Kyler's speech has been improving. He has been putting lots of short sentences together on his own like "shoes off" or "okay mama." It is still really unclear and it's hard to understand what he's trying to say, even for his Mama who is around him every day. But he will repeat pretty much everything and has really been trying to tell us what he wants instead of whining. Unfortunately there are a lot of times when we have no idea what he's saying which gets frustrating for the little guy. It's pretty cute when he repeats though because he will attempt some pretty big words or phrases. The other day it was "animal crackers" which sounded more like "mama caca."
Kyler's latest accomplishments is jumping. For a while he was leaving one foot on the floor but now he has started actually getting both feet off the floor. He can also tip toe. When Ky is proud of something he does he will swing one arm back and forth while he walks around standing tall. Once in a while he gets a little shy and will put his head down to one side and keep that arm straight down with his hand slightly behind him. He loves to make people laugh and will try to get a smile out of you. Turning someone's frown upside down is one trait I hope he will keep as he grows older.
He has also been doing a good job of learning his letters. He can identify the letters K, M, P, T, and usually D. We are working on G now. Rather than saying the letter, he usually just tells us whose name that letter is for (K for Kyler, M for Mama, P for Papa, D for Dada, T for Tractor, and G for Grandma). I have tried to get him to count but he just says "two" for every number. He's starting to understand colors and usually tries to tell me things are orange ("owng") or blue ("boo").
Books are still Kyler's main source of entertainment. He loves going to the library and we got a library card last week. He kept wanting to take more books after I had checked out. I am trying to decide what theme to have for his birthday party. Right now I am deciding between Clifford the Big Red Dog and Little Golden Books. Either way, I know I am requesting no more toys. Our house is so full of Kyler's stuff already. There isn't even enough space in his room to fit all of his toys properly. The main things he plays with right now (besides books of course) are Fisher Price Little People, all of his tractors/trucks/trailers, and toy farm animals. I finally got the chalkboard paint on his closet doors and he has also been enjoying writing and drawing.
Ky has gotten back to sleeping well at night. He's been going to bed around 9:30 and getting up around 8:00. He usually takes a two hour nap during the day as well. His bedtime routine is to get jammies on, have a small snack and a cup of water, go upstairs and pick out one book to read (he always tries to get more than one), shut out the light and say our prayers, sometimes sing a song or two, and then get tucked in. At naptime I usually let him take a small board book to bed and he reads that until he falls asleep (this can take up to an hour sometimes). Occasionally he has to take a toy to bed (usually a tractor or race car).
Overall, Kyler is a really good boy who listens and behaves well. The main things that get him into trouble is playing in the dog or toilet water or purposely making a mess when he's finishing eating. We have mostly been using time-out when he misbehaves or doesn't listen. I'm not sure how effective it is though. When I tell him to go to time out he sits right down and doesn't seem to mind. He's not an overly sensitive child so just me getting firm with him or something like that doesn't hurt his feelings. So he's a little difficult to discipline. Hopefully soon he will start understanding getting a privilege taken away for misbehaving but right now I don't think his attention span is long enough for that.
Ky has been eating really well lately. His favorite food is any kind of noodle with any kind of sauce. His least favorite food is potatoes. He actually gagged when I tried to feed him mashed potatoes and gravy one day. He's even afraid to eat ice cream because he thinks it is potatoes. He loves pretty much any fruit and has been doing better at eating veggies. He likes green beans and carrots (because he likes to crunch them) the best. He will also try green pepper and doesn't mind corn. Once in a while we can get him to eat some lettuce or peas. He's developed a sweet tooth too and loves cookies "cooka" and candy.
What a great post! He's so much more advanced than my nephew. He hardly says a word and cant identify colors, letters, or animals, etc.
ReplyDeleteSo funny he doesnt seem to mind time out and that he thinks ice cream is potatoes, lol.
I cant wait to get Avalyn the "Little People Happy Sounds Home" when she turns one! Glad to hear that the Little People are a hit with Ky. Oh, the chalkboard pains sounds awesome!