Today Matt is 16 months old.
This morning he didn't want to be left with the other kids in child watch when I went to a CPR class. Apparently his protests worked to get him promoted from the baby room to the big kid room, where he believes he belongs. Luckily after walking through some puddles and slushy snow, taking a nap, and spending some quiet time at home he forgot all about his ordeal.
Anyway, what is our talkative, opinionated, silly, active 16-month-old up to these days?
Well, not surprisingly he continues to grow and grow stronger. He has figured out how to climb onto the couch. So far he's only interested in doing that when one of us is sitting on the couch, as he often uses us to boost himself up into our laps. Matt is also working on jumping. He'll do the squatting motion, and then he raise himself onto his toes, but he hasn't quite yet put it all together to leave the ground. I'm looking forward to him burning off his energy when he does start hopping around - but not to turning around and seeing him jumping on the couch.
Matt has also made great improvements in his fine motor skills. Some of the changes are hard to describe, just that we've noticed his ability to grip and control things is better. He's comfortable feeding himself with spoon and fork alike, although he still likes to hold them upside down. He likes to play with play dough, kinetic sand, and water, moving toys or cookie cutters around in them or pushing them around with utensils.
Matt is improving his communication skills and increasing his range of sounds. He speaks with ever more conviction, believing that not only does he have a lot to say but also that he is saying it. He is beginning to make sound words, like "vroom" and "boom," the latter of which is his new favorite. We read a lot of books about the sounds animals, cars, etc., make, but for the most part he has been uninterested in repeating those sounds in favor of naming things instead. As for naming things, Matt now says "chicken" (for the meat) and "turkey" (for the bird). He has been inspired by the pair of turkeys that has been making almost daily visits to the bird feeder now that the snow is hard enough to walk on top of. This morning he seemed to be trying to say "dragon" and this evening he was working on "cup," so it looks like we'll soon be hearing many more words from him. Matt also will make the sign for "sleepy," at least when we're reading a story where a character goes to bed. Yet when he's sleepy he'll head over to the stairs and point upwards, then walk back to the living room to wave "bye-bye." Matt shakes his head for "no" now and sometimes will say "eh" with a quick nod for yes.
Body parts are a popular topic around here lately. In addition to belly button, nose, ear, and knee, which he learned last month, he can now identify mouth, teeth, tongue, arm, elbow, hand, leg, foot, and toes. He should be able to point out fingers soon.
Matt still loves animals, particularly furry ones (dogs and cats remain favorites), birds (he has branched out beyond ducks and is especially keen on turkeys, owls, and peacocks), and now amphibians and reptiles (namely newts, but sometimes also frogs and iguanas). Walking through even the grocery store with such an observant animal lover means a lot of cries of "Dog! Dog! Dog!" when passing the pet food aisle and more excited pointing and shouting when passing a display of cereal with animal mascots (especially a certain brand with a tiger). He still likes dinosaurs, but they've taken a back seat to extant creatures for the moment. One of his new favorite things is balloons, and he also looks for the moon and stars in books, too. He is starting to prepare for imaginative play: he'll spend a few moments playing doctor with his baby dolls (he'll listen to their heartbeat, give them shots, usually in the belly button, and then whack them a few times), for example. He has more interest in play food and kitchen supplies, too. And he's started holding a phone (real or pretend) or phone-shaped object (like the remote) up to his ear as if he's talking on the phone. (It'll be a while before he actually talks into a phone, real or play.)
Speaking of food, Matt may be starting to get a little pickier with food, as befits a toddler. Some days he'll eat heartily, and some days he'll nibble a few things. Usually he'll happily eat peas, berries (right now he's into blueberries), bananas, clementines, pasta, bread, meatballs, tofu, peanut butter, hummus, yogurt, yogurt-covered raisins, and goldfish crackers, but those are all subject to change. He has quite the sweet tooth, especially for cookies, which we try not to indulge too often.
Although Matt still loves dumping things out all over the floor, increasingly he shows more interest in picking them up and putting them away. He still loves to help with the laundry, both loading and/or unloading and pushing the buttons on the machines. Now he insists on helping me unload the dishwasher. I quickly grab anything he shouldn't touch, then wait as he hands me silverware and containers one by one to put away. Sometimes he'll even put them in the drawer himself. He has discovered light switches, although ours are tricky for his little fingers to do.
Books continue to be a major part of our daily routine. Matt picks out his own books, then lets us know where to sit and which ones to read again (and sometimes again and again). He can sit through slightly longer books, most notably his first Dr. Seuss (
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?). When we're reading books about animals he likes to point out the different animals and have us name them - or name them himself, if he can.
Matt has outgrown his 24-month onesies and may soon grow out of his 24-month shirts. Luckily we have plenty of long-sleeved shirts, sweaters, etc. in the next size, 2T, because we all thought he'd be that size closer to the fall. He's still wearing 24-month pants; as usual, his legs are the last to grow out of a size. Believe it or not, they're almost all loose in the waist on him because he has leaned out in the torso after several months of walking.
Matt seems to be working on his 2-year molars already. He just has those four teeth left, and then he'll be done with his baby teeth. I'm sure he's just as ready for the teething process to be over as we are.
