Paul at 21 months

Paul hit the 21 month mark yesterday. It's hard to believe that we are knocking on the door of Paul turning 2! I sound like a broken record but where does the time go? Here's what is happening in Paul's world!

Firsts:

- He had his first haircut in October. He was not a fan!

- He went trick-or-treating for the first time. We only went to 3 houses, though. He preferred "helping" dad hand out candy. By helping I mean grabbing candy from the bowl, running around with it, and putting it back in the bowl. ;) We didn't let him have any candy and he didn't show any interest in wanting any. He's more of a crackers man.

Words: Paul's language continues to explode - especially since joining the toddler room at school. Here are a couple of my favorite things to hear from him:

- When we finish reading a book he really likes, he will lift it up towards the reader and say, "again!" He must have picked this word up at school.

- He calls phones "hello." Whenever he hears a beep or sound from a phone indicating you have a text or phone call he yells "hello!"

- While he can say yes, he usually says "yah." Sometimes he sounds like a little Norwegian as he says a really prolonged "yaaaah." I guess you have to grow up around people of Norwegian origin like Phil and I have to know what I'm talking about but it's really cute.

- He is using more and more Spanish. He calls shoes "patos" (short for zapatos, the Spanish word for shoes), water "agua," hands "manos," and says "aqui" instead of here when we ask where something is.

- He can make most animals sounds and names some animals. His favorite animal word to say is owl.

- He's starting to say short sentences like, "bye, daddy." Over the weekend he started to say, "I'll get it!" when he drops or throws something. He also will bring a book to me and say, "read it!" He has the sweetest little voice so I love hearing him say more and more words!

Growth: He's still pretty petite but we know now that he's just going to be on the smaller side so I don't worry about it. I haven't weighed him since his 18 month appointment. He was 21 lbs at 18 months but he's probably gained a pound or 2? He wears 18-month shirts, 12-month pants, and size 5 shoes.

School: He loves the toddler room at school and has adapted well to the new schedule. After being a horrible napper in the infant room he is one of the better nappers and sleeps for 2 hours on a cot! We are amazed as it's rare for him to nap for 2 hours at home. They have a lesson plan every week and I think he gets quite a bit out of the lesson plan as he knows some letters and numbers.

Loves: 

- He still loves books and will ask us to read the same book over and over again, like "The Foot Book." I've had to hide it a few times to give us a break! ;) His favorite books are the Little Blue Truck books and he also loves anything with flaps.

- He really loves the farm set my parents got him this summer, his little people toys, and any toys with wheels. He's getting better at playing independently but it's kind of hit or miss and depends on his mood.

- We don't let him watch much tv but when he's sick or when we were busy with moving stuff or assembling furniture, we let him watch "Little Baby Bum" on Netflix. It's a combination of nursery rhymes and educational content. He LOVES it so we have to be careful about how much we let him watch it! He calls it "B bum" and will keep repeating "B bum? B bum?" over and over again in the sweetest little voice!

- Putting clothes in the hamper. He sounds like a little Frenchman when he says hamper - he says "am-pair." It's really cute. He seems to have a hard time with Hs which makes sense since there isn't a hard H in the Spanish language. If he doesn't want to go upstairs to bed, I will say - 'do you want to take your clothes off and put them in the hamper?" and that will get him to go upstairs without a fight.

Eating: Feeding Paul has gotten a bit better recently but I will say that meal time is our least favorite time of day - especially dinner. He's probably a little more picky than the average toddler but he eats more foods than he did at 18 months. We've been able to eat more family meals as he can handle eating dinner a little later (around 6 pm instead of 5:30). He still doesn't like meat unless it's ground, like beef, turkey or sausage. He's better at using a spoon or fork. He goes back and forth between using his left and right hand to feed himself. His favorite foods are yogurt, scrambled eggs, banana pancakes, and crackers. If it was up to him, 90% of his calories would come from crackers! He also loves milk (he drinks whole since he's on the small side and needs the extra calories) and anything with peanut butter on it. He's the odd kid who doesn't like cheese or fruit! He enjoyed stuffing and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving!

Dislikes: getting his hands/face washed, taking oral medications, and putting on a hat or mittens. It's quite the battle to get his hat/mittens on some mornings but it's usually pretty cold so hat/mittens aren't optional! 

Every stage seems to get better and better! There are of course challenges to every stage but overall I really enjoy the toddler phase!