23 Months
I feel like I haven't posted about Holden's development in a long time. So here goes.....
Holden is a funny little kid. He is talking like crazy, speaking in full sentences sometimes. He is interested in learning his colors right now and often tags a color label on something he's talking about. "Blue one, car." He gets the color right about 50% of the time. But sometimes he shocks us with his accuracy. The other night at dinner he kept saying, "Orange, orange". Trey and I were busy in the kitchen; we weren't paying our full attention to him. Trey said, "No, you're not eating an orange." Holden repeated "Orange, orange." When we looked up he was pointing to his plate which was in fact orange. Trey and I exchanged surprised looks.
He has memorized a lot of the books we have, and often reads along with me while I read him his bedtime stories. It's pretty cute and pretty surprising how much he remembers. He has memorized many of songs too. His favorites are: "Five Monkeys Jumping on the Bed", "Happy Birthday", "Jingle Bells", and most recently the "ABC Song". This weekend we were driving, and Holden requested the "ABC Song" by yelling, "ABC Song, ABC Song, ABC Song!" until we put it on. We were shocked when he sang along with the entire song. I turned to Trey and said, "Does our son know his alphabet?" We tried to see if it was a fluke and put the song on again, and he sang along again. I have to ask them at school if they've been practicing that song, because honestly I don't know how he's learned them.
He practices counting, but still get confused on the order. His teachers at school have taught him to count to five in Spanish, and he actually does a little better in Spanish than in English. He has started using numbers, especially two, to describe things. Last week when we were driving he saw a garbage truck, so he yelled "Garbage truck!" Another one was parked right in front of it, so he said, "Another one, Garbage truck!" Then he said, "Two garbage trucks!" Wow, used correctly in context.
My favorite thing is to ask Holden how old he is because he replies, "Three Months!" with such enthusiasm it melts my heart. We worked on replying "Two!" to that question but I'm not 100% sure it's stuck.
While his cuteness is overwhelming, I think there is a reason Terrible is attached to this age. He's doing some really obnoxious things right now like: throwing toys; spitting, yes spitting; pushing; scratching; and he's taken to biting again. Ugh! This past week when I picked him up from Childcare I asked him how his day was and we actually had a conversation that went like this:
Mommy: How was your day?
Holden: Bite Ella.
M: You bit Ella?!?!!!
H: Yeah. Finger. (Holding up his finger.)
M: You bit Ella on her finger?!!??!!!
H: Cicole (Nicole) ice.
M: You bit Ella on her finger, and Nicole put ice on it.
H: Yeahhhhhh.
M: Holden we don't bite. Biting hurts.
H: Sorry Ella.
M: What else happened today?
H: Push.
M: You pushed?!!??
At that time, Nicole came out and confirmed the whole story. I didn't know whether to be upset at him for biting and pushing, or proud that we just had a real conversation. He told me the whole thing all by himself.
It seems with a toddler, or at least ours, that their behavior is unpredictable. I guess we can find solace in knowing these behaviors will pass. For our sanity, we've started two-minute time-outs with the timer set for his undesirable behaviors. Luckily, they don't occur every day.
Holden has recently gone through sleeping trouble. (I can finally write about it now since we're back in a good spot.) During our winter break, he was waking up at least once a night, crying. The hard part was that it was SO HARD to get him to go back to sleep. Additionally, he was hard to put down to sleep, which used to be one the easiest routines. It was taking between 2-3 hours to get him to go to sleep. He fought naps, and some days refused to take one. Luckily, he fell right back into his normal sleeping habits when we started back to school. Threw me for a loop though.
He's also in a fearful stage. He's afraid of new situations which is understandable, but is even afraid of doing things he used to love. Like riding the motorcycle, for example. He doesn't want to get near it, but used to love it. When we were over at the Sammis', Trey wanted Holden to try riding their toy, electric quad. Holden REFUSED to sit on it, he only wanted to ride it side saddled. It was hard to get him off it, he loved it so much, but he would not sit on it. We went over again later in the week, and Trey helped him work through his fear. He finally sat down on it, and LOVED it. It was so much easier to steer and ride. Thank goodness for dads, I would have given up.
Holden plays with his toys with more independence now. He loves his trains, planes, puzzles, and blocks. He also, of course, still loves his outdoor toys the most - his bike and scooter.
I am enjoying his zest for life, and am getting better at relaxing through unpleasant stages. Parenting really is a journey, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. We are truly blessed!
Building.
Mastered the side saddle riding!
After helping Mommy make Daddy's birthday cake.
Holden is a funny little kid. He is talking like crazy, speaking in full sentences sometimes. He is interested in learning his colors right now and often tags a color label on something he's talking about. "Blue one, car." He gets the color right about 50% of the time. But sometimes he shocks us with his accuracy. The other night at dinner he kept saying, "Orange, orange". Trey and I were busy in the kitchen; we weren't paying our full attention to him. Trey said, "No, you're not eating an orange." Holden repeated "Orange, orange." When we looked up he was pointing to his plate which was in fact orange. Trey and I exchanged surprised looks.
He has memorized a lot of the books we have, and often reads along with me while I read him his bedtime stories. It's pretty cute and pretty surprising how much he remembers. He has memorized many of songs too. His favorites are: "Five Monkeys Jumping on the Bed", "Happy Birthday", "Jingle Bells", and most recently the "ABC Song". This weekend we were driving, and Holden requested the "ABC Song" by yelling, "ABC Song, ABC Song, ABC Song!" until we put it on. We were shocked when he sang along with the entire song. I turned to Trey and said, "Does our son know his alphabet?" We tried to see if it was a fluke and put the song on again, and he sang along again. I have to ask them at school if they've been practicing that song, because honestly I don't know how he's learned them.
He practices counting, but still get confused on the order. His teachers at school have taught him to count to five in Spanish, and he actually does a little better in Spanish than in English. He has started using numbers, especially two, to describe things. Last week when we were driving he saw a garbage truck, so he yelled "Garbage truck!" Another one was parked right in front of it, so he said, "Another one, Garbage truck!" Then he said, "Two garbage trucks!" Wow, used correctly in context.
My favorite thing is to ask Holden how old he is because he replies, "Three Months!" with such enthusiasm it melts my heart. We worked on replying "Two!" to that question but I'm not 100% sure it's stuck.
While his cuteness is overwhelming, I think there is a reason Terrible is attached to this age. He's doing some really obnoxious things right now like: throwing toys; spitting, yes spitting; pushing; scratching; and he's taken to biting again. Ugh! This past week when I picked him up from Childcare I asked him how his day was and we actually had a conversation that went like this:
Mommy: How was your day?
Holden: Bite Ella.
M: You bit Ella?!?!!!
H: Yeah. Finger. (Holding up his finger.)
M: You bit Ella on her finger?!!??!!!
H: Cicole (Nicole) ice.
M: You bit Ella on her finger, and Nicole put ice on it.
H: Yeahhhhhh.
M: Holden we don't bite. Biting hurts.
H: Sorry Ella.
M: What else happened today?
H: Push.
M: You pushed?!!??
At that time, Nicole came out and confirmed the whole story. I didn't know whether to be upset at him for biting and pushing, or proud that we just had a real conversation. He told me the whole thing all by himself.
It seems with a toddler, or at least ours, that their behavior is unpredictable. I guess we can find solace in knowing these behaviors will pass. For our sanity, we've started two-minute time-outs with the timer set for his undesirable behaviors. Luckily, they don't occur every day.
Holden has recently gone through sleeping trouble. (I can finally write about it now since we're back in a good spot.) During our winter break, he was waking up at least once a night, crying. The hard part was that it was SO HARD to get him to go back to sleep. Additionally, he was hard to put down to sleep, which used to be one the easiest routines. It was taking between 2-3 hours to get him to go to sleep. He fought naps, and some days refused to take one. Luckily, he fell right back into his normal sleeping habits when we started back to school. Threw me for a loop though.
He's also in a fearful stage. He's afraid of new situations which is understandable, but is even afraid of doing things he used to love. Like riding the motorcycle, for example. He doesn't want to get near it, but used to love it. When we were over at the Sammis', Trey wanted Holden to try riding their toy, electric quad. Holden REFUSED to sit on it, he only wanted to ride it side saddled. It was hard to get him off it, he loved it so much, but he would not sit on it. We went over again later in the week, and Trey helped him work through his fear. He finally sat down on it, and LOVED it. It was so much easier to steer and ride. Thank goodness for dads, I would have given up.
Holden plays with his toys with more independence now. He loves his trains, planes, puzzles, and blocks. He also, of course, still loves his outdoor toys the most - his bike and scooter.
I am enjoying his zest for life, and am getting better at relaxing through unpleasant stages. Parenting really is a journey, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. We are truly blessed!
Building.
Mastered the side saddle riding!
After helping Mommy make Daddy's birthday cake.
posted by Jenn at 12:41 PM
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