What’s new at 22 months:
-Carter has developed opinions, haha! It’s the first thing that came to mind. He can tell me in the morning if he wants an apple or a banana. He can stand at the refrigerator and ask for cheese and milk or water and turkey. We still have the few odd struggles where I have no idea what he’s saying, but he certainly knows! You can tell when he’s hungry because he starts hanging out in the kitchen.
-Speaking of eating, he’s starting to resist the high chairs when we eat out. We had to use a booster seat once and after that, he realized what he’s been missing! He wants to get in and out of the booster seat though, so we’re trying to make the high chair last as long as possible. At home he sits at the kitchen island or kitchen table, no problem. So big!
-Christmas was amazing. Carter absolutely understood there were fun things under all of that wrapping paper. It’s so hard to pick a favorite, but his Laugh and Learn Food Truck was a huge hit! He now pats the floor and insists that we sit in front of it to be his customers.
-He is a tickle monster! He will scrunch his little hands up and come at you, sneakily saying “Tickle, tickle” until he captures you. We think it’s so cute!! The dogs on the other hand? Not so much.
-Sesame Street continues to be in hot demand at our house. I don’t like him watching much TV, but this is one of our regular exceptions. He’s learning a lot from it! I love to hear him say each character’s name when it comes on. We’re definitely doing a Sesame Street themed birthday party this year.
-The weight gain continues and he’s starting to outgrow some of his winter clothes already, but we will make them stretch until spring at this point. He’s 32.2lbs! I think he will be a 2T/3T this spring and a solid 3T by summer.
What’s new at 23 months:
-Carter is moving so quickly toward “little boy” instead of toddler. He’s using new words rapidly, signing less, and running all over the place like a champ.
-Carter is so remarkably sweet. I catch myself saying, “my sweet boy” a lot, but it’s true. He has the sweetest little spirit. I know he’s mine, but I’ve been around a lot of kids this age and my momma heart sometimes thinks he’s toooo sweet. ha! He got a monster bowling pin set for Christmas and carries one of the bowling pins around as his baby instead of knocking them down!
-He is a climbing machine. He will move and stack objects to get a better advantage. I also caught him thinking about climbing out of his crib, but so far just the one time so we’re hoping to ride that out a little longer.
-He loves to color. Like– LOVES to color. Give him a pen and he’s king of the world. I bought him a Color Wonder set for his birthday next month, but Daddy broke down and gave it to him the day it arrived. He’s obsessed!
-I also broke out his ocean Play-Doh set this month. I had actually grabbed it way back when he was a baby because it was too cute. He found it in his closet while I was putting his laundry away and just knew it was going to be awesome. haha! It was the first thing he showed Daddy after work.
-The shoe obsession continues. It seems like we put shoes on and take them off at least 100 times a day.
-He’s also pretty obsessed with his hair. Combing it, adding products to it, putting in my hair clips. He helps me get ready every morning and needs a “hair spray” before we’re finished.
-Carter still loves water. He will play with little cups on the edge of my bathtub when I get ready in the morning and Daddy often has to end bath time early due to a potential tsunami. This has carried over to the snow. While he hates it on his hands, he loves looking at it from inside and riding around in the sled.
-He’s pretty in to technology. I let him pretend with an old, dead laptop and he uses the keyboard and mouse. He’ll pretend most objects are cameras and want to take your picture over and over. He loves to Facetime and talk on the phone, but don’t you dare try to help him hold it.
-He is starting to understand the rides in the mall. We put him in a car and he had the biggest grin on his face during the whole ride. He got out willingly, but then pouted when we left.
-Food continues to be fun. He’s a great eater and loves dipping chips, hot dogs, and french fries when we eat out.
-Carter is definitely my helper boy. He puts his dirty clothes in the hamper and helps throw them in the washer and dryer. He LOVES to vacuum. If he makes a “mess mess” with is water cup, he will run to get baby wipes or kleenex to mop it up. He has taken on the job of letting the dogs in and out and gets offended if someone else does it.
-And probably my most favorite, is that he still loves books. He loves to sit in his rocking chair (by himself, of course) to read in the morning and will bring me books all afternoon to share.
-He’s 32.6lbs and 35″ tall. I’ve had to retire some of his 2Ts! He’s also working on his last 4 molars.
Some of my favorite pictures from this stage:
