Toddler learning

One of Isabella's new loves is time.  "Ok, I will go but not for three minutes." "Ok daddy, but in 30 minutes."  She knows the names for time, but she doesn't understand what time is relative to her everyday life, of course, but we are working on it.  I try to set a timer when she says something like that and I try to assign times to certain things like until naptimes that way she can start to grasp the time that she is saying.  This is the kind of stuff that I love about having children that are this age.  Yes, they repeat everything that you say, and yes, that is definitely frustrating when you have a slip and accidentally utter a four letter word that you wish that your children would never repeat ever.  But outside of that, they are constantly amazing you with new and exciting things that you realize that they never knew. 

I am very lucky that a large majority of the people in our family realize the importance of education and learning and are constantly helping us grow our children.  From their aunts quizzing them on colors and shapes of toys while they play, to drawing letters on this drawing toy that we have, to Grace reading books to them, to my mother constantly teaching them new and exciting things.  This, I think, has helped foster their interest in learning.  Plus, as controversial of an issue as this is, we do not limit 'screen-time' in our family.  We don't watch a lot of TV everyday, but the TV is always on as background noise.  However, this has helped both of them to learn new things on their time and at their speed.  Isabella spends a lot of time watching educational programs, matching games, puzzles, and things that.  Yes, there are times when it feels like she is a crack-fiend on the search for her next fix, but then we just have a break from the phone for awhile and let her focus her attention on other things.  This time that she has spent with 'her phone' has helped her to practice fine motor skills, reinforce her letters from an early age, and more easily learn colors and shapes.       

When Isabella first started being able to walk around in stores without running off and acting like a fool, we were walking around in Target. Corry and Grace were shopping for new water bottles, and I was entertaining Isabella down on one of the end caps with the coffee travel mugs and she says, "This cup has coffee in it."  It was such a simple sentence and six of the ten million words that she said that day but it was just one of those times when you are like when did she learn what a coffee mug was?  As much baby fever as I have lately, I LOVE this age that my children are in.  It's the age where you can actually see their little brains working to figure problems out.  It's the age where they can begin to communicate their problems with you instead of just sounding like a monkey all the time repeating the same sound.  Well, Silas is still kind of in that phase, but I am going to blame that on him being stubborn!  It's also the first stage that they have been in where I have stopped comparing their development to other children. 

In the first few months of their lives, I was constantly comparing their growth and development to other children.  Isabella was a slow weight gainer.  Silas was an early teether and an early walker but a slow talker.  This is absolutely one of the worst things that you can do because no two children are exactly alike.  Even the doctors will tell you most items on their development chart have a range associated with them.  Like sitting or standing unassisted has like a 9 month to one year range that is 'normal' for children.  It's hard to not do it but eventually I think that you realize that it doesn't matter when your child is doing a certain activity, so long as they are doing it according to their normal. 

Isabella is now in a stage where you can have a complete conversation with her and she is learning new concepts everyday.  This is amazing to me and so fun.  I love that she can tell me about things that she did during the day and that, even though half of the time it's to tattle on him, she can recount things that Silas did during the day as well.  It makes me feel like I am there more during the day.  She is also better able to explain her feelings and what she is upset about instead of just screaming and crying like a banshee when something is wrong. 

I love teaching my children of all ages new skills and new information.  I love seeing their eyes light up when they practice a skill that they just learned or talk about a subject that they just learned about.  It is so exciting to see their brains developing and changing as they age. 

What is your most favorite thing that you have witnessed your children learning? 

SMALL Update: Silas 19 months

So, I wanted to start doing monthly updates for my children.  Mostly so I would have their milestones and stats documented somewhere since I am AWFUL about writing in a baby book.  Every month I will cover a SMALL (Statistics, Milestones, Attitude, Learning, Likes/Dislikes) update for each of my children.  Recent photos will also be included every month.  Let me know how your little ones compare! 

Statistics:

                Weight: 28lbs

                Shoe Size: 5

                Clothes: 18-24 months

Milestones:

                Silas has always been an ‘early’ baby with the exception of speaking and being born.  He sat up, stood, walked, and cut teeth early.  He is cutting at least one of his 2 year molars right now and has been for at least a month.  He has all of his other teeth.  He is currently completely weaned from a pacifier.  See other blogs here and here about that torture.  He is currently back into climbing, especially climbing into the car.  This is getting him into trouble during the day though climbing on top of the tables, his sister’s chairs, etc.  He is very adventurous and is definitely a boy, as evidenced by how rough he plays and acts, and his constant state of being filthy.  He is eating with silverware at almost every meal and can 100% feed himself with a spoon and a fork.  He builds with blocks, is capable of bringing items to you on command and can’t point to certain body parts when prompted.  He eats really well and is an excellent sleeper.  He goes to sleep at anywhere between 8pm and 9pm, and generally wakes up after 7:30am.  He also usually has 2-3 naps during the day and falls asleep without assistance.  He has just recently started drinking out of a sippy cup with a straw.  He mainly uses a water bottle style drinking cup or a normal sippy cup.  He is beginning to figure out how to take shoes and clothes on and off, he can brush his hair, and he gets his own snack out of the pantry.  Silas hates riding in the car.  He is miserable with any longer than a 15 minute car ride and doesn’t fall asleep in the car unless he is covered with a blanket and all the stars align.  He is now capable of letting you know when he needs a diaper change and he normally will approach you with a diaper and possibly some wipes.  He is now very interested in throwing trash away and putting plates in the sink.   

Attitude:

                As is his normal, Silas was early into the ‘terrible twos’ phase.  He is very headstrong and has an awful attitude when prompted.  He is very angry sometimes and has no problems displaying that angry to anyone.  He is very jealous of attention being paid to another person and will not hesitate to use violence to get what he wants.  On the other hand, he is very sweet when he wants to be.  He is quick to hug and make up.  When one of them hurts the other and does something that isn’t particularly friendly that they get in trouble for, of course they get a punishment of some sort depending upon the level of how awful they were being at the time.  When they are finished with their punishment, we make them go and hug the offended party.  Silas is normally down to hug.  Sometimes he follows that up with a slap to the face, but normally he is a sweet boy.  He is a big momma’s boy, especially when approached by strangers or scary situations.  He has a lot of fears, which is pretty common for this age, so we knew what to expect.  He is very afraid of his baby monitor in his room and has a strong fear of a lot of things right now, like strange animals, loud noises, hand dryers in bathrooms, etc.  Silas has very strong ‘stranger danger’ feelings, especially with men and even with men that he sees on a regular basis.  He is able to generally warm up to strangers that are women but he absolutely is not going to warm up to a lot of men that he doesn’t know or doesn’t see every day.

Learning:

                Silas is a ‘normal’ boy according to my pediatrician in that he is a relatively slow talker, meaning he doesn’t say many words.  He has the ability to say and can say about 20 words when prompted that aren’t names.  However, on a daily basis he uses about 5, not including this ‘nanu’ word that he uses for everything.  He is very intelligent though and so I have no doubts that he will be fine.  He knows almost all of his body parts that you teach at this age like arms, belly, belly button, head, eyes, etc.  He is now capable of operating an iPhone and can turn on his favorite PBS or Disney Jr. shows without assistance.  He gets very proud of himself when he learns a new skill and is very happy to show it off.  He loves to be read to and loves to interact with you while you read to him. 

Likes/Dislikes:

                Silas likes:           

                       Muslin blankets

                       Nutrigrain bars

                       Anything pink

                Silas dislikes:

             Car rides

                             Shoes and socks

                             Hats