Todd the Toddler’s 21st Month

May 3, 2016

TWENTY FIRST MONTH
APRIL 21 – MAY 21 (2016)

SPEECH/COMMUNICATION & LEARNING

• practicing the concepts “up” & “down” by pointing up/down down repeatedly after I said the words
• he pointed to the ceiling when I said his hair was sticking straight up (4/30)
• he tries to imitate kiss sounds with his mouth
• he tried to “cut” his toenail with nail clippers
• he motions to himself with both hands on his chest & says “Ta” to his written name & when asked “You are…?”
• he puts both hands on his behind when we ask where his butt is (then he’ll touch our butts)
• he puts his knuckles together for the sign “more” (5/19)
• very animated laugh (HA HA!)
• highly expressive with his face

Home Depot, Wenatchee – May 14, 2016

GROSS MOTOR SKILLS

• tries to stand on skateboard with one leg & push with other leg, then he does it while holding onto the board
• able to walk down stairs without holding on (step to pattern)

Babysitter pic – April 26, 2016

OUTDOOR FUN

• he likes pointing out bugs & bees
• taking things out of the garage to play with (i.e. skateboards, ski poles, broom)
• rollerblade (10.17 miles) with stroller on the Centennial Trail (5/7)
• he wanted to take his Little Tikes car outside
• likes pushing his car off the curb
• putting his hands in running water at the outside faucet (5/9)
• hot tub swims:  jumping in place & out toward the “deep;” helping get flower blossoms out of the water; learning how to walk along the perimeter without slipping & going under
• stroller walks
• helping Eric rake (5/17)

April 25, 2016

May 2, 2016

INDOOR PLAY

• slow dancing with Pillow Bear
• he tried to ride a matchbook car…haha! (5/14)

Fireman Todd – May 10, 2016

WEEKENDS IN WENATCHEE

• 3 day weekend (4/29 – 5/1);  regular weekend (5/14 – 15)
• skateboarding on the Apple Capital Loop Trail
• miniature train ride at Wenatchee Riverfront Park (4/30)
• Todd loves spending time outside on the condo deck
• interested in kites
• walking around the condo grounds
• playing with a soccer ball with other kids (Seth & Chloe)
• standing on the cooler to reach the kitchen sink

Fun at the sink – April 28, 2016

Kite flier – April 30, 2016

Eric & Todd playing football – April 29, 2016

Apple Capital Loop Trail – April 30, 2016

Miniature train ride – April 30, 2016

RANDOM STUFF

• he let me put sunglasses on him & then he gave me 2 kisses with them on (5/2)
• he loves to wave to all the other shoppers at the grocery store
• testing boundaries! (i.e., he purposely repeats doing something after I say “no” or “stop” which means I end up having to take things away from him)

April 24, 2016

Sunglasses & kisses – May 2, 2016

BABYSITTER DAYS

• I worked 13 full or half days & Jeri babysat him on those days
• Todd’s cousin, Kylie, babysat him 1 day (4/22)
• he asks Jeri to pick him up (with grunt/gesture) & kisses her

Kylie & Todd – April 22, 2016

Kylie’s pic – April 22, 2016

Babysitter pic – May 17, 2016

A SUDDEN RASH

On 4/23 Todd broke out in hives after drinking his “formula milk” in the morning. Eric was home with him and I was away at a course. At first we thought he had suddenly and mysteriously become allergic to one of the ingredients in his non-dairy milk blend (consisting of soy milk, hemp milk & homemade cashew/oat milk). As a result, we initially withheld the soy milk and the homemade cashew/oat milk, and instead we gave him a mix of hemp milk and commercial oat milk.

Eric took him to the lab because Todd was due to have his blood retested for peanut IgE anyway (his allergy doctor had recently placed the order). But– unfortunately after more than 1 attempt, the lab tech wasn’t able to get the blood sample, and it only ended up being a semi-traumatic experience for all.

When it was obvious that the red spots weren’t quickly fading like when Todd reacted to peanuts a year ago, I started to suspect that it wasn’t a food allergy after all. I determined (on my own) that Todd’s rash was a symptom of viral illness.  He had been sick in the weeks prior.

On the evening of 4/25, the rash significantly faded, and on 4/26 I resumed giving Todd his usual “formula milk” blend.  As expected, he had no further symptoms.

Todd’s rash – April 23, 2016

OTHER HEALTH NOTES

• on 4/26 Todd fell off the back of the couch and we heard the loudest crack when he landed with the back of his head against a wood end table.  It was the scariest sound!  He cried briefly, but then seemed okay.  Oddly, there was no bruise. Phew!

Babysitter pic – May 11, 2016

TEETH

• his right upper canine tooth starting poking through (5/17)
• that’s his 12th tooth

Babysitter pic – Feeding his Pillow Bear – May 4, 2016

FOOD NOTES

• eats sunflower seeds
• he likes tipping back jars/cups to eat things (as if liquid)
• bit into raw garlic & then kept wanting to do it more & more (5/6)
• dining out:  La Fuente (4/28 & 5/13)
• 1st time sitting in a booster seat instead of high chair while dining out (5/13)
• eats tortilla chips (whole, not broken up), cabbage and salsa
• he likes to drink from a glass during meals (with close supervision)

Mmm…espresso! – May 2, 2016

Drinking green smoothie from a glass – May 9, 2016

La Fuente, Wenatchee – May 13, 2016

DAY TIME NAPS

• crib naps were typically ~2.5 hours
• naps typically started between 11 AM & 12:30 PM
• longest nap = 4 hours (5/6)
• shortest nap = 1.5 hours (5/5)

Babysitter pic – Before nap – April 21, 2016

NIGHT TIME SLEEP

• he woke up crying in the night 8x this month, but…
• I might have forgotten to record up to 1 or 2 nights when Todd woke up in the night (??)
• it took 20-50 minutes to get him back to bed when he woke up
• when he slept through the night, his sleep duration was typically 9-10 hours (no change)
• wide awake chatty & giggly before bed (5/6)
• super smiley & cute when he was awake at ~4 AM (5/10)

Sleepy Todd – May 4, 2016

POTTY TALK

• 37 poops were done in the toilet
• 11 poops were not done in the toilet (1x he pooped more in the toilet once I got him there)
• 1x he clearly needed to poo but refused to sit on the toilet, then went in his pants

Wearing Eric’s glasses – May 14, 2016