As always, Matt has added a little more height and weight to his frame, although he continues to lean out. We had to buy a belt for his 2T pants because most of them want to fall down or even off, especially when he's running around. As soon as shorts weather is over he'll be in 2T pants exclusively, and soon he'll be in 3T shirts. His size 7 shoes are fitting more comfortably these days, too. Thankfully he's not outgrowing clothes as quickly as he was this time last year!
Matt adds more words to his vocabulary seemingly every day. He is closer to putting together two and three word phrases on his own. He has come close to saying complete sentences ("Cow. Eat. Hay." "Goat. Eat. Grass."), and he is more often saying a couple of words together as a unit, although most of the time they're repeats of something we've said.
Matt now knows a number of basic shapes: circle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle, star, heart, and diamond. The differences between a circle and oval and between a square and rectangle are still a little tricky for him, though. He can count up to four but still defaults to two. He correctly identified the number 1 without prompting the other day and has shown some interest in a few words on the pages of books we've been reading.
Matt is still a big fan of "dig digs" and other vehicles. This month fire engines and especially trains pushed their way to the top of his favorites list. He has a couple of trains which are seeing heavy use. We are also making the rounds of any place with Brio-type trains and tracks. (I was going to give him his own as a birthday gift, but it may appear sooner!)
Over the past week or so Matt has shown even more interest in puzzles. He especially loves the chunky puzzles; he uses the pieces that are cars, trucks, etc., as extra toys. But now he has become interested in putting the pieces back into place, which he has improved at rapidly. (He still isn't ready for jigsaw type puzzles, however.)
Numbers and letters
Thankfully the library has a number of puzzles, too, to complement our large collection and keep him occupied.
We've started the toilet training process. We're reading books about using the potty to Matt, which he seems to be enjoying. He has been playing with and sitting on the potty, more and more without diapers on, but so far that's all he has done. We still have a long ways to go before he is fully potty trained.
