July 30, 2022 by Stephanie

Walter-20 Months

Weight: He weighs 26 pounds. He seems heavier every time that I pick him up.

Health: He has had cold this last week. There was also a random night where he threw up on me about every 30 minutes for 3 hour span and would only sleep if I sat in a chair holding him. It’s nights like that that make you very thankful for your full night’s sleep routine.

Diet: George and Daph started being picky right after they turned two, but Wally is starting his refusal for foods now. I don’t know if it has been because he has been a little under the weather lately, but he has hardly wanted to eat anything. Eating at our house is an adventure with everyone’s special pallets. He loves all fruits and yogurt. One of his new favorite past-times is pounding his tray hard enough that everything flies off or he just flat out likes to dump it on the floor and then say uh-oh.

Clothes: He is in size 18-24 month clothes, size 6 in diapers, and size 8 shoes. He is starting to wear some 2T stuff. We have definitely moved beyond the onsie phase.

Sleeping: For the most part he does really well sleeping. He goes to bed around 7:30-8, and then wakes up usually around 8am. He has one nap mid-day. I still won’t allow anything in his bed, and he wont sleep without a zipadee zip. He seems to be doing better when he wakes up in the middle of the night. For the most part he has been self-soothing himself back. Through our vacation and then having him in our room while we had guests during the 4th, we have found that he does not like other people to sleep in the same room as him. He would do fine in the pack and play if he was in a separate room. But if he could see your bed, no sleep for him (or you).

Likes: He loves watching So You Think You Can Dance, and he tries to dance along. He loves his dancing Elmo, and hearing him say “Elmo” is so cute. He is obsessed with the water table, and he would stay out there all day pouring water all over himself. But interestingly enough he does not seem as fond of the pool. He likes the show Bluey, and I mean who doesn’t? He really loves when everyone comes home and will greet us all with smiles and hugs. He loves his siblings, and they can get the biggest laughs out of him. He loves drinking out of any water bottle he can find. He loved the zoo, and making all the animal noises.

Dislikes: He is not a fan of being woken up in the morning. Same dude, same.

Nicknames: Walt, Wally, Wally Bear, Wallington Bear, Wally Olly, Waller, Wallace, Wallaby, Butters, Sweet Bean, Stinkerdoodle, Waltie baby, Cutie baby, Sweetie baby, Baby guy, and Baby Walter.

Milestones: His language has really taken off. I have lost track of all the words, and I feel like he has a new one every day. My favorite new one is “George.” He can open the fridge on his own. He got his first haircut, and he did so amazing at the barber. He can sing “Twinkle Little Star,” “Skidamarink,” and the ABCs. He is really good at putting things away including putting dishes in the sink.

Quirks: If he is not holding something, he has to be feeling fabric between his fingers. He immediately will pinch your clothes if you pick him up. You cannot go into the pantry without him being your shadow, and he will try to snag a snack while he is in there. George has started doing a nasal spray every morning to help with allergies, and Wally tries to mimic him by putting a pretend baby bottle in his nostrils.

We parents are: in a really good place. We had the best vacation this year in Colorado Springs, and it was so fun to explore and just be with each other. Then we got to celebrate the 4th of July, which is a favorite at our house. There is nothing like it. We are both doing really great at work. There are some big things coming up at work, and I am excited to see where things end up. I am starting my 9th year at CC, and it will be my 7th year teaching there. How crazy is that?

Big kids are: doing pretty good. They just ended summer school last week, so we are back on summer mode here. I still can’t believe that we have a 2nd grader and a kindergartner! George did so amazing in class, but on the first day he said “2nd grade is way more strict than 1st.” He just really clicked with things this last month, so hopefully that is indicative of how the next year will go. His teacher is a CC alum, so that was fun to connect with her in that way. We did go through a full allergy test this past month, and we learned that he is mostly affected by the barometric pressure than what you presume to be allergic reactions. So that was really informative, and hopefully with this new regimen, we will be able to keep him from getting sick as often. George loves hard, and we have had to work with him lately on being gently even though it seems like Wally can handle more horseplay. George often takes it a little too far energy wise. But Wally is in awe of George, so he usually doesn’t mind. He loves to cuddle with George when they watch TV together. Daphne is obsessed with Wally. Wally had a hard time when she was in school for the full day. He would try looking for her during the day. They love playing together, and Wally is always be in her space. He is definitely trying more and more to be one of the big kids.

Daisy is: doing great. Wally is smitten with her. He hugs her and pets her all the time. And he loves to feed her off his plate.

In case you are curious, here is George at twenty months and Daphne at twenty months.

I knew I loved you before I met you little dude.

January 19, 2019 by Stephanie

Daphne-20 Months

Weight: 26 lbs. She is also just a few inches short of 3 ft tall!

Health: These past two months have been hard health wise. She got the Christmas crud with the rest of us. Her nose is basically running non-stop. She just has all the respiratory things.

Diet: She is a temperamental eater now. Who knows what she is going to like from day to day. She will eat oatmeal, bananas, blueberries, and blackberries without question. Meats are different every day. She will usually eat rice and potatoes. She has lost a liking to most vegetables, but usually we can get her to eat it in rice. She loves the yogurt melts and veggie/fruit packets. However when she is hungry you better get food in front of her fast. She has no patience for our slowness.

Clothes: She is comfortable in size 18 clothes. She is in size 5 shoes and size 6 diapers.

Sleeping: We have been putting her to bed around 7:30/8 still, and she generally stays asleep through the night until I wake her up before work at 7. On the weekends, she will stay asleep almost until 9am. Generally she does not have a nap anymore in the morning. She is still a great sleeper.

Likes: She loves her bunnies. Both kids had matching little stuffed bunnies in their Easter basket last year, and they have become her most prized possessions. She loves Elmo and Sesame Street. She loves to read, her favorites this month being any Elmo book, God Knows You, and Ladybug Girl books. She adores George, and she is always following him around and getting in his business. She loves Legos of any kind, even the small ones. We haven’t had any issues with her trying to put them in her mouth. She loves to collect all the people and give them different heads and hats. She loves to draw, and this is our go-to activity to keep her entertained. She still loves shoes and picking out her bows every day. She loves blankets, and you will often see her dragging one around. When Tom gets home, she skips to follow him and help him get out of his uniform. She just gets so giddy to be with her daddy after work. It is one of the most adorable things. She loved the snow storm we had last week! She love music and dances whenever she hears it. She loves to feed the dog, and she gets mad at you when you tell her that the bowl is full and her job is done.

Dislikes: George taking things from her. Not being involved with whatever George is doing. Having to stop coloring. Not being able to go outside. When you take the cheese away from her.

Milestones: She knows all of her body parts. We put her in pig-tails for the first time, so that hair is growing finally! She has started using stairs without crawling. She and George have actually started playing together-like real play. She signs more and please-even though her more is more like she is doing chicken wings.

Nicknames: Daphie, Sisterbear, Sisterbean, Sis, and Daphie Girl. The two most common are still Daph and Sister.

Quirks: She likes to stuff her stuffed animals into her Halo Sleepsack while she is in it. She walks on her tippy-toes. When it is time for TV, she plops herself up on the couch and grabs a blanket to cover herself up. She isn’t really talking much. Our PAT and pediatrician are starting to get concerned, but looking back at George’s update she has about the same amount of words. She does make all kinds of animal noises (tiger being her favorite) and she sings all the time. The only reason they have not recommended her to be screened yet is because she is so aware in other areas. Both PAT and our PED agree that her verbal comprehension and spatial awareness is far above most kids her age, so we are just monitoring the verbal for now. (I think the fact that George pretty much talks non-stop has something to do with it too.)

We parents are: not too bad. We got over the hump of the busy holidays. We got snowed in last week, and possibly will again this week. It has been nice to just rest and stay in our house.

George is: a wild child, but he is doing better than our last update. We started doing a reward system where he can earn/lose points towards his TV time. There is a lot of patience learning that is going on in our house, and every one is still super stubborn. He is warming up to Daphne more. They are playing more and he tries to engage with her more positively now than he has in the past few months. He has started trying to sing her songs every night with this ukulele he got at Christmas. It is really sweet. He has also started saying the qualifier “I love you, but…” and then tries to ask for something or tries to tell us what to do. While he can be frustrating, he does make me laugh until my belly hurts every day. We also recently started a new thing at bed where George reads me a book. He does a great job retelling the stories off memory or by the pictures. It has come to be my favorite part of the day when he insists on reading to me.

The dogs are: little poops. I can only assume it is Grace, but one of them keeps pooping in the house over night no matter how late we stay up and let them out. It is really obnoxious. Other than that they are doing alright. They loved the snow, which is always fun to see them react to. They are pretty good with Daph, and she loves them right back.

Daphie, you continue to be a dream. Something about 20 months makes me feel like I am losing my baby though. I will hold on to you as long as you let me.

Here is George at 20 months.

April 26, 2016 by Stephanie

George-20 Months

George is 20 months old today. We are only four short months away from not telling his age in months. It was really hard to do this update, because I know I am missing things or I put too much in areas. I want to remember every detail, but he is changing and growing so quickly it is hard to keep up just like his hair!

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Weight: 28 lbs. I get a workout every time I lift him.

Health: The last two months have been a roller coaster of a time with his health. We spent a week in the PICU in the beginning of March. Last week we had to go to Urgent Care because he was having a hard time breathing again, and we found that he has a double ear infection. We go back in a couple weeks to see if tubes are going to be necessary. My mom thinks that he is teething after seeing him at Easter. The only ones left are the back 2 year molars, so yippee.

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Diet: He is still big on meats and carbs. He loves raisins, clementines, yogurt, and chicken nuggets. He is sitting at the table with just a booster seat now, and his utensil usage is getting really good. There are a few things I still don’t trust him with, and they are saved for the nights we do a bath. We started making him smoothies every day to get his veggies in. He loves spinach and blueberry smoothies, but wont eat either when it’s not in a smoothie. I bought these which saves us so much money with not buying as many pre-made packets, and they work great for these smoothies. He pretty much eats mostly what we eat, besides the veggies.

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Clothes: 18 month clothes are mostly too small, so he is swimming in 2T clothes since we can’t find many 18-24 month items. Little boys in shorts has got to be the cutest thing. He is still in size 5 diapers, and moved to a size 6 shoe.

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Sleeping: He sleeps at night from 8pm-about 6:30 am. He sleeps through the night pretty regularly still. He goes down really easy at night, but naps are a different story. He fights naps and will scream and play instead of taking the nap. He eventually wears himself out and konks out. Once he does take a nap, he usually sleeps for 2-3 hours.

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Likes: He loves to explore. He is so very curious. Of course he wants to be everywhere he isn’t supposed to be. He is obsessed with legos and anything with wheels. He loves dancing. The kid bops around anytime music is on. He loves to sing to worship music. We have music on A LOT around George, but he seems to sing only when we are in church or when I have K-Love on. No joke. (He also likes to talk all through church…) He is OBSESSED with being outside and going to his daddy’s workshop. He loves exploring all the tools Tom has (like the broken chainsaw here). He still loves to play with scarves and play dress up with them. He loves climbing, and his current favorite spot is in the middle of the kitchen table. I am honestly surprised he hasn’t climbed out of his crib yet. We are holding on to that as long as we can! (Although at the sitter’s, he did climb into his crib then freaked out when he couldn’t get back out.)

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Dislikes: He hates mornings right now. He throws the largest tantrums when he gets up because he is hungry. He is not happy when we tell him no and try to keep him from doing dangerous things. He is a sassy pants when he doesn’t get to do what he wants right then. He isn’t a fan of the lawn mower. He still isn’t a fan of veggies unless it is in the smoothie state. He does not like to sit still for photos anymore. He is always busy and on to the next thing.

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Milestones: Gosh he talks a lot. Most of it is unrecognizable, but he is a chatty little guy. His new words are ugh oh, more, bye bye, and baby (babee). Others have heard him say thanks and George, but Tom and I haven’t been so lucky to hear those. He does sign “more”, but I also think that he believes it also means please. We have had to re-do operation-take away-pacy due to the hospital stay, but I think we are on our way out. He gets it maybe once a week now when he is having a really hard time and neither of us have the patience to deal with the tantrum. George is so smart. He is really good with spatial awareness. It is insane what he is able to do with stacking and putting things into tiny holes. He is really into the concepts of how things fit together and the mechanics of it all. He knows how to detach/reattach things and how to turn things on. His brain is just on fire right now with absorbing information and then putting it into practice. He can walk from the door to the car now without me having to hold him. He even knows which door is his door. He cleans up his own messes now. It is ridiculously cute to see him dab his face to get it clean. Big milestone: we started potty training this past weekend! We weren’t really going to push this until he turned 2, but he has been telling us when he needs to pee for the past couple weeks. So we figured we could at least try and see what happens. He has gone pee twice in the actual potty since we started two days ago. I never thought I would be so excited about bodily functions! Hopefully it means the less I will have to deal with said bodily functions down the road.

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Quirks: My favorite quirk of his is that when you ask for a kiss he gives you his forehead for you to kiss. It is so stinking cute. He points to the things that he wants in a staccato manner. When he hugs he has to put his arms under your arm pits. He really does want to help you do things, so this is generally how I get him out of tantrums. Giving him a “project” to do makes him feel independent and usually stops him from crying. He loves to help carry his bag (aka drag it), put away dishes, put away toys, and load laundry into the machines and turn on those machines. When he is done with his food plates/cups, he runs and throws them in the sink like he is doing a slam dunk. This weekend we were building borders around our trees, and he would pick up rocks and put them (sort of) into place. I hope that he always wants to be a helper. He is very silly, and his personality is starting to shine as a big goof. He loves to make us and himself laugh. If he doesn’t feel like he is getting your attention, he will climb in your lap and bear hug you around the neck. I love it.

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Nicknames: Stink, Booger, Gdubs, Gman, Little man, Georgie, Georgieman, and Boogs.

We parents are: doing really good. We just got out of the worst shift so we are getting a lot more time as a family. We feel like we are finally in a good groove as a family unit. We have been working on the yard a lot lately which makes us really happy to see things coming together the way that we want. Plus it’s always nice to get outside for a little bit every day.

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The dogs are: loving this weather. Crosby is basically an outside dog now. He goes out when we wake up and doesn’t come back in really until we go to sleep. Grace likes the comfort of the couch a little too much to give it up all day. They love George, and they are so good with him. They let him beat them up since he is very aggressive with his petting, and he tries to ride them. George tries to give them their food and hands them their toys in all fairness.

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