Growing a Little Schulze: Daniel

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Daniel is 2!

At Gibbs gardens with Mama while the girls
are away over spring break '17

Nov '16 - Aug '17

Daniel started preschool August 2017. He is in the wee 2's (late toddlers) class with Ms. Trish. He goes 2 mornings a week from 9-12. Then in January he stays until 1. Ellie's schedule is T/W/Th so they are both there on Wednesdays.

He enjoys going to school. He is very quiet there but plays well. His teacher tells us how smart he is because he understands directions and follows their routines very well. And during coloring if she offers to switch his crayon to a different color, he knows if she really gives him a different color or the same one. While some other kids don't notice if it's the same or not.

He's not as shy as Ellie but it still pretty quiet and cautious in an any new situation. At home, he confidently goes about his life. He is much more likely to try to get something for himself than the girls. He'll climb on the counter to retrieve a bowl or cereal bar for breakfast. He's content to play by himself and will do so happily while the girls are at school. Jeff and I joke that he would have been an excellent only child. He has a great love for vehicles of any kind. Trains and construction vehicles are a particular favorite. He always notices any 'ecka-baders' (excavators) on our way to school. When he went through that 'cranky and inconsolable after nap' phase, we discovered that YouTube videos of real trains would soothe him. Eventually he started requesting "watch trains" at all times of day so we had to phase it out again. His big sisters certainly have an influence on him too. He has been known to put on a princess dress or want clips and bows in his hair. He also loves books and music. He is often singing to himself. His favorites evolved over the year: - abcs, 'spider', 'eieiei-yo'. Wheels on the Bus was BIG for a long time before You Are Sunshine replaced it as the favorite.

He still loves to eat and can put a lot away. Breakfast is usually a multi course meal with cereal, cereal bar or oatmeal, with some combo of yogurt, eggs, cheese and fruit. He loves PBJ and isn't too crazy about deli sandwiches. He's no longer a big meat eater but loves beans.

He's a good sleeper. He dropped down to one nap around 14-15 months. He goes to bed with Ellie around 7:30 but may be awake for a while in his crib. He is content to play and sing to himself most of the time. Sometimes he's awake before 6:30 and other times he will sleep until 7:30. I try to keep him in bed until 7:15-7:30 so I can get Claire off to the bus without interruptions.

He had his first dentist appointment just before he turned 2. He wasn't thrilled with it but the dentist was a least able to look in his mouth during the crying.

When the girls aren't around he is a pretty content guy to hang out with. Jeff and I took him on a hike up to the dam and he did great. Jeff's parents to the girls on a trip over spring break and Daniel and I hung out here. We had a great trip to Gibb's gardens and he was happy to have the playroom all to himself.

By 2.5 he knows his colors and can rote count to 10.

Language:

Dere dey are

Can't!

Right hee-uh

Happy borthday

Cotton candy (Thomas look and find book) = candy pop

My blue, my pink

Funny anecdotes from Facebook:

You know your 2 year old is really a pain when he even tells Mickey Mouse "no want that!" Poor TV Mickey Mouse innocently choosing a mousekatool.

Daniel's crying in his crib well after I put him down so I go in to check in him. "What's the matter buddy? Do you need covers?"
As he scrambles to get up, blanket in hand, he says "need snuggle." So I pick him up and snuggle him beside the crib. He points his finger at the glider and says "in chair!"
Yes sir, tiny dictator! Let's go sit in the chair and snuggle. That's one demand I don't mind giving in to.

We are all in the car and the topic of the movie Cars 3 comes up.
Jeff says: Daniel do you like Lightning McQueen?
D: Yeah!
J: can you say ka-chow?
D: Chow!...
J: KA-chow
D: A chow! A chow, chow, chow!
J: How about 'I am speed!'
D: I am 'PEED! A chow, a chow!

Cue hilarious laughter

Driving by a construction site this morning....
Daniel: Look at him go!! Go eckabader! (Excavator)

Last night at dinner he had ‘mames in his doodles. (Edamame in his noodles). I LOVE that he calls them doodles.

Daniel has been singing a medley of songs as he plays this evening.
These include:
The Lord’s Prayer/Our Father...
Bad Company (by Five Finger Death Punch)
Twinkle, Twinkle little star
Itsy Bitsy Spider

Pictures:

Birthday at school

Forward facing for his birthday!

Breakfast smorgasbord
(scrambled eggs, cereal, blueberries, shredded cheese)

Botanic garden lights with Daddy

First dentist visit

Stone Mountain train with Paaps

Dressed for diner

Nap time!

Daddy and son fix it company

Hiking

Getting a ride up to the dam

Being silly

Forget the college football museum displays!
There are excavators out the window!

Cool dude at his sister's soccer game

Helping himself to Mama's breakfast

Train on a turntable at the museum in Savannah

Beach time at Tybee Island

Okefenokee swamp tour

Snow!

At Acworth beach

Getting his favorite "piggy" cereal bars (fig)

Dressed up for the dance party

Channeling his construction worker side

Silly Valentines

Rainy touch a truck event

Big tractor at touch a truck

Pat a cake, Baker's Man

Puzzles and excavators!

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

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!