Monday, September 27, 2010

17 months old!

Dio has been out of sorts with a fever the past few days...poor guy. Zari got the same thing a few days ago, but she recovered quickly with lots of movies and juice (the only time we have juice is when someone is sick, so it's a real treat).

Dio is able to say more and more words. Today, for example, he said breast, apple, bread, banana, dirty, mama, papa, dog, meow, baby, juice, cup, pee, poop, burp, bird, and dark among others. His enunciation still has lots of room for improvement, but I can interpret what he's saying. One thing I love is that he pats his diaper and says "pee pee" or "poop" when he needs to go or has just gone. Very helpful. He also announces when any of us are using the bathroom! I guess bodily functions are quite fascinating to a little toddler.

He loves playing outside on the swings and slide and sandbox. Carrying sticks around, digging in the dirt, chasing squirrels, scooting on his vintage Radio Flyer push bike, watching bugs, and kicking walnuts are also favorite activities. I love watching him and Zari playing together. If they're occupied and the weather is nice and I don't have a pressing task like laundry or dinner, I sometimes have time just to sit and do nothing. What a luxury.

Everything is a competition for Zari right now. Is my cup fuller than Dio's? Is my bread bigger than Dio's? Did Dio eat slower than me? Did I run faster than Dio? I usually say "yes" to everything because it avoids meltdowns and temper tantrums. A few times I have held out and said "I don't know if it was bigger/faster/fuller and it doesn't matter." That drives Zari crazy and she won't stop asking until she gets an answer. I use that as a motivating tool for Zari. "Look, Dio is doing ___ faster than you!" That gets her into gear because SHE wants to be the biggest and the fastest right now. I hope that's not a bad strategy...

Dio loves to mimic what we're doing. One of Zari's jobs is unloading the clean silverware from the dishwasher, and Dio always wants to help. If Zari sees him "helping," she quickly takes over because it's HER job--even if two seconds previously she ignored my request to do the silverware. Dio loves to hold the dustpan when I'm sweeping. He even angles it just right and then carries it carefully to the garbage can and dumps it in. I help, of course. Another favorite is getting a cloth wipe, blowing his nose (actually he blows really loud through his mouth), and then putting the wipe in the diaper pail.

He's so much fun to have around. Like me, his default look is serious, almost somber. People often think he's sad or mopey when in fact he's having a blast. I tell people, "If he's not crying, he's happy!"

10 comments:

  1. Hi, I have 2 daughters and I have seen competition between them very early on. They are 3 and 5 years old now and there is still some frustration in the air. However, they also start to enjoy (especially the 5 years old one) how nice it can be to help the other one, without competition. Seems like maturity is helping them to gain some empathy towards the others. They also get to help me out with simple tasks and they love to take responsibilities. So great to see them growing :)

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  2. Please tell me that Dio is also able to string all of these words together.

    I can't wait until Dio learns the alphabet.

    Actually, I can't wait until Dio learns that A is for Apple, B is for Bug, and P is for Penis.

    I also hope Dio puts those two together in the middle of Church.

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  3. I would have to encourage you not to compare the kids or use "one is faster/better/smarter/whatever" as a motivating tool.

    My sisters and I still don't speak much---and my mom was endlessly comparing one to another. Fostering competition is a bad idea.

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  4. Yeah, I do worry about comparing them. But most of it is totally coming from Zari and from out of the blue! And what to do if she wants to know if she has more, is faster, etc...? She really can't handle not having an answer! But yes, I do think that I shouldn't encourage comparisons.

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  5. My daughter is almost 18 months and it is so cute how much she wants to help out. When I change clothes after work she immediately puts my shoes in the closet and clothes in the hamper without me saying anything. She even signs "help" when she sees strangers carrying boxes or bagging groceries. She wants to help everybody!

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  6. Ahhh, your all making my little one look bad. He is almost 19 months and only says a few words like thank you and papa. I am still trying to teach him mama. He thinks his chest is mama because I pat my chest and say mama. So of course he copies me thinking mama means chest! LOL.

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  7. Don't worry--anyone but me or my husband would have no idea of what he's saying! He definitely needs an interpreter for most of his words, still.

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  8. Mrs. Schaible, my daughter doesn't say a lot of words either, not even mama, and she only has a handful of signs. I think as long as you can see your child understands quite a lot there is no need to worry. He/she is probably just storing it all up. :)

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  9. About the cloth wipes. What kind of cloth are they? I have cloth wipes that are washcloths. They don't get washed with the diapers bc they left way too manypills and fuzzies in the velcro of my diapers.

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  10. I love the updates on your kiddos! Thanks for sharing:)

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