Clothes Drama

Okay, that thing I said the other day about how I hoped the dissatisfaction with his shirt would not be a daily occurrence... well it is. Right now he only wants to wear two shirts. One is the shirt my dad brought back from Mexico of a person on a motorcycle except that the head is actually Kyler's head (hopefully you've seen something similar and that makes sense). It is pretty funny but not something I really want him to wear in public all the time. We've been using it as a pajama top since he hates all of his pajamas. But now he wants to wear that baggy shirt all the time. The other shirt he will wear is one that I pulled out of his next size of clothes that has a race car on it. It's actually normal looking but still, he can't just wear two shirts all the time. He won't even wear his tractor shirts (which like the two shirts he wears are short sleeved and slightly baggy on him).

Every morning when I get his shirt out to get him dressed he pushes it away and tells me "no" in a crabby, whiny voice. He does this to every shirt I get out so finally I just have to put one on him while he's throwing a fit. Then for the next 15 minutes or whenever he thinks about it he pulls at the front of the shirt or the tag like it's the most horrible thing ever. Yesterday he even had a fit when I put his jeans on. He kept grabbing at them and whining.

How did this happen to a child that's not even two? I honestly have no idea. It started with his hatred of sleeper pajamas (the kind with the feet that zip up). Then it was shirts with collars, then buttons, then tags. Now it is just that he knows what he wants to wear and everything else is horrible.

21 Months

Kyler is getting old enough now that we are going to have to start referring to his age not in weeks or months, but years. Right now "he'll be two in May" is what I say when people ask how old he is.

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.

Picking a Shirt

Somehow Kyler decided that he has an opinion when it comes to what he wears. We went through three shirts today before I got one on him that he liked. First I tried just a white shirt with a couple of buttons but he didn't want the buttons. Then he wanted his tractor shirt but once we got it on he decided the tag was too itchy. So I got some pants on him "these are like the ones Uncle Brent wears" convinced him that they were cool. And I tried to get  him to wear a "shirt like Papa's" which sort of worked for a while but after lunch he had had enough of that one too. Apparently it was because it had a couple of buttons on it. I finally found an old hand me down shirt with no buttons and he was fine with that one. He kept saying "no but-um." I hope this isn't a daily ritual or we will be putting the same shirt on him every day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

January 2012 in Photos

Kyler has started experimenting with high heels. 

He realized flats are much easier to walk in. This pair even matches his shirt. :)

He might wear Mama's shoes once in a while but he is still all boy.

Looking so grown up riding in the dune buggy on his own with Papa.

King of the Rock Mountain!

Story time with Dada before bed.

Prayers

We have always done pretty good about praying before bedtime but more recently we have started making it a point to pray before dinner. Last night it was one of those crazy dinner nights where Kyler was starving so we started feeding him while I was finishing up the cooking and Brett had taken a phone call. When we finally all made it to the table and started eating, Kyler looked up at Brett and folded his hands together. He was reminding us that we had not said our prayers yet and had the biggest smile when we prayed. "MayMen!" (Amen!)

Chatterbox & Much Needed Update

Kyler has been chatting it up more and more lately it seems. He is constantly saying something, and we usually don't know exactly what it is. He has started repeating EVERYTHING lately, trying to say any and every word possible. He's also starting to put words together to make mini-sentences when I ask him to repeat something. Usually it's when he's asking for a snack. "More cheese please" is a cute phrase - it sounds more like "mo tzz bzz." He will also get confused if he repeats it several times and mix up the order of the words. He loves looking at pictures or our belongings and saying Mama, Dada, or Kyler ("waa waa"). When he says hi or bye it is in a southern accent (hah, bah). He really loves "up, down" and even uses them correctly.

The little man has developed quite the personality. I am constantly laughing at him and proclaiming how much I love him. He can put his hat on by himself which is amusing because it is usually pretty crooked. Today he was trying to show me a truck outside our door. He kept saying "cuck" and pointing and then crouched down and stared at me with these big excited funny eyes. I think it was his way of saying "Mom, seriously. There is a truck out there! Can you believe it?" He gives me that look, putting his face really close to mine once and a while and I can't help but crack up. He's a pretty friendly guy too. When we go eat at the bar he will walk in himself and has to wave at every single booth on the way back to our table. This weekend we were at a restaurant in Kansas City and when the booth next to us got up to leave they had to stop and tell us that this little boy has a lot of personality. They said Kyler was smiling and waving at them and had them laughing. He's really good at giving hugs and kisses now and will wave and say "bah" to pretty much anyone. At home, he has started getting our shoes out and walking around in them. I was trying to figure out what the click click click noise was one day when he came out wearing one of my heels.

He reads books a lot, probably more than playing with all his toys combined. And it's fun to listen from the next room to see what his commentary is. He has also been reading himself to sleep at naptime. I can always tell when he falls asleep because I can't hear his little voice anymore. Sleep has been much better the past couple of days. Kyler had been waking up at least once each night and a few nights were pretty brutal. Around the holidays we were dragging him to our bed in the middle of the night out of exhaustion. The new trick to get him to lay down is for me to tuck him in really tight with his blanket. He thinks it's funny. And his dog (My Pal Scout - Leapfrog) plays some songs for him and his 'affe (stuffed giraffe). Last night he went to bed shortly after 9 and slept until 9 this morning. I was glad to be rested up and couldn't decide if I should make noise and wake him up this morning or not.

Speaking of behaving well, I have to brag about how Ky will pick up all of his toys when asked (and sometimes before being asked) without help. I was shocked the first time he did it. His talking has also slowed down the whining quite a bit and he asks for things rather than crying every time. He will also fetch himself a diaper when asked which is pretty nice. Sometimes he will even go get one if he needs changed and I haven't had the pleasure of smelling him yet. He definitely has his bad moments though. He isn't very good about being quiet in church (see the paragraph on him talking above). He was until recently not sleeping well. And he has a really hard time staying out of things when we tell him it isn't for him. The computer is a great example. I can't even be on the computer while he's around because he wants me to show him pictures or videos of tractors. Last night I had to get some work done and he was having a fit. Finally he came over to it and pushed on my monitor, saying "shut." I had to give in and shut it after he was such a big boy and used his words. Plus, it gave us a little more playtime together before his bedtime.

I would have never thought it was possible the day he was born, but I love that kiddo more and more every day. Brett and I are so proud of his every accomplishment and how well he behaves (most of the time). He brings us so much joy and lots of entertainment. It's so great to have his smiling face around. I just love this boy! I might have to tone down the adoration once he's old enough to realize he could get himself wrapped around my finger. :)

A Funny Moment

While I was changing his diaper before nap time, Kyler was holding the clean diaper. He put it on his head and said "hat" then started saying "ho ho ho." Who knew Santa wore a diaper on his head during the off-season?

K for Kyler

As I've said before, books are probably Kyler's favorite things. Yesterday he went up to his room and read books for about an hour all by himself. I could hear him reading... sometimes things I didn't understand and other times things I could identify like all of the farm animal sounds. One of his favorite books is "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." Last week I realized that he could identify the letter K by himself. I always pointed it out as "K for Kyler" when reading the book. One day he pointed at it and said he name (which sounds like "Wawwa"). So I started asking him on each page to point to K for Kyler. He could identify the letter on pretty much every page even though it was in a different spot and sometimes even upside down. Now we'll have to work on identifying it in other places and also learning some additional letters "M for Mama" and "D for Dada" will probably be next.

Doctor Visit for Eczema

I took Kyler to the doctor today. He has somewhat of a rash on his back. It started out a few months ago when we saw a spot on his leg we thought might be ringworm. We put anti-fungal cream on it and it eventually went away except a little rough patch of skin. Then more recently we started noticing pink bumps and rough spots on his back and arms. Some spots looked like they could be ringworm and other spots definitely did not. Last year, Kyler got a patch of eczema on his side so I was wondering if that might be back. I finally made an appointment and took him in this morning so we know how to treat it. He weighed in at 29 pounds, 4 ounces. And the nurse practitioner was pretty sure he has eczema. She prescribed a steroid cream and told me to put lotion on top of it.

I also had her check Ky's ears as he's been waking up at night a lot. I thought it might be due to his new room but wanted to rule out ear infection. His left ear was a little pink so she said to call back in for an antibiotic if he gets worse over the weekend.

Finally, he's been rubbing his eyes a lot and they are a little pink and puffy underneath so I am also concerned he may be allergic to something. She said that is possible and that most kids with eczema also get allergies. I really hope it's not the dogs though. While at my parents' house, the dogs were in the garage but now they are living with us in the house so it might make sense that he would start having allergy symptoms if that is the case. My brother has dog allergies as well so it wouldn't completely shock me.

Anyway, hopefully we can get rid of the skin problems and the rest of the stuff is just a fluke and goes away as well.