20 Months

I've been a slacker and haven't done one of these in a while, but I had some free time today so I'm going to try and do a little catching up on my little guys life.

Weight:

About 27 pounds. 

Height:

34 inches ( thats just a guess, maybe a little taller now?)  I really should get one of those height charts huh?

Clothing Size:

Mostly 24 month clothes. Ethan has a super long torso, so while most 18 month shirts still fit him they are all too short. Same thing with his pants. Maybe he will luck and and be tall and skinny..

Diapers

Size 4. Little man took after his daddy and has a super small waist

Feeding:

He is so picky and its is currently refusing some of his favorite food. Even avocado! I pretty much is living on cereal right now and I don't have the energy to fight it.

Hair, Teeth, and Eyes

I lost count. He has a mouth full and has another molar trying to break through.

 Reddish blonde. I look at pictures of Tim's dad who passed away before I was ever able to meet him and see Ethan. The hair, the eyes, its like we have a little part of his dad all the time.

Sleep:

We can still get 2 naps from him however most days its just 1 two hour nap which is fine with me.  Bedtime is at 8 and wake up is anywhere between 6 and 730. Ugh!

Talking:

He signs till his little hands are sore, but doesn't do a lot of talking. I have definitely noticed what little talking he does is picking up so I'm hoping one day he'll just be like " Hey Mom, can I get some milk?" One can thing right?

Likes:

The Park- We found a new park not far from our house and he is in hogs heaven. Its right on the ocean front and can pretty much run around all he wants without me having to worry about him getting hurt.

Airplanes- He is obsessed! Every time one flies overhead which is constantly he stops what he is doing and watches it until its out of sight. Future pilot maybe?

Dislikes:

Bedtime- I am pretty sure he has more willpower then me and he knows it which is why he fights to hard on this.

Being confined- Carseat, stroller, shopping cart he hates it all. He needs to RUN!

Milestones:

He is starting to tell us when he needs to go potty or has a dirty diaper. I know its a little early but maybe by his birthday we can seriously start thinking about potty training?

20 Years From Now

I was going to post this yesterday in honor of Mothers Day, but decided that I was going to be anti-computer and just hang out with my family.  However in honor of being a mom I wrote a letter to myself, 20 years from now of all the little things I want to make sure I never forget- not just about motherhood but about this stage in my life.

Dear Older ( but equally awesome) Shannon, 

There are going to be so many ups and downs in your life as I'm sure you already know. But sometimes its easy to forget the little things so I want you to have this to remind yourself.  Let me refresh your memory- Tim's about to get out of the navy, you work 2 jobs, Aubrey is about to be a senior in highschool and Ethan has reached his terrible twos.  Your life is pure chaos and there are many nights that you panic and want to hide.  But you don't. Why?- Because you have the beautiful things in life to keep you going. 

 Ethan has his signature "booty dance" where he grabs his little butt and shakes what his mama gave him.  Tim leaves you little notes around the house that remind you why you fell in love with him ( even though sometimes you may not even like him). Aubrey comes to you for advice when you think that just maybe she has forgotten about you and reminds you that she cares. 

 Remember when Ethan started to say cheese and the goofy little face he makes. And remember the first time you saw the picture of Aubs in her prom dress and you started to cry.  Remember how Ethan is fascinated by airplanes and Mickey Mouse and you are the ultimate boo-boo kisser, bedtime story reader, and giver of the best hugs in the world or at least that's how he makes you feel.  Remember how you and Aubrey rode that crazy roller coaster at Busch Gardens and you had to act tough because you didn't want her to see how scared your were. ( keep doing that!) Remember that time that Ethan got his first kiss thanks to Lily and your heart broke just a bit. I'm sure you've felt that hundreds of times again but also remember that you have the best family in the entire world and you are so excited to see what the next 20 years bring.

Love- Younger and slightly more awesome Me

I Saw the Sign

Many toddlers Ethan's age - ie 20 months are bouncing around saying Mama, Dada, Doggie, Byebye, and a good list of other words.  Ethan on the other hand has about 3 words he constantly says- Mama, Dada, Dat (that)and a few other words he randomly throws out from time to time.  

However homeboy can sign a good 50 words which means that our pediatrician isn't the least bit worried.  I have friends that have seen Ethan sign and have come to me for advice so while I'm no baby signing expert I thought it would be nice to give what advice I can to everyone in hopes that if you want to teach your child to sign it helps.

1. Make the commitment- It is a long, tedious, and frustrating process but when you start seeing the results its completely worth it.We had books on baby signing before Ethan was born. Why? Because you can't teach someone something if you don't know what to teach

2.Start Early- It can't hurt to start teach your child early, how early? We started at about 4 months. No Ethan didn't start signing back right away, to be honest it was months after that which he started to sign. But he did know what we were saying. I would sign milk and he would smile, or I would sign no and he would look at me and give me the stink eye. Either way he started to understand what we were saying

3.Be persistent- Every time you say a word, even if your not talking to your child use the sign with it. Why? because once you get in the habit of it, then its second nature and therefor so much easier.

4..Be patient- It sucks feeling like your talking to yourself, or feeling like you kid is never going to get it. But its no worse then constantly walking around going " say mama, say mama". Yeah same thing

5. Try a few different signs at the same time- We started with Mama, Dada, Milk, Eat, and No.  Ethan picked up on milk and eat the quickest. By giving them a few words together they don't feel forced into saying one particular thing and can choose what works for them. Just like how your child hears you say hundreds of different words a day, not just the same 1 or 2.

6. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition- Yeah I think that's pretty self explanatory

7. Get everyone involved- You can't be the only one signing. You need to have everyone involved in your child's daily life involved in signing. I mean look at it this way. You speak English to your kiddo, but everyone else around him speaks pig Latin. Do you really think your kid is going to start speaking English? No.

8. Don't give up- Its hard but its so worth it. Plus its so much fun!

Singing in the Rain

Time to link up again for toddler tuesday!

On my mind this week. Rain gear! Its May and yet it seems to constantly be raining here in good ole Virginia, yet that's not a good exxuse to not go out and enjoy the weather.  Which of course means you need some rain gear so you can still have a good time.  My favorite ones that I've come across this year?

Hatley Store

Amazon

I mean seriously, could the Superman stuff be any cuter?? I am in love it it!  Now I just have to wait on it to get here so we can go splish splash in the puddles. Bring in on Mother Nature, we're ready.

All Grown Up

So Ethan has reached a huge toddler milestone.

He is officially in a "big boy"  bed- meaning we converted his crib into a toddler bed. He seems to really enjoy it thus far and it gives him a lot more independence. 

The only down side is his new found independence has him wanting to play during nap time, so we put him down at about 1045 for a nap and he plays for at least 30 minutes before he lays down in his bed. At least he is having quite time which is just as important as napping because its building his independence.

At night he is doing great! We shut his door when we first put him to bed because otherwise he will just keep coming out, but before we go to bed we crack the door and leave our bedroom door cracked so he can come get us if he needs anything or in the morning when he is ready to get up for the day, which lately is getting earlier and earlier. Ugh!

Its crazy thinking that a year ago he wasn't even walking yet and now he is running all over the place, climbing on everything and constantly telling me " I do it".  I'm pretty sure I never gave him permission to grow up.