Todd the Toddler’s 23rd Month

22 months old – June 25, 2016

TWENTY THIRD MONTH
JUNE 21 – JULY 21 (2016)

COMMUNICATION & COGNITION

• he pushes his lips out & makes airplane sounds while moving his arm like a plane
• we have a sign for squirrel (see video)
• pointing to bee on his sheets & repeats “bee”
• when I made a phone call he put his hand up to the side of his head & said “hi” (7/4)
• he does the hand sign for “honk” when looking at the picture of the driver in “The Truck Book”
• he points out the moon every time he sees it
• he makes a “beep beep” sound to pretend he’s metal detecting
• he points to the floor/ground or motions to where he is
• learning to say help (“ah-p”)
• repeats “Jo Jo” very clearly (i.e. The Bachelorette 😉 )

NEW SKILLS

• he put on his hat including the chin strap (7/2)
• he was able to turn the key on his farm toy for the first time (7/6)
• he independently steps on the balance board, balances in the middle then jumps off (7/16)

FUN FOR TODD

• petting & kissing the neighbor’s puppy
• launching onto a pile of pillows
• pull trains
• turning on water faucets & playing with water hoses
• taking off his shoes
• stroller walks with Jeri
• hot tub swims (he does the sign for “all done” when we turn on the jets because he’d rather have  no jets on)
• organizing hangers
• very interested in his Lego Duplos
• doing somersaults
• riding in shopping carts & waving to everyone & eating the free bananas
• watching a dump truck deliver a load of bark to our driveway (7/13)
• he really shows off his dance moves when we play <<this>> YouTube video of Alicia Bridges’ “I Love the Nightlife”
• riding in stroller while we went rollerblading on the Centennial Trail (7/17)
• very focused stacking

On our way to Oregon – June 24, 2016

FAMILY VISITS

• we went to Bend, OR to see my family (6/24 – 26)
• Todd had his first vegan donut on the way (Mighty-O Donuts, Seattle)
• my mom & dad babysat Todd on 6/24 when we watched my niece’s dance recital
• we all went to Elk Lake for stand up paddle boarding on 6/25 (see this post for last year’s trip to the lake)
• visit Eric’s mom’s cousin when we moved an antique organ to her house (7/2)
• visit from Todd’s aunt Dallas & cousin Adam (7/11)

Elk Lake, OR – cousins – June 25, 2016

Paddle boarding with Eric – June 25, 2016

Hanging out with my family – June 25, 2016

Todd with his grandma – June 25, 2016

Testing the waters of Elk Lake – June 25, 2016

PARTY TIME

• party at Ken & Daisy’s house for her 50th birthday (7/2)
• Todd liked trying on her footwear & jumping on their bed

4th of JULY

• we went to La Conner, WA for the live music & fireworks, and my friend Sharon joined us
• Todd loved dancing, dogs, Kettle Corn, and the toy/bubble car
• (see this post for last year’s 4th of July in La Conner)

4th of July in La Conner

TOYota! – July 4, 2016

WEEKEND IN WENATCHEE

• we loaded up a U-Haul trailer with stuff to move into our condo & spent the weekend getting things unloaded & put away (7/9 – 10)
• we went to a wine tasting & live music event at our favorite winery (White Heron Cellars) (7/9)
• Todd loved dancing & walking around
• dining out at La Fuente (7/8, 7/10)

White Heron Cellars – July 9, 2016

White Heron Cellars, Quincy, WA – July 9, 2016

Family selfie – July 9, 2016

 BABYSITTER DAYS

• I worked 1 half day & 3 full days.  I didn’t work as much this month due to moving preparations

Babysitter pic – reading to his pillow bear – June 21, 2016

Babysitter pic – June 30, 2016

MISC

• he launched forward from coffee table to floor (normally he’d do this onto pillows) which was unsafe! He cried but was okay (6/27)

FOOD NOTES

• we gave him popcorn (but picked off the larger kernel portion)
• he loves all different nuts (I break them into small bits)
• he likes raw onion 😀
• devouring blueberries from Costco (6/29)
• he’s less interested in his green smoothies than he used to be
• 1st shave ice (Kaliki’s Hawaiian Shave Ice, 7/16)
• dining out: La Rosa (6/25), **King Solomon’s Reef (6/26), Ixtapa (7/16), The Shire Cafe (7/17)

**King Solomon’s Reef (Olympia, WA) has vegan options, including Tempeh Hash, “Chicken-Fried” Tofu Burger, Buffalo Tempeh Sandwich, Vegan 3 Bean Chili, “Chicken-Fried” Tofu Strips (breaded in Olympia Beer), Vegan Chili Fries/Tots and even PIE (which I should have tried!!)**

Dining at King Solomon’s Reef in Olympia, WA – June 26, 2016

Onion tears – July 11, 2016

TOOTH NEWS

• right lower canine tooth poking through (7/30)
• that’s his 14th tooth

Sitting in a neighbor’s car – July 12, 2016

DAY TIME NAPS

• crib naps were typically 2-3 hours
• longest nap = 4.0 hours (7/3 & 7/11)
• shortest nap = 45 minutes (6/21)

He likes to cover his face when he sleeps – July 4, 2016

NIGHT TIME SLEEP

• he woke up crying in the night 5x this month
• he walked back to his bed after a night time wake up (6/23)
• just like last month, he no longer falls asleep in my glider chair before bed. First, we read books in my chair, then he climbs down & runs out to the living room to see Eric, then goes to bed awake without a fuss.
• bed time has often been late (i.e 9:30 – 10:30)
• he sleeps with his big stuffed frog

July 16, 2016

POTTY TALK
Todd is starting to communicate when he has to go (inconsistently)…

• 17 poops were done in the toilet
• 26 poops were not done in the toilet (1x he pooped more in the toilet once I got him there)
• he regularly pees while sitting on the toilet for Jeri (his babysitter), but he doesn’t always want to sit there for mama or dada
• I said he needed to cover his penis with a diaper so that the “bugs outside don’t bite it,” so he tested out biting his hand, then bent over like he was trying to reach his penis to bite it (6/22)
• he took off his wet underwear & then got a new pair (7/1)
• I hold the small Baby Bjorn potty while he pees standing up
• he pointed to diaper, then I took him to his baby potty and he peed standing up (7/17)
• he patted his diaper/bottom, then I took him to the toilet & he pooped (7/17, 7/18, 7/20)
• he brought his baby potty to me, then peed in it (7/19)
• he was able to stop peeing (while sitting with me on my glider chair) & then finish on the toilet (7/20)

Our last time using our hot tub before we moved – July 19, 2016