21

So I started Alex's twenty-one month post on the 9th, the day before I intended to post it, which would have been the day that he actually turned twenty-one months old, which happened to be the day before the day before the day before Easter, which also happened to be the day after Grammy came to town and the day before Leah and Chris arrived, then I got so caught up in Easter festivities, followed by a week of blogging about Easter festivities, that I am now over a week late with his twenty-one month post, and while several changes have come about in the week-and-a-half since he turned twenty-one months old, I will save those details for future posts, simply to maintain the accuracy and chronology of the monthly posts, which means this post will be about the changes that occured last month, between Alex's twenty-month post and the day he turned twenty-one months old, and not at all about the things that have happened in the last week-and-a-half.

Now that we've got that cleared up, here is the scoop on this month's monthly post.

I sort of slacked on last month's post, so in order to redeem myself, I have decided to revert back to my original monthly post format. That way I can cover all the bases, things I haven't touched on in a while, and that should hold everyone over until Alex's final, detailed monthly post when he turns two. In three months. THREE MONTHS!! AAAIIEEEEEE!!!!

Size: I recently took him to the pediatric clinic (more on that later) and found out that his weight is currently 27.8 lbs, about a pound and a half more than at his 18 month well child visit. I wish they had checked his height, as well, but we'll find that out at his next well child visit when he turns two in three months. THREE MONTHS!!

Recently I've had to replenish all of the clothes he's outgrown, which is most of them, and have started to build his summer wardrobe. He wears a combination of 18 and 24 month shirts and shorts, but his pants must be at least 24 months, if not 2T. It's seems funny to put a big 21 month old kid in 18 month clothes, but most shorts and shirts fit just right in that size. Long-sleeved shirts tend to be three-quarter sleeve shirts when Alex wears them, which is why his sleeves are rolled up most of the time. His daddy has the same problem...which is why his sleeves are rolled up most of the time. Pants, of course, are still an issue - most of them fit fine in the waist and posterior region, but they are too short, especially after being washed, and I end up having to roll them into capri pants. In that case, he might as well be wearing shorts. 2T pants tend to be big in every way - big at the waist and baggy in the back. But at least they're not high-waters, and that's all that really matters, isn't it?

He wears size six shoes as a general rule, although I make him clomp around in sevens if those shoes match his outfit better. It's important that he learns very early to sacrifice comfort for fashion. We recently switched to size six diapers as well, not surprising since his diaper size has pretty much matched his shoe size since he was born.

Eating: He's still a great eater, especially in the last month. He has a huge appetite at most meals, eats well at school, and tries most of the things we put in front of him. He would be perfectly happy to sit and eat a pile of grated parmesan cheese, pinch by pinch. He'd rather eat broccoli off of my plate than cookies off of his own because, for some reason, whatever is on Mom's plate is always more appetizing. In fact, he'd rather eat broccoli off of Mom's plate than eat broccoli off of his own. Whatever, I don't mind sharing as long as he's eating broccoli. He likes spicy food, things like curries and salsa and Schezwan chicken, and we rarely hesitate to let him try what we're eating. He even ate a California roll last time we had sushi, although we did draw the line at giving him Wasabi. Maybe next month.

Sleeping: His sleep schedule has been a little erratic lately. For a while there, he was getting up at 6 sharp, and that was KILLING ME. Just when I thought I could take no more, Daylight Savings Time ended and he was sleeping great, going to bed around 7:30pm and getting up around 7:30am. In the past week, however, now that he's finally caught on to the fact that 7:30am is actually 8:30am and how dare us try to pull one over on him by moving all the clocks forward an hour!!??, he has started getting up at 6 again, and once again, IT IS KILLING ME. He does take good 2+ hour naps every day, although it often takes some coaxing to get him to stay in bed. In the end, Mama always wins that fight, which he is learning...slowly.

Physical/Cognitive Development: Holy cow, this child is talking up a storm. A few days into his twenty-first month he switched his vocabulator into overdrive and has added umpteen words to his repertoire. His favorite words this month are "Mommy" and "Daddy", probably because we are much more willing to give him what he wants when he refers to us by name. He will lie in his bed in the morning, hollering, "Mom-meeeee!! Dad-deeeee!!" over and over until one of us comes to get him.

He will repeat any word we throw his way, including such whoppers as "crocodile", "dinosaur", and "Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis". Okay, so he's only said that last word once, and he didn't use it in the proper context. But still, the kid is mad about words and letters, can recognize the words "Mommy" and "Daddy", can repeat most of the letters in the alphabet (that "G" is a doozy) and can pick most of those letters out of a lineup. Some of his favorites are "J", "W", and "B", although that tends to change daily. If I ask him to "bring me the W", he will run to his toyroom, pull the letter W out of his foam mat, and present it to me. He loves to try to spell things - out of the blue, he will see a word and suddenly start pointing at each letter, saying something like, "E, E, O, C, U, D, E!" It would be great if the word he was referring to was actually "eeocude", but for now, we are just happy that he is starting to understand how letters work together to make words.



He is running too fast for us to keep up these days and is still climbing like crazy. The other day (social workers, avert your eyes), I had left him in the bathroom playing with some toothbrushes while I ran into the kitchen to get Windex. When I got back, seconds later, I found Alex standing on the tank of the toilet, grinning impishly and smacking the toothbrushes together. Not the seat, people. The tank. I pretended I wasn't having a heart attack, calmly removed him from the toilet, and sent him to timeout. Whenever we pick him up from the nursery at church, the nursery workers always say, "He is fast! He tries to run out every time the door opens, and we can barely catch him!"

He can climb onto our bed and over the back of the couch with ease and will drag a bucket or a box (or whatever he can find) into the kitchen so that he can reach things on the counter or in the sink. I watch him like a hawk when he is in the kitchen (but obviously not in the bathroom) because he can now access the most dangerous and off-limits things in the house, like the stovetop, the knives, and the coffee maker.

This month, we've seen an increase in his bossy side in that he will point to a chair and command you to "sit", or ask you to pick him up, point in a particular direction, and tell you to "go", or climb on your back and ask for a "ride", or bring you a book and ask you to "read". I suppose it;s unfair to call him "bossy" since he is really just communicating what he wants directly and verbally instead of just bellowing like a sick cow until we can guess what he is after.

He really is a very good boy, very affectionate, and very liberal with hugs and kisses and pats on the back. He loves to roll on the floor and jump aroud and do anything that might get a laugh. He loves to play outside, loves his mommy and daddy and doggy, loves to take things apart and try to put them back together, loves books and music and Sesame Street and strangers. Yes, strangers. Loves to wave at people, shouts "HI!!!" to everyone he sees, and unabashedly flirts with pretty waitresses.

He is generally sweet and well-behaved and adorable, although sometimes his hair has a mind of its own. He is Mr. Personality. He is my best buddy, despite the fact that he regularly wakes me up before sunrise, and I love him to death. I can't wait to see what the next few months have in store.



P.S. So sorry for the ridiculous first paragraph of this post. I was doped up on nasal spray, two types of cough medicine, a prescription decongestant, and a whole lot of caffeine at the time it was written. If I were arrested by the Literary Police for that awful piece of writing, I suppose I'd have to plead "no contest" to one count of WUI - Writing Under the Influence.