22 Months Old

Our little guy is 22 months old today! 2 more months till the big TWO years old! We are trying to get Daniel to say he's 2 when we ask how old he is (not to jump the gun, but hey, the day will be here before we know it and it'd be cool if he could do it!)...to no avail at this point. We have time...and as with everything else, Daniel will do it when he's ready. That's okay by me.

So here's today's Mickey picture. Daniel smiled all on his own, on command for the first time ever! It's a goofy smile, but still adorable. And I love the story behind it- that I just sat him down next to Mickey and said "smile" and he did! No goofy tricks needed. That lasted about a couple tries so it's a good thing I got a good one when I did.

Daniel's biggest development this month has been his pretending, his creativity and imagination. It is so amazing to watch him play and make things up. He pretends to weed, clean, eat, and yesterday he even pretended to shop. This "shopping" is new. He found a shopping bag in our bedroom, put an empty bottle he also found in it, took me into our bathroom, closed the door (we were now in the store), walked over to the tub faucet and proceeded to put the bottle up next to it and say "beep" (just like beep from the cash registers at the stores; Daniel also "beeps" credit cards). Then he put the bottle in the bag and out we went to show the "baby" in the mirror what he bought. Daniel "shopped" several times, and if I'd had the camera, I'd have taken pictures, but just the memory of his whole process of pretending to shop will be simply wonderful. I loved being able to witness Daniel's spontaneous, independent pretending. None of this was facilitated by me at all! Way to go, Daniel!

Daniel's other BIG development this month is that he now says many two-word phrases. This is also awesome! He says a new phrase almost everyday now. Sand park, hi dada, mama sit, mow-mow done, Gi out (for Gizmo- our neighbor's dog- to come outside), carry please, dada come, and so on. We also still hear new words and improvements on "old" words (second syllables and ending sounds especially) all the time, too.

Daniel is also much more independent lately. He is really starting to want to do things himself. He goes up and down the stairs holding onto the railing himself. He likes to read before bedtime in his chair by himself. (I miss the lapsitting story times with my baby!) He likes to push his push-car by himself and will push our hands away if we try to help. Yep, his independent streak is kicking in. But in a good way so far!

He's getting so much stronger and skilled at doing so many activities, hence the independent streak. I see this a lot at the park- Daniel can go up and down the stairs there much better now. He loves to hang on the bars there, too. Daniel is also getting better at jumping every day- that's fun to watch.

Daniel is also really aware of the concept of silliness. He knows how to be silly and recognizes silliness in things he sees and in things people do. It's cute to see his expression- he thinks about it, scrunches up his nose, says "no" in this cute way, and will even let out a laugh or two along with a big smile. Love it. It's so much fun to be silly, too.

On the opposite end of the silly spectrum, Daniel also recognizes when someone isn't happy (mostly other babies/kids, and last week- even our cats, when they had to go in the cage to go the vet). He will scrunch up his nose with a worried/sad expression on his face. Again, you can see him thinking, listening and coming to the conclusion that someone is not happy. He also kisses "oww"s (ouchies), too- his own and ours. This is so cute.

Daniel is also going through an "ewww" phase. He points out all messes with a big "ewww" followed by attempts to clean whatever is "ewww". He also does not like to have messy hands- at all! He is his mommy's child! We were at Wiggles & Giggles last week and they had cars in tubs of paint out on the table to drive on paper "roads" for the craft. I usually steer him clear of paint- but I was talking to another parent and didn't even see them set up the paint. Daniel immediately came up to me saying "eww, eww, eww" and when I looked down at him- his fingers were covered in purple paint, which we promptly cleaned. I will say, however, this "eww" phase isn't stopping him from getting messy (which is good- he needs these experiences)- it just makes him want to be cleaned immediately. Too funny. I'm not complaining! He loves to clean and that's great! Daniel is doing this cleaning all on his own, too- this is not prompted by me. (I love that he has picked this up on his own and you can bet we're praising it like crazy!) He will often clean up before he moves on to another activity, or mostly, to a different part of the house. How awesome is that!

Other random bits:

Daniel recognizes our house now. We ask him is this our house, no, is this our house, no, and he will point to our house when we are close to it. And if we're near Gizmo's house (our neighbor's dog), he will say, "Gi!" while pointing to Gizmo's house.

Daniel hates baths and showers lately. Sigh. What's a mother to do?

All of Daniel's canine teeth are finally "in", although in different stages, with that last bottom one still pushing through. Daniel did great with the teething, as always. I think the two 3 1/2 hour naps (yes, you read that right!) he took a couple weeks ago helped him teethe and possible grow (yes, he looks a tad taller again!).

Lastly, Daniel LOVES to run!!! He's got more energy than anyone I know! Whew!