Growing a Little Schulze: Daniel at 20 and 21 months

July 30 - Sep 30, 2016

Language: He's adding words at a rapid pace! He's also putting two words together often and imitating words like crazy.

New words at 20 months:
thank you (geh gum)
okay (OHt kay or OH kay)
ketchup (cheb-up)
Grandpa (Gampa)
Claire (Cay uh)
Ellie (Eh dee)
Grammi (Gammi)

21 months:
keem up (Clean up)
Says good when asked "How are you?"
diaper (dap dem)
cuz (He said 'cuz in answer to a question just like Ellie does!)
Um...
'Ch out (watch out)
Bumpty (bumpity bump on his bottom down the stairs)
Nuffin (nothing)
Poop! (said from his crib as soon as you walk in to let you know he has a dirty diaper)
pinched lip No! (He does this pinched lip no that sounds like newwww)

-Lots of Ellie influences in his vocabulary this month!

Teeth:
All four of his canines are slowly coming in to give him a mouth full of teeth. But it has been causing consider crankiness all day and driving us all crazy. Fortunately they haven't messed up his sleep too much. There have been some overnight wake ups occasionally. He also developed an ulcer/canker sore inside his lip that may have been a factor in the extra crankiness and wake-ups one week. He loves brushing his teeth, but won't let me help very much.

Sleep:
He's falling asleep later these days. He will play and talk in his crib until 8:30 or even later if he napped late. His wake-up time is all over the place. If his sisters make a lot of noise and wake him up he's up at 6:45-7. If left on his own, he can sleep until 8 or 8:30. His afternoon nap is usually 2-2.5 hours, with a wake-up in the middle to cry for a few minutes.

Sizing:
He's 32" inches tall and around 28 pounds. He's in 18-24 month clothes and wearing size 6-7 shoes. His foot must be slimming down because he has a few pairs that aren't wide! He was in size 4 diapers but at the end of September we toyed with moving him up to size 5.

Preschool:
Daniel started preschool! He is in the wee 2's with Ms. Trish and Ms. Teresa. He is doing so awesome. He was so ready. The teachers love him because he adapted well and is easy for them. They had a lot of criers. Daniel had a few tears at drop off the first or second week but was easily engaged and then fine the rest of the day. I think he is just easy going and happy for them, which makes a difference when you have your hands full with cranky toddlers.

We also heard multiple comments about how smart he is. I was confused as to how you can tell with a bunch of toddlers. I think it's mostly because he understands routines and understands and follows their directions. For example, when asked to put their plates in the trash, Daniel carried his right over to the trash can. His teacher also commented that she was offering him different colored crayons and he shook his head no at multiple until she got to one he liked. At my blank look she added "That's great! It means he knows the difference. Other kids would just take whatever I handed them."

Other fun stuff:
We've been up to a lot these 2 months. Claire started school August 1st and preschool started 2 weeks later. So we had some time to fill for just the little 2. Jeff and I took them to a local botanic garden and the Tellus Science Museum. I also took them took the skating rink for toddler time. We visited Chattanooga with some of Jeff's family. Labor Day weekend we also did our annual apple picking trip and then had all the Schulzes over for swimming and grilling. In September Jeff and I took advantage of their Fridays off and took them to the zoo and the Atlanta Botanical garden. I took all the kids to Stone Mountain for RV camping with my family to learn the gender reveal for my brother and my sister-in-law. We are getting our first nephew!