He continues to be a big kid - he's wearing clothes now that Finn wore when he was two, and he weighs about 5 pounds less than Finn does now. This kid loves to eat - I keep waiting for the typical toddler decrease in appetite to hit, but it hasn't yet. I'm trying to make sure he gets plenty of vegetables with each meal to help fill him up because really, he just can't need that much food! He's chunky, but he is really tall, too, so it does balance out.
He's still nursing at bedtime (and holy cow, nursing a toddler is different than nursing a baby!) though I'm not too sure how much he's actually getting. I'm going out of town without the kids again next weekend for work, and will be gone two nights. I've gone two nights without nursing before and had absolutely no discomfort, so I'm thinking this time I might try not nursing him when I get back and see how he - ok, we - do with it.
While he and Finn can make each other laugh hysterically, he is so different from Finn. He's very physical - he started walking 3 months earlier than Finn did, he loves to climb and has no fear. We went to a party in the park last weekend for Easter, and Zachary was happy to run off into the crowd without me, something Finn would never have done at that age.
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He is so quick with a smile and a laugh, and he still loves to give hugs and snuggles. Recently he's discovered the little rocking chair on the back porch, and is frequently content to sit and rock, just taking it all in.
He's starting to figure out how things work and where things go. He puts his dirty diapers in the Diaper Genie and his dirty clothes in the hamper with no prompting. It's his job to close the baby gate at the top of the stairs when we come upstairs, and he never forgets. He can go into the pantry and get a baby food pouch when he's hungry, and knows when alarm beeps in the morning it means Nanny M has arrived.
One thing he's not doing is talking. At this age Finn had 15 words. Zachary has none. His receptive language is good, and getting better all the time, and he can follow simple commands. For a few weeks he was signing "more" but then he stopped. I was trying to get him to sign more when he clearly wanted more food the other night and he refused. He finally gave in and signed "please" but hasn't done even that since. He is very vocal, and is incredibly conversational with his babbling, but the only sound he makes that is consistent is something that sounds like "TA-do" that I think is thank you, as he says it whenever someone gives him something.
I know all kids develop on different schedules, so I'm not overly worried, but I do want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to promote his language development. I've taken to naming things as he points to them, and trying to keep my sentences short and simple when I talk to him. I think I'll continue with the signing - if I'm consistent with it, he may pick it back up again.
It's funny, how much simpler this age seems now than it did when it was just me and Finn. My relationship with Finn now has so much more dimension to it, is so much more complex than my relationship with him at 14 months, or with Zachary now. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying watching Zachary grow, and quite honestly, the simplicity of his needs and our relationship is a wonderful balance to my relationship with Finn.
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He is such a chunk of love -ugh, your boys are just so adorable! Sounds like you're doing everything right with promoting language development. I'm a firm believer in sign language - it sure helped Carys before she became verbal (of course we hit it REALLY hard, really young!). I'd say sign and talk everything. Another thing I learned in "baby speech therapy" is to ask him questions and then give a nice long empty space for him to answer - even if it's just garbly stuff it's great! Then if he doesn't answer you can model to him what you think he would answer if he could. "Do you want some fruit?" (long pause anticipating his answer and if he gives none... "Fruit sounds yummy! Here is some fruit!" He's still so young, I bet it's just normal variation, but always nice to feel proactive.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that he's more "solid" than Finn. I'm forgetting exactly how old Finn is (sorry!); five pounds doesn't seem too big of a difference. Cute pictures! Love that Zachary chills out in the rocking chair. :) I bet one day his language will take off... I remember when I worked with 1-2-year-olds in a child care (a long time ago) and the girls tended to be talking, while many of the boys were not yet.
ReplyDeleteIt is so fun to see Z's growing personality! Love his cute little curls in the back of his hair!
ReplyDeleteI laughed at your comment about Zachary eating. Sidekick has been a human garbage disposal as soon as he started eating food. He can out-eat me any day; yet, he is this super skinny (and crazy tall) boy. I fear for what it's going to be like when he is a teenager... and to think, you'll have to feed two teenagers! You might need to start saving for food along with saving for college. : )
ReplyDeleteAw, he's so cute and happy looking. It's funny because our big girl is/was so much more independent and daring than the baby. He is active and adventurous, but he's more of a hugger - with me anyway. He also can't eat enough. He basically eats until he throws up so I've been trying to feed him a little less than he wants. We're not quite walking yet, but he stands and has taken steps. The older one didn't walk until 14+ months so not worried.
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures!
Love to hear about Z's progress and advancement! I also love hearing about the experience of parenting two since I have decided I am one-and-done but occasionally experience the "what-ifs".
ReplyDeleteLove this post! Z is so adorable, and I had to laugh about the eating part! How cute that he knows his chores :-)
ReplyDeleteI have read/heard that boys are slower with language than girls. We have a 21 month old boy who visits out neighbor and he does not talk at all and Beanie was talking sentences at 17mos. I think your approach of short sentences and pointing what things are will really help.
What fun photos! My second son was also only 5 or so pounds lighter than his brother who is 2 years older.
ReplyDeleteI agree you're doing all the right stuff to promote his language. Definitely keep up the signing. It made a huge difference for Elena before she had her language.
ReplyDeleteZachary sounds like such a confident happy-go-lucky, fun kid!