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4th of July

So we’re 3 months late posting this… we discovered we have a great view of the fireworks in downtown Tavares from our living room. Ben had a wand with multicolored fiberoptic strands coming out of it.

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Toddlers sleep in the strangest places

Ben doesn’t have a regular nap schedule, or even a regular nap location! This hyperactive kid will fall asleep wherever he crashes.

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The boy can talk!

He’s catching up on all those months of no talking. Doctor’s visit after doctor’s visit, he would be behind on the speech portion of his developmental milestones checklists. It was bad enough that the doctor recommended he be screened for Early Steps, a program that evaluates kids who are developmentally behind and provides free supplemental training/therapy to boost their skills. Ben went through the evaluation and was found to be ok. But we were still worried. All the checklists quantified how many words he could say. For a while he didn’t have any words he consistently said.

Well, now he has lots of words! Let’s start a list:

  1. Mommy
  2. Daddy
  3. Up
  4. Please
  5. More
  6. Cat/kitty
  7. Dora (Dora the Explorer)
  8. Gabba (Yo Gabba Gabba TV show)
  9. Milk
  10. Water
  11. Cup
  12. Ball
  13. Key
  14. Car
  15. Click
  16. Conk (a word we say when you “conk” your head/foot/etc. on something)
  17. Ow
  18. No
  19. Yes
  20. Chip
  21. Dip
  22. Ben
  23. Thank you
  24. Apple
  25. Orange
  26. Juice
  27. On
  28. Dog
  29. Puppy
  30. Shoe
  31. Hair
  32. Head
  33. Belly/belly button
  34. Bubbles
  35. Pop
  36. Cover
  37. Kiss

And I’m probably forgetting some but he’s catching up!

Chart of milestones from BabyCenter.com:

Child’s Age
Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
19 months Uses a spoon and fork
Runs
Throws a ball underhand
Enjoys helping around the house
Understands as many as 200 words
Recognizes when something is wrong (e.g., calling a dog a cat)
Washes and dries own hands with help
Points to picture or object when you call it by name
May know when she needs to pee
20 months Feeds doll
Takes off own clothes
Dumps an object in imitation, such as throwing garbage away
Learns words at a rate of ten or more a day
Can walk up stairs (but probably not down)
May start exploring genitals
Draws a straight line
Names several body parts
21 months Can walk up stairs
Able to set simple goals (e.g., deciding to put a toy in a certain place)
Throws a ball overhand
Kicks ball forward
Stacks six blocks
Names simple picture in a book
Can walk down stairs
22 months Kicks ball forward
Follows two-step requests(e.g., “Get your doll and bring it here”)
Does simple puzzles
Draws a straight line
Names several body parts
Puts on loose-fitting clothes
Might be ready for a big bed
Understands opposites (e.g., tall vs. short)
23 months Names simple picture in a book
Uses 50 to 70 words
Opens doors
Sings simple tunes
Takes more of an interest in playing with other kids
Talks about self (likes, dislikes)
Asks “why?”
24 months Names at least six body parts
Half of speech is understandable
Makes two- to three-word sentences
Talks about self
Arranges things in categories
Can walk down stairs
Begins to understand abstract concepts (e.g., sooner and later)
Becomes attuned to gender differences
Learns to jump
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Swim lessons

At the Y. Ben liked it the first day. Then it all fell apart. He stopped participating, instead just dunking his head underwater or jumping into the pool. The swim instructor said he was one of the laziest kids she’d ever had. Then he was kicked out because he wouldn’t stop screaming…

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Belated Easter

I just found these “Easter” photos that I forgot to post. We didn’t celebrate Easter, but Blake went to Target the day after, got Ben an Elmo basket and some  eggs, and we hid them. I don’t know why he’s not wearing a shirt…

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Great Grandpa’s 80th Birthday

Ben quickly found the booze cooler at my Pop-Pop’s 80th birthday party. Of course he never drank any but we got a kick out of him carrying around the cans. 🙂 Ben also got to meet his Great Great Uncle Donald from Canada.

 

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Ben doing chores

Ben gets a kick out of helping, whether it be with laundry, loading the fridge with water bottles, throwing stuff away.

 

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18 month check up

We went to the doctor yesterday. Ben is still above the 98th percentile for his height. He is fattening up, so much so that if he weren’t so tall, he’d be getting chubby. His development is on track. He may not be communicating with many words, but he understands, responds, and communicates in other ways. He does need to work on using a spoon and fork, and we need to get him off his noony/pacifier.

This is a list of milestones we can be looking forward to:

:::Source: BabyCenter.com

Child’s Age
Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
19 months Uses a spoon and fork
Runs
Throws a ball underhand
Enjoys helping around the house
Understands as many as 200 words
Recognizes when something is wrong (e.g., calling a dog a cat)
Washes and dries own hands with help
Points to picture or object when you call it by name
May know when she needs to pee