This year I vowed that I would utilize the blog more and more to document things in MJ's life, so you might start seeing more mommy ramblings just simply about things he's doing or places we've been. This is purely for my own documentation and with hopes that one day MJ will be able to read and look back on this time period. I've decided that I would like to start printing the blog out...maybe turn each year into a book and keep it as a scrapbook of sorts. I've found a few different website options that will help me do this. So, in case the blog seems more and more active and perhaps more boring to the readers, please forgive me! I guess I'm just a proud mama in love with my boy!
It feels like MJ has hit a big of a growth spurt with the beginning of the new year; not so much in physical growth as in developmental. So many cute things, and some not so cute, lately that I want to be sure to remember:
MJ still likes to practice identifying different parts of his body. He especially loves to do this when applause is included. :) His newest parts we've been working on are his knee, elbow, and tushy.
Books continue to be a favorite. Mat bough him a couple Seek n Find type books for Christmas. I thought they were going to be way too advanced for him, but I was pleasantly surprised when after just a week of practicing he had the books down pat! The book will small pictures of items along the left hand side of the page and then within the large picture he has to point and identify those things. So, for example MJ might be asked to point to the clock, shoes, firetruck, etc. Since he has a pretty limited oral vocabulary I was so surprised that he knew what so many of these items were. Apparently he understands WAY more than I had anticipated!
He is starting to be a bit more verbal. We have had some concerns about his lack of spoken words, but decided to hold off on sharing our concerns until his 2 year appointment. But, given the number of words he's begun saying in the last couple weeks I have a feeling we might be on a roll! His newest and probably favorite word is "cookie!" He says it with a big smile on his face and thinks things like crackers and muffins are also cookies, too. He's also been saying "baby" quite a bit and likes to look at pictures of himself and say it over and over again. Other words often coming out of his mouth now are hot, hat, turtle, and car. He still doesn't say the words "hi" or "bye-bye" but likes to wave at everyone wherever we go. He always manages to flirt with someone at a restaurant or the grocery store. He even called a man with a long beard at a restaurant the other night Santa. Oops! :)
MJ received a puzzle from Uncle Jeff for Christmas. This puzzle is of a barn and when you open the little doors there are magnetic puzzle pieces of the typical farm animals. He also received a Little People Barn from Mema and Papa for Christmas that has the Little People farm animals inside. One night as MJ was playing I was curious what he was doing. He had pulled the puzzle pieces out of the farm puzzle and the animals out of the barn and was matching them all up. So he had the magnetic cow puzzle piece paired with the Little People cow and so on. It's certainly never anything Mat or I had tried to practice with him and this pairing of matches skill amazed me and of course got him lots of praise.
MJ is now sleeping without his binky; more on this to come later! We've been binky free for four days!
Our little guy has quite an arm lately! He likes to throw, throw, and throw some more. I never realized what tough rule/concept this was to teach. It's hard to simply say "don't throw" because we want him to learn to throw balls and some of his other toys, but there are so many exceptions to this rule. Almost all of his time-outs are now centered around throwing as we are trying to enforce the do's and don'ts. Throwing food (does this ever end??) and throwing things at people or Bubba are big no-no's, but yet we try to explain that you can throw toys for Bubby to fetch or throw something to someone that they can catch. It's confusing for one little toddler!
MJ really likes to mimic daily activities like brushing his hair, brushing his teeth, and even doing makeup occasionally (sorry Dada). :) I always sit on the floor in front of a mirror to put on my make up before I go to work and MJ likes to plop down next to me and hand me what I need and even pretend to do his own sometimes. He likes to climb up on top of the toilet and open up Daddy's storage cabinet and get out Daddy's brush and toothbrush and pretend with them. He knows exactly which drawer my hairbrush is in too and goes to it daily. He also likes to mimic us on the phone. He'll grab our cell phone any chance he can get and pretend to be talking. He even uses his hands and makes gestures as he's talking. Hmmm...do I really do that?!? lol He likes to pretend text too, of course!
He is getting better and better with using a fork and spoon and we are trying to be better about giving him more opportunities to use one. He's even begun feeding himself soup thicker soups with a spoon by himself. Sometimes I just have to let go of my dislike of messiness and let him go at it! He continues to love blueberries and eats them at least once a day. Some other faves include waffles, sweet potato fries, cottage cheese, hummus, chicken, crackers, pretzels, eggs, grilled cheese, soup, cookies, and of course any kind of dip! He creates the strangest combinations like dipping blueberries in hummus or pasta in ranch, but at many times I'll take what I can get just to get some nutritious foods in him one way or another. Veggies are definitely on his list of dislike. With the exception of corn and sweet potato fries you can pretty much forget it. If it's green, it's getting thrown on the floor!
He continues to love to give hugs, kisses, and knuckles too! Man, how I wish he would NEVER outgrow that phase!
His 2nd birthday is rapidly approaching and it's hard to believe my sweet little boy will soon be two. While I love looking back at his baby pictures and reflecting on the past, I am so excited about his future too. Watching him begin to talk and gain more social skills makes me so proud. Experiencing the smallest of things through his wide eyes fills my heart with joy and I can only imagine that it will continue to get better and better.
