Chatty, Fun Loving Toddler Turns 15 Months and other Updates

 

This guy - yes, this guy is 15 months old! My oh my! He is soo fun, even if he gets into trouble. He is curious and loves life. I love his excitement about even the littlest of things. But to him, they aren't little. For instance, just saying the word "Do you want to get your shoes on?" And he instantly squeals with delight "AH SI!" Which means Outside. He loves to go outside.

 

He is a strong willed boy too! He likes to do what he likes to do, and if you try to veer away from the norm, well, he will tell you about it. I always knew I would have a stubborn child like me! LOL! But, he is doing better about listening to us say "No." He doesn't always listen, but there are times he does, and so that is definite progress!

 

He is getting better about playing with toys on his own if we are busy with chores or making dinner, etc. So that's encouraging too. And many times, we will just find him sitting by himself "reading" a story.

 

We are learning some new stuff as well! He "dances" on his own now. He has this little march, two-step dance thing he does. Haha! It's so cute! He also has a recent obsession with trying to walk backwards. And even though we know he loves music and when Mommy sings songs to him, his interest in music and songs has deepened even more. Sometimes when I hug him or hold him, he sounds like he is trying to sing to me too. Or we are in the car, and I will hear him sound like he is trying to sing a song. I love it!

 

Caleb has been working on steps more and more to the point that he can walk up our steps outside our home by himself. He grabs the railing and does a great job going up the steps! We are working on going down steps as well, but not without holding Mommy or Daddy's hand. However, our stubborn boy thinks he can do it on his own sometimes, and last week, the boy decided to try going down a step when I thought he was doing something else, and he went down into some gravel. Poor kiddo. I love his independence and I love how he wants to do things for himself, but it is so hard to see him fall. And you'd think that would stop him from trying it again, but he is fearless.

 

Some new words he says (or improvements on words) since last month:

• Cacker for Cracker (this is definitely and improvement - it used to be Cack)
• Beal for belly
• Buba for bye-bye (when he chooses to say it)
• peee for puppy (this is when we see a puppy on a story)
• STA! for Stop! (this is a pretty recent thing where if he doesn't like something or if he hears me say stop, he says STA! very emphatically. In fact, I think I even heard him the other day say this to a little girl who got into a car toy he got out of (because it was her turn). LOL. He is definitely going to learn sharing.
• Go (not very often does he say this, but when I say let's go, he has said Go)
• Lite (I know I heard him say this for light before. Just once, but he did say it)
• Goke (yogurt - this is an improvement)
• Wawa for water. Not very often does he say this, but he has said it a few times now.
• Ah for up. This is when he wants us to pick him up for really anything. If he doesn't want to walk (which isn't often) or when he wants us to show him pictures on the walls or turn off the light.

Now even though he can't say these next words, he knows what they are when he sees them and can point to them when we go for a walk, etc. So even though he isn't actually saying the word, he knows what they are:

• moon (Every evening we go for a walk, and he always points to the moon. What's cool is that he recognizes the moon from stories he reads too. So when I say where is the moon when we are outside, he points right to the moon)
• He doesn't say the word light very often, but he knows what it is. He points right to a light when I ask where is the light. Or if I ask him to turn off the light, with me lifting him up, he knows that when he turns off the switch, a light goes out. So it's really cool to see him recognize that cause and effect.
• He knows what a penguin is - you'd think so with all the penguins he has in his room! LOL! But even though he can't really say that word, he knows what they are.
• He knows trees and points to them all the time when I say "where is the tree." He knows trees very well because we go outside so often.
• He knows the word shoes and knows that when we say Let's get your shoes on, he sits down beside me so I can put them on. He also knows shoes on means going outside too.

He is also able to climb up and down our couches all by himself. He still scares us by sometimes being to close to the end when he sits or tries to stand up, but he does it very well.

He definitely keeps us on our toes and is truly learning every single day. I love it! I love to see the wheels turning in his brain when he figures things out. Like for instance, when he said Cacker because we were trying to get him to say the word better than just cack, and he did it, we were all "YAY Caleb," and then he lifted his hands up in the air with excitement. He was even proud of himself too!

And in Todd updates - we are on our last, tiny scab on his elbow. Then no more open wounds! Woohoo! He will still be on pill antibiotics for the next couple of months, but this is great! hoping and praying that it stays that way. It's been 9 1/2 months since his accident, and we are ready for this all to be done!

So I leave you with a cute photo of my two guys! And also a cute photo of me and my little man! So grateful for both of these guys!