…like a diamond in the sky…..

I can’t believe that my baby is now nearly two years old…just a month to go. I sometimes think about the fact that he is now older than Nathan was when Toby was born, and I just can’t imagine how Toby would cope with a small baby in the house. I guess it’s a good thing he doesn’t have to.

Somehow I never got around to writing Toby’s 22 month blog, and his 21 month one got lost in cyber space not once, but twice. I hate writing things two times, let alone three, so I didn’t get around to writing it again. I was going to post a video at the end of Toby’s 21 month blogs of him being independently trying to put his pants on, but because there is no blog posted I will put it at the end of this one.

Independence is a big thing for Toby right now. He is constantly telling me that he can do something, that he is right and doesn’t need help, but I know that most of the time he is incapable. He gets so very upset if I try to help, but without help he can’t do it. Makes for some quite frustrating situations…like putting his seatbelt on. He wants to put it on, can’t do it but won’t let me do it. Talking about cars, getting two kids into their seats and seatbelts strapped is really hard work. Nathan will generally get into his seat relatively quickly, but Toby can jump between the front and back seats more quickly than I can move between the front and back doors, so he can stay out of arms reach when he doesn’t want to go into his seat. Then, when he is finally in his seat we have the seatbelt issue. Sheesh.

Toby is now speaking in sentences…well, still missing a word here and there, but he is definitely past the one word statements. Toileting is going well, though he still doesn’t often take himself to the potty for a wee, and he doesn’t tell me when he needs to wee (just like Nathan at the same age), so we do have wet pants to deal with when I’m not on the ball. Throwing is a big thing at the moment too, and he’s not too bad at it either.

Anyway, here is the video that was supposed to be on the 21-month blog entry.

Toby reading the Field Guide of Australian Birds

I am over a week late for Toby’s update! Where does the time go? Spring is on our doorstep and we have been back in Melbourne for nearly a year, yet there are friends I haven’t caught up with yet. Anyway, onto Toby’s update.

I guess one of the things that stands out from the last month is that Toby’s vocabulary continues to grow quickly, and he is making a lot more sentences now rather than just saying one word. Yes, the sentences have words missing from them, but they are sentences non-the-less. The other thing is that the toileting really seems to have clicked for Toby. He has been doing poos in the potty all year and takes himself, but getting to the potty for a wee has been hit and miss. In the last couple of weeks Toby has started taking himself to the potty for wees much more regularly, and when he has undies on (he does a lot of bare bottom time around home) he tries to get them down and sometimes he can now. Also, he has been dry at night for a few weeks now whereas prior he would have a few dry nights followed by a wet one. He wakes in the morning, has some milk and then asks for the potty since he can’t really walk well in his sleeping bag. I am considering getting a waterproof mattress protector for his mattress and giving up on night nappies completely, which would be good because they don’t fit him very well (they were made for Nathan who had much chunkier legs) and tend to chafe his thighs if he wriggles too much at night.

Counting is a big thing for Toby at the moment. He counts objects up to 4 and then loses track of where he was up to, and he will negotiate for two of something instead of just one. When I say negotiate, it is more of a demand…Toby, would you like a cherry tomato? And he says: Two! He still adores books and points to the words in a book and says ‘words’.

Toby loves walking on brick edging, brick fences, beams, rails, rows of stones….anything he can practice balancing and walking on. He holds my hand as he walks if he is elevated at all.

That’s about it for now.

Last week, on Wednesday night, Toby slept for 5 hours without waking. That was the longest he has slept for a really, really long time. He used to sleep 5 or 6 hours when he was a newborn, but that hasn’t happened since he was 3 months old. As I said, until last week.

Normally Toby will sleep for 3 hours after getting him to sleep at night, and after he wakes the first time he sometimes wakes only two more times in the night, though mostly it is a lot more than that. I stopped counting a long time ago. When I say that he wakes, I don’t know that he totally wakes up, but he wriggles and calls out for me and wants milk, and if I don’t respond quickly then he wakes up properly and it is always harder to get him back to sleep from that state. Occasionally he continues to wriggle and then I put him on the potty, but mostly he settles down though he can suck for a very long time. Needless to say, I feel like I’ve been quite sleep deprived for a long, long time.

I hope that I am not jinxing the sleep situation here by writing about it, but Toby slept for 8 hours last night. Yes, that was EIGHT lovely hours. I wonder how long it will be be before that happens again. 🙂

Photo taken by Steph.

I’m already over a week late with Toby’s monthly update, but there isn’t really much to mention besides his rapidly expanding vocabulary. I am totally amazed at how many more words he has, and how much more understandable he is, from just a month ago.

I am really enjoying his language exploration. I remember Nathan doing pretty much the same things, so it is sort of a trip down memory lane as well. When we walk places, for example, Toby will walk for a bit and then say ‘stop’ and simultaneously stop walking. He will wait for a bit, then say ‘go’ and start walking again. Often he waits for me to stop walking as well when he stops. I had forgotten that Nathan used to do exactly the same thing.

Toby is now 18 months old. My baby isn’t much of a baby any more! He is turning into a very independent little boy. He is quite happy to explore both new and familiar places on his own, and he knows what he wants with enough words to make his wishes understood most of the time. He stands up to Nathan now when Nathan wants to take what Toby has, and certainly makes his wants known with a combination of words, pointing and crying (when we don’t understand or he doesn’t get his way).

Toby has many more words at 18 months old than I imagined he would a few months ago. I did a word list for Nathan when he was 18 months old, and I decided to do the same for Toby. The words are those he uses spontaneously and not those he tries to copy when someone else is talking. The problem is that every day he comes out with more words, and I never remember them all. I would say that Toby’s list isn’t as comprehensive as Nathan’s was. Toby is also putting words together into two and three word sentences.

Colours and number recognition are also coming along. When we count from one to ten, Toby says the first two numbers, and if we stop at the number nine then he will finish with an excited “TEN”!

Elimination communication is going really well now. Although Toby has been doing poos on the potty for quite a while now, catching his wee in the potty has been more difficult. The last few weeks has seen what seems to be a huge breakthrough in that he is more often dry than wet now. He is able to sit on the potty by himself if he has a bare bottom, and will occasionally on his own initiative for wees and more often if we suggest that he sit on the potty. He is able to answer us when we ask if he needs the toilet, and even tells us that he needs it sometimes. We still get quite a few wet training pants during the day, a few wet nappies at night though he is generally dry, but we definitely catch more wee than we miss and some days he is completely dry.

Toby loves playing with the animal figurines, loves books though he still doesn’t have the attention span to sit through an entire picture book (generally), loves playing with the saucepans and kitchen utensils, and is desperate to ride the balance bike. He is an absolute delight to be around.

Word map made using www.wordle.net/ (cc license with reference)

Toby is using more and more words, and has a really pleased look on his face when we understand him. He uses the word ‘stuck’ on it’s own, or calls out ‘Mummy stuck’ to let me know he needs help. It happens most when trying to get in the back door and the wire door closes on his leg.

Toby is sleeping 11 – 12 hours at night (he still wakes a lot) and 45 minutes to an hour and a half during the day. His day nap has been slowly moving from 10:30 am and is now generally around midday.

Toby seems to be becoming less destructive in general, and trying more to manipulate tools instead. His is much more aware of the things he wants, and will hold something and repeat “mine” if he thinks that Nathan is going to take it away from him…which is generally what happens anyway.

Toby is making more recognisable word sounds, though still very little is understandable. He says words like Mummy, Daddy, jump, duck and car. He is very strong willed, knowing exactly what he wants and let’s us all know if he isn’t getting it. He is pretty good, though, at communicating with us to let us know what it is that he wants, even if he isn’t very verbal yet. He also tries very hard to do things like putting socks and shoes on, not wanting us to help even though he isn’t able to do it himself yet.

There are more fights between Nathan and Toby these days, with both kids wanting the same things at the same time. Toby has started biting and hitting, all of us but Nathan cops the worst bites because he can’t recognize when it is about to happen and therefore cannot try to avoid the bite like Andrew and I can. Nathan, in return has started pushing and even biting when he gets angry with Toby. Mostly we have a calm house, but there are moments…..

All in all, Toby is at a really delightful age, and we have a lot of fun with him.