Peter is 18 months old, and ready to take on the world! (but the helmet and bike belong to a friend, he's just testing them out)
Peter is 1 1/2! And he is such a fun boy to have around. He has developed a goofy personality, a healthy appetite, and a daredevil mentality. In this update I’ll try to give some “snapshots” into his daily routine.
- Height/Weight – He’s still tall and skinny: 32 3/4″ tall (65-70th%), 23 lbs. (15th%), just like his brother has always been
- Big Brother – Peter loves big brother Benjamin! He follows him around and imitates everything he does. If Benjamin wants to swing at the park, so does he. If Benjamin wants to eat some cheese at lunch, so does he. If Benjamin wants to read a book before nap… You get the idea. When Benjamin is being sweet, this is a nice trend; when Benjamin is being not so nice, well, we are working on that!
- Books – Peter has recently developed a love for books. I sometimes walk past his room to discover him sitting in the glider “reading” to himself. If I sit down to read one book to the boys, he soon brings me three more. His favorite book, hands down, is “Hands, Hands, Fingers, Thumb.” It was one of my favorites growing up, so I always have fun reading it to them! Peter hasn’t mastered the annunciation of “dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum,” so as he drums the book with his fingers, he says “ba ba ba ba.” Too cute. Benjamin has a book called “Press Here” that gives the child instructions to manipulate dots on the page (press the yellow dots, shake the book to make the dots line up, blow the red dots off the page…). Peter has watched Benjamin do these tasks so many times that he enjoys helping.
- Food – The boy loves to eat! The second I mention anything about breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack, he darts to his booster seat, climbs up, and puts the tray on. We are amazed that he often eats more food than Benjamin. Some of his favorites: oatmeal, avocado, cheese, smoothies, goldfish, broccoli, cauliflower, blueberries, and raspberries. I continued giving him the baby food pouches of pureed fruit and veggie combinations until about a month ago. I’ve stopped buying them in bulk, but he still enjoys one as a snack now and then. Meal times are so much easier (if messier!) now that he is eating table food and feeding himself. He is so proud of himself when he successfully delivers a bite to his mouth with a spoon – keeps him entertained for a long time!’
Gobbling up some homemade red beans and rice
- Naps – He is almost ready to give up his morning nap. In fact, he only takes it about once or twice a week now (usually because I need to get something done around the house). It’s more convenient for our schedule if he doesn’t take the morning nap, because it gives me time to run an errand and take the boys to the park before lunch. On the days that he doesn’t get the morning nap now, he usually takes a 15 minute cat nap in the car when we are on our way home from somewhere before lunch. In the afternoon, he and Benjamin both still go to sleep around 1:30, and Peter usually sleeps about two hours, sometimes 2 1/2
Taking a quick nap in the car
- Bedtime – When I put Peter to bed, I sing him the same “I Love You” lullabye that I sang to Benjamin when he was a baby/toddler. When he’s ready for bed, he will start “singing” the song to me to let me know it’s time. He still goes to sleep very easily, and I’m happy to report that he still sleeps through the night almost all the time. On the rare night that he does wake up, all I have to do now is go in, pick him up, give him a kiss, and cover him back up. Back to sleep he goes – he just wants the reassurance that I’m nearby. He usually sleeps from about 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. now, and sometimes as late as 7:45 a.m.
- Mischief Maker – Peter isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. He’s starting to show glimpses of the dreaded terrible twos. The defiance, the purposeful trouble making, the taking delight in destruction. He received his first real spanking this week after pouring Chloe’s water out on the kitchen floor for the umpteenth time. He knows it’s wrong, but he kept doing it anyway – until the spanking. He hasn’t done it since! At least he stopped snacking on her food. Yuck! He also likes to throw his food on the floor when he gets tired of eating it. He has been known to hit me in the face when I’m taking him away from something he wanted to keep doing. This morning he got his hands on our address stamper, climbed up on my desk, and proceeded to stamp our address onto the keyboard of my laptop. Thankfully it cleaned right off – but I have to keep a close eye on him these days! Despite these examples, he often does listen and obey when I tell him to stop doing something or ask him to help me with something (bring me your shoes, go find your sippy cup, give Benjamin that toy…)
Peter loves hanging out with Benjamin
- At the park – He loves swinging and sliding, and exploring in general, at the park. He points out balls and dogs, and airplanes flying overhead. He always wants to sit at a picnic table to eat his snack. And he boldly joins in playing with other kids, as long as their toys or games seem fun.]
- In the yard – He loves to be outside. Sometimes he investigates the plants or picks up rocks. Other times he pushes around his mower or wheelbarrow. We also have a little basketball goal that he likes to play with. Often when I’m making dinner he’ll just wander in and out with various toys and entertain himself. He and Benjamin get along pretty well outside, too.
- In the house – He likes playing with Play-do, cars, puzzles, books, etc. He could entertain himself with climbing all day – the sofas, the end tables, the dining chairs and table. Sometimes he pulls plastic cups/bowls out of the kitchen drawers and proceeds to stack them up or put them back in the drawer. And I am most amused lately by his washcloth game. He will take one or two washcloths and move them from place to place on the floor, stare at them a few seconds, then move them again. He seems to have some sort of strategy – I don’t know what it is, but sometimes he will do this for 15 minutes at a time! He also loves to dance any time he hears music – he really enjoyed Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime show.
- Vocabulary – Peter understands a lot of what we say, and he’s starting to say more words now. Some words in his daily vocabulary: all done, more, water, milk, shoe, ball, dog, no, book, daddy, mama, really, yeah.
Relaxing on the sofa with a good book!
- Really/yeah – The “really/yeah” game is one of his most recent goofy things. Usually he does it when I’m dressing him or changing his diaper. He tilts his head to the side when I say something, and he asks,”Really?” (sounds more like reeaary?). Then he babbles, and I say “really?” to him, to which he replies, “yeah, yeah.” I love listening to him babble.
We ate lunch at the mall food court with Brad one day. The boys enjoyed seeing Daddy during the work day!
So that’s a look at my 1 1/2 year old. Stay tuned in a few weeks for a long overdue update on my firstborn, Benjamin, who will be turning four on March 1!
