie" or "Monsters" (Monster's Inc.) or "Fish" (Finding Nemo) and he runs to his little TV-watching spot between the sofa and ottoman. So, we pretty much just try not to mention it, because if he isn't thinking about the TV, he really does love being outside or playing downstairs or reading a book.

He tends to prefer men. Likes Dad more than Mom. Pop more than Tootsie. Granddad more than Grandma. He does give us womenfolk some love sometimes, though, so we don't get too bitter about being #2 in his book. :)  

He likes his big brother, too, and just about anything Dexter is doing or playing with. They're both pretty good (usually) about sharing, though. We count to 20, and then it's the other one's turn. Sometimes they lose interest before we get to 20, which is pretty cool.

Dislikes? Eh. Not much. Diaper changes are still big fights. And he doesn't like anything if he is overtired (and he often is just before bedtime.)


In short, he is a happy, healthy, developmentally normal 18 month old boy who gives his mom kisses just about any time she asks. So we're still keeping him. :)

Busted!

They look really concerned, don't they? 

Dexter is Two and a Half!

Actually, he turned two and a half back in April.  But it wouldn't be our blog if we weren't a few months behind.

AND it would appear that I didn't even get a picture of him *on* April 4. So here are a couple from April 6.

And here's one from April 7 - so very Dexter.

(... and that's as far as I got writing this up. Oops. He's cute, though, isn't he?)

Desmond is 17 Months Old!

 

Oh, Desmo, we love you. (That's "Des-moe," a nickname from Thanksgiving that has stuck.) I promise. I've just been having too much fun hanging out with you that I haven't gotten to chronicle your amazing 15- and 16-month milestones. (There are pictures, though!)

15 Months. Love this face!

16 Months. Yeah, he gives us this look a lot.

Teeth: Desmond officially has 12 teeth. Finally. Poor kid tends to have a rough couple of days when they first start to come in, but that's about it.

Weight: We've been to the doctor quite a bit lately, and he is right at 30 pounds. Some days 29.8, some days 30.4. I guess he has some heavy shoes? Big lunch? Who knows. 

Height: TALL. :)  OK, so we don't really know exactly how tall he is. But he is tall. He can reach just about everything and isn't shy about doing so.

Sleep: Mostly, Desmond is a champion sleeper.  He (usually) goes down with little fuss at about 8:30 and sleeps until 8:30 or so in the morning. We had a period there where he was waking up often with ear pain (see above about our frequent doctor visits. Boooo.), but he seems to be over that now and is back to his regular sleep patterns.  He also naps during the day, usually for about 2 hours (give or take). I guess that's sortof a lot for a 17 month old, but not too much.  Besides, it generally makes him a very happy boy, so it's all good.

Food: If I had to pick a favorite food for Desmond, it would be.....    broccoli.  Crazy, I know. But if you give that kid little (steamed) broccoli florets, he will go to town until you take them away. As eating habits go, we are going to ride this one for as long as we can.  He also still likes carrots. And bread. And he will sometimes deign to eat fruit or meat, but mostly he's all about the veggies and carbs.

Signs: As Desmond becomes more verbal (YAY!), we're pushing the signs less, and he is indeed signing less.  He is very consistent with "more" and "please," even unsolicited, but he's doing much better with actual words, which is very exciting.

Words: OK, I say he has a lot of words, but he really doesn't. He's just better about being verbal and pointing and communicating in other ways. He's showing a lot of promise here, though, and that's where we're focusing our efforts. He'll absolutely repeat anything you say, often with surprising clarity.  He has been saying "fish" ("ish") for a few months now. He also says "Dad" and "Daddy." And "Dexter" ("Deh Tuuh"). He also points to "Pop" ("Top") on the computer screen when we Skype. He usually correctly identifies "blue" ("boo") things. "Uh-oh!" is still very popular, too. "Mom" is coming, I just know it.

Tricks: You wouldn't believe it, but showing off his (adorable!) tummy is still one of his favorite things. He has a whole repertoire of animal sounds, including lion, tiger, and bear (all "roar"), dog, and elephant. He scratches his little tummy for "monkey," but we've only heard him make the noise once. Generally speaking, he's just much better at following commands like "Put that in the trash" and "Give that to Dad."

Books: Desmond still LOVES books. Nighttime favorites vary quite a bit, but Ten Friendly Fish is a common request. Sandra Boynton's Doggies is another favorite, as is Big Dog and Little Dog Go for a Walk. (Big Dog and Little Dog get to shake and shake and shake, shake and shake and shake, after their post-walk bath. It is FUN!)

Likes & Dislikes: Desmond LOVES going outside. In fact, you need to be very careful about using the word "outside," because he will be VERY disappointed if he hears it and can't actually go outside. He loves his big brother - chasing him and giggling with him and playing peek-a-boo and a million other things with him.  He also hates his big brother, mostly when there is a toy they both want. He likes his Dad. A LOT. :)  He likes to randomly come up to any exposed skin and give you raspberries. Heck, sometimes he will even lift up your shirt just so he can give you a raspberry. On most nights, he loves making BIG splashes in his bath. In fact, he loves it so much that we signed him up for swimming lessons, which he also loves.

As far as toys go, his favorites seem to be cars. He isn't much for puzzles or shape sorters. Noisy toys (like his noisy workbench thing and any "drop the ball in the hole" toys) are acceptable. Trains are a close second. But yeah. Cars. He's been "driving" them along the sofa and ottoman for a few weeks now, complete with sound effects.

Desmond is 14 Months Old!

14 months!  Somehow, he seems a lot older than that. Maybe because I've been saying "13 months" since he was really only about 12.5 months old.  ANYway, it's been a big month for Desmond - 2 new teeth, plus leaps of learning in communication and animal sounds.  I think he even had a big growth spurt, because he's suddenly too tall for a lot of his clothes. 

Let's do the rundown, shall we?

Teeth - we are up to EIGHT!  Nice and symmetrical now - 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom.  The 8th one is barely poking through, but it's there. 

Weight - ??? I keep meaning to weigh the kid at home, but then I forget in our 10 free minutes between dinner and bath. He isn't light.

Height - I'm sure we're all shocked to learn that Desmond is tall.  He is a tall boy.  And somehow, a good chunk of that is torso.  Snapping the 24m onesies is a struggle now.  (4 days ago, he was wearing the same onesie that Dexter is wearing in his 15m picture, and it was clearly the last time it was getting worn.)  Desmond does have quite a little tummy for the shirts to stretch over, though, so maybe that's a contributing factor.  But yeah, he's tall.

Sleep - I don't want to jinx myself. He's been doing SO WELL.  Like 12-13 hours/night well.  Getting big and getting teeth must be exhausting.

Food - Sliced carrots are probably his absolute favorite. (Tonight, he ate an entire can of sliced carrots by himself. Yeah.)  That would be pretty closely followed by any bread or bread-like item (waffles, breadsticks, bagels, and pancakes are all big), and broccoli.  He isn't a big fruit fan, but he'll sometimes eat some - usually sliced peaches or mandarin oranges. 

In other food news, Desmond's very last bottle was January 22.  He had been having bottles at bedtime only for a few weeks, but now that he's eating much better, we felt like he would be OK without the bedtime bottle.  And so far, he seems to be.  It was more habit than anything else, and he is a resilient guy.  I think his orthodontist will thank me (or hate me) later.

Signs - He *can* sign "more" and "eat," but he usually chooses to point and whine instead.  He's still little enough that it's still kindof cute.  He does sign "done" after dinner. But he still keeps eating until we take the food away.  He also knows and uses "bath."

Words - No huge progress here.  He has a lot of different sounds that he seems to think are very meaningful.  But mostly, it's "aaaTTH" or "aaaCK."  He says "ite" for light (we think).  I would almost swear he says "ish" for "fish," but I"m not 100% sure yet.  He started saying "uh-oh!" again in the last few days, which is nice, since he had quit doing that for a while.   So, if we're in the mood to be pretty generous, he has 4 or 5 words.

In any case, he finds a way to communicate.  He knows we understand it when he goes to the high chair and lifts his leg like he wants to get in.  (He also tries to do a pull-up on the thing. It's still quite a bit over his head. He's hilarious.)

Or when he walks over to the crib and looks up at you like, "Well? Are you going to put me in there or what?" 

Or when he goes to the refrigerator and looks at you like "Ahem! Milk, please!"

Or when he brings you his coat, or just gets it and stands by the door.

Did I mention he is a genius?

Tricks - Desmond impresses all who meet him with his mastery of animal sounds.  OK, not really, but he has some cuties:

• Elephant - raises one arm for the elephant's trunk, but he doesn't make an actual sound.
• Dog - "Woof!"
• Monkey - rubs his tummy up and down like a monkey scratching his sides. But he doesn't make any sounds. 
• Chicken - rubs his tummy up and down because that's as close as he gets to a chicken flapping its wings. Again, no sound.
• (We'll note here that his Monkey and Chicken impressions are the same as the sign for "bath."
• Cow - "oooooo"
• Duck - opens and closes his mouth but makes no noise. Not sure where that came from.
• Horse - "ayyyy" (which is supposed to be "neiiiigh," I believe.)
• Tiger/Bear/Lion - "arrrr," with hands in the air like bear claws
• Sheep - "aaaah" (not terribly consistent with this one yet)

He's also capable of way more than I feel like he should be.  He can climb in and out of the bathtub. (Not gracefully, mind you, but he can get out.)  He can open any unlocked door in the house.  He's trying to use a fork. Sometimes.  If you load it for him, he is all about eating with that fork.  And he'll let you help him spear some foods. But he usually just takes the one bite you prepare for him and then tosses the fork on the floor.

He's surprisingly good with the Sit-N-Spin, and he's about 50/50 on the shape sorter. (Dear shape sorter designers - it's probably better if the star doesn't actually fit through the circle hole. OK? Ok.)

Motor - HA! This kid is running!

Books - Books are probably Desmond's favorite thing ever.  He'll dig through the toy bin until he finds a book, then he'll bring it to you to read to him.  If you're sitting on the floor, he'll back up to you so he can sit in your lap while you read to him.  I don't know that he has a lot of favorites. We often read Ten Friendly Fish and Millie Moo. Mr. Brown Can Moo is also a regular in the rotation.  Hippos Go Berserk is another.  The last few nights, he's been asking to look at the book versions of Dumbo and Thumper. He just likes to turn the pages and look at the pictures. We're working on learning what an owl says.

Likes & Dislikes - Hmm.  Desmond went through a phase for a few weeks there where he didn't like bath.  As in, bath was about 30 seconds long (or however quickly we could do the most basic bathing), and he screamed the whole time.  I think we were just starting bath too late, though, and he was really just tired.  We started bath earlier this week (closer to 7:15), and it has gone better.  Diaper changes are no fun, either. 

I mentioned his love of books, which has his parents very excited.  He also loves playing chase and being outside, even though it is every bit of winter out there. (This weekend, the snow was up above his little knees. SO glad we got him some good snow pants!) He loves sledding down the hill in the back yard and gets very impatient if you wait very long at the top of the hill.  (And he does like to go fast, sitting on Mom's or Dad's lap on the sled.)  Sadly, he also likes TV, which is a sometimes necessity in this house. 

Again - likes carrots, broccoli, other vegetables; dislikes bananas, other fruits. Generally, he does like to eat. Big meals, lots of snacks.

Oh, and he likes Dexter. Somehow, he even seems to like Dexter mere moments after Dexter has, say, whacked him on the head with a toy airplane.  But they really are hilarious when they make googly eyes at each other across the dinner table.

With 12 more teeth to go, he still very much likes chewing on things.  Also fun? Playing chase!  He just giggles and giggles.  And peek-a-boo! (Where's Desmond?!  THERE HE IS!!!) 

Desmond can talk! (?)

At least, that's what they said at daycare this morning.

When he's hungry, he will lift his shirt, point to his tummy, and say "eat."  At snacktime, he will say "snack."   (Probably "ack." We do hear that at home, but he says it for everything. Pointing to a picture of a balloon in a book, "ack." Pointing to a green lego, "ack."  Sometimes it's "at.")

She also said that sometimes she can't understand what he's saying, but if Dexter is there, he will translate for her. 

I have seen NONE of this at home. 

So, I guess I hope it's true, since it means he'll at least have a couple of words.  But it made me very sad that he will talk for them but not for us.

Adventures in Cookiemaking

On Thursday, I brought donuts to work.  Krispy Kreme was apparently trying to offload their special holiday cookie tins, and I got one free!  It included sugar cookie mix.  I figured Dex and I could do it together. He could pour stuff, blah blah. 

Well, we started.  I still hate Dennis's stupid KitchenAid mixer with a huge passion.  I don't know how I'm supposed to add things to the bowl when I pretty much don't have access to the bowl.  But Dex enjoyed watching the thing mix, especially making it go FAST!  And, somehow, much to my constant amazement, he did not try to stick his hands in the bowl while the mixer was mixing.

This was one of those deals where you are supposed to refrigerate the dough for an hour or more.  So I tried to make a log of dough in wax paper like the instructions said.  Uh-huh.  Yeah, that was a giant disaster.  Then I managed to tear some of the wax paper, so dough started oozing out of the side as I tried to shape it.  Then Dex stuck a spoon in the top and made another hole in the wax paper.  So yeah, I was done.  Just threw the whole blob into the fridge & sent him on his way to naptime.

After nap, I pulled the thing out and proceeded to cut cookie shapes out of it.  I had some actual cookie cutters and some play doh cutters (washed).  Dexter wasn't into that. He played legos while I slaved over the freaking cookie dough and mess-o-flour.  He finally came over to put some sprinkles on some of the cookies.

THEN I decided we should ice the cookies, because I am not really a fan of un-iced sugar cookies.  We could color the icing, learn that blue and red make purple, all kinds of fun stuff.  But I didn't want to go to the store and get icing, so I figured we could just make some, since the dumb mixer was out anyway.  Homemade icing is better, too.

And so began the next stage of this giant mess.  Dexter's grandma's icing recipe (actually very good) called for Dream Whip, which of course I did not have.  So I found another recipe on the interwebz.  I pulled out the shortening and powdered sugar and used the demon KA mixer again to make frosting.  Dex helped.  When we were done, we took a little taste.  Yuck.

So I added more powdered sugar and a tiny bit more liquid.  Tasted again. Yuck.  oooookay.  Must be this weird new recipe, right? 

Oh well.  On to the coloring. 

He enjoyed it a lot, but he made a HUGE mess. Decided to knead the food coloring into the icing instead of stirring with a spoon.  Whatever. I didn't expect it to be a clean process.

I tasted it again. Gross.  So then I just put a spoonful or two of splenda in each little colored bowl.  Tasted again. STILL gross.

Then I thought to check the expiration date on the shortening.  August 2009. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!  I made CUPS and CUPS of icing with disgusting, rancid, expired lard. I'm just glad I checked before we put it on the cookies.

So then the cleanup proceeds.  I just put Dex in the sink, because he was pretty messy already.  Then I just spread some green icing on his tummy, which he thought was pretty funny.  Then we covered more of him with icing..  So he sat over there in that side of the sink like a greased pig while I worked on the rest of the dishes. 

I put as much of the icing as possible in the trash vs. greasing up my kitchen plumbing.  I hand-washed just about everything (including other dishes that were just sitting in the sink but got contaminated) and then soaked it some more in soapy water.  As I was putting some of it in the dishwasher, I noticed it was STILL greasy. 

I realized Dexter would ALSO be this greasy.  I got Dennis to help, since I didn't want to put him in the bathtub and get grease all over the tub & toys.  We stripped his diaper off and started washing him with dish soap. Dennis realized that was not quite going to cut it, so he got the orange pumice stuff.  He was still greasy after THAT, too.  I got some Dawn and gave him another sudsing & rinsing.  He was still a little slimy in the creases, but it was much better. Some of it wiped off with a towel, and I think Dennis did an extra good job in the bathtub, because some of Dex's skin was stained with food coloring, and we really didn't want to send him to daycare with what looked like an 8" bruise on the back of his leg & butt. 

So yes. Making cookie dough (from a mix, no less) = fail.
Forming cookie dough into a log = fail.
Cutting shapes = not terrible, but no bonding time, either.
Icing making = huge fail.
Kitchen cleanup = not sure if it's a fail, but it took at least 90 minutes.
Kid cleanup = eventual success, but it took 4 tries.

Why do I get these crazy ideas?  From now on, Pillsbury cookie dough logs + store-bought icing.  Geez.

It was such a huge day of fail.  After it was all over, I went to Dex and said, "Mom needs a hug."  He gave me a big ol' hug AND a kiss and said, "Mom make a big boom Legos?" (that would be a lego volcano)  Which was pretty nice, because big boom Legos is pretty much Dennis's domain.  So I guess the day wasn't a TOTAL fail.