amos jack - 22 months

I haven’t talked about this in a while, but I can’t believe how big my baby is.  I’m not going to be able to call him that much longer.  There’s not much baby left.  It’s sad, but it’s wonderful. It’s fun, but it’s hard.  I guess that’s just life for you.

EATING:

Amos’ new thing is to gag himself to the point of throwing up a couple of times if he doesn’t like the taste of something.  At first we thought he was sick because he did twice in one day.  We quickly realized that he was intentionally doing and are trying to put a fast stop to it. 

He’s also been eating something else lately.

PLAYING: 

Pretend play is where it’s at this month.  The pig eats the food.  The baby gets a bottle.  The monkey needs to hang on his bed.  Come to find out, kids pretend play what they know.  Makes sense.  I’ve been trying to model some new play ideas and then letting him take the lead.  Amos had an older friend over this week and I think they were in their room “pretend playing” together.  What fun!

Speaking of his room, it’s a happening spot.  Everyone is invited into his room, except for Mom when he’s got a friend over.  He needs his privacy.

With his new bed, he’s climbing, hanging and jumping a lot more.  And he’s getting more daring.  High chairs can be scaled, trees should be climbed and the fridge is a ladder.  Jumping has really taken off this month too.  He’ll jump and then invite us to jump.  He’s getting ready for jumping into the pool soon.

He’s all boy.  Rocks, dirt, and sand are to be played with and tasted.  At my grandpa’s birthday, Amos was caught giving his cousin Josie a taste. Yum!

DISCPLINE:

“I’m sorry” is now part of Amos’ vocabulary.  He may not always know what it means, but he’s getting good practice using it.  I must use it a lot when I bump into him, because now when we bump, he says it. 

“Okay” and “all done” are other frequent expressions. When he throws a fit, we tell him he needs to be “all done” or he’ll go to his room.  On the way to his room, he tries to throw an “all done” or “okay” in there to get out of the consequence. Like I’ve said before, he’s ornery.  I’m glad that using his room as a time out area has not dampened his love to play in it.

PERSONALITY:

So we’ve got a little bossier on our hands.  I have no idea who he gets this from (wink, wink).  He’ll form 3 or 4 step plans and then make sure they happen.  For example: “I want to go outside and play with the ball.” 1) Get someone to put my shoes on me. 2) Find a ball. 3) Sneak out while the door is open. 4) If they catch me, just stand by the door and throw the ball out so eventually they’ll give up and take me out there.  True story.

SLEEPING:

Same old, same old here.  It’s so nice how consistent Amos’ sleep is, especially with Silas, crazy cat changing on us all the time.

No problems with the big boy bed.  He now has more room for stuffed animals and blankets.  Most of the time I can't see him under all of his animals.

LEARNING:

This month Amos has been learning how to do some “chores.”  We practice making his bed (pulling up the blanket and lining up his stuffed animal), putting his clothes in the laundry basket, picking up toys and wiping up spills.  He thinks it’s a ton of fun. 

Other things we’ve worked on is counting, ABCs, patterns, and colors.  No great progress, but we have fun while doing it.  Who knows how much that little head of his is soaking up?

COMMUNICATION:

Friends’ names are part of his everyday vocabulary.  The other morning at the table he listed off all the friends that we were going to see that day.  If he’s drinking milk, then Josie is drinking milk, Ace is drinking milk and Scout is drinking milk.  Inanimate objects are thrown in now and again too.  His 2 and 3 word sentences are taking off.  Another reason why he’s so big:  babies don’t talk, and this guy does.

LITTLE BROTHER:

Silas is becoming more of a companion for Amos rather than a toy.  Amos wants Silas to do everything with him.  And now they can do things together: baths, eating, drinking, reading books.