kids

kids

Monday, August 9, 2010

Feeding Halley

Ever since I reorganized Grandma's pantry, John has been obsessed with taking Halley's food in and out of it. Her food is portioned out into several small Tupperware containers, and there's a metal measuring scoop that goes along with it. John will bring everything out onto the floor and play for a really long time. The other day, we let John "feed" Halley by filling up her food bowl, and he thought it was the coolest thing ever. He couldn't stop giggling, especially when he'd pick up a few kibbles and she'd eat them out of his hand. Here's a video I took this morning of him feeding her breakfast.

Feeding Halley from Sarah Schuchard on Vimeo.

Friday, August 6, 2010

On the phone

John recently got a set of flashcards from a neighbor, and a few days ago we took them out of the box to look at them. We didn't put them back in the box, but just left them on the coffee table in the family room. Then yesterday, he went over to the coffee table, sorted through the flashcards, and found the one with the telephone on it. He picked it up and put it to his ear as if it were one of his play phones (or a real phone, which we occasionally let him play with when we're desperate for a distraction). He carried it around the house like this for at least 10 minutes, and he's been doing it ever since! This afternoon I filmed him on one of these phone calls.

On the phone from Sarah Schuchard on Vimeo.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

At the pool

John has been going to the pool twice a week since we moved to Illinois. We mostly go to Sea Lion Aquatic Park in Lisle, where I went as a kid. Sea Lion has tons of kid-friendly areas. We rotate between the toddler pool, the sand pit, the big pool and the splash pads. I am always amazed at how much John loves having water splashed in his face. It's incredible.....he'll put his face right down in the middle of a fountain and just laugh and laugh.

Some pics from the toddler pool at Sea Lion:



We've also been invited to the pool at Ruth Lake Country Club in Hinsdale, where our family friends "Aunt" Ruthanne and "Uncle" Steve are members. John is especially content at this pool because there are always a bunch of toys in the pool he can play with AND because he's been getting informal swimming "lessons" from another member of the club, Miss Linda, who used to lifeguard and teach swimming.

We were at Ruth Lake on Sunday afternoon, and I filmed John having one of his mini lessons. John decided that he was more interested in playing with the pink plastic teapot at that particular moment than learning how to swim.....



Swimming with wings from Sarah Schuchard on Vimeo.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Eating oatmeal

Here's a video of John feeding himself some oatmeal (with cut-up blueberries hidden inside.....he won't eat blueberries by themselves). He still seems to favor his left hand when uses a spoon.

Eating with a spoon from Sarah Schuchard on Vimeo.


I've started to let John eat in a "big person" chair occasionally. Yesterday evening, for example, we ate at Panera Bread, and John sat on the bench of the booth and ate his grilled cheese sandwich and yogurt. When he needed to see better over the table, he got up on his knees. He behaved himself so well like this! This morning for breakfast, he sat in a "big person" chair (without the booster seat) at the kitchen table with his plastic kids' plate and ate his slice of banana bread. I think the highchair is on its way out, and no one is more thrilled about it than I am.

John's new words

Just since I wrote his 18-month post, John's vocabulary has exploded. I can hardly keep up with all his new words! He says at least one new word every day. The most amazing thing is when he'll say a new word completely unprompted (like when I said to him, "Let's go out and get the mail," and he said "mail.") He will also try to repeat almost any word you ask him. It is soooooooo cute.

Some of his new words include:

- ah-bow (elbow)
- clou (cloud)
- Daddy (instead of just "Da")
- door
- down
- ice
- in-mill (windmill)
- in-no (window)
- knee
- mail
- Mama or Mommy (instead of "Ba")
- mil (milk)
- mow (meow, for cat)
- neh (neck)
- no (nose)
- toes

Also, John can identify nearly all of his body parts now: head, hair, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, teeth, tongue, chin, neck, arms, elbows, hands, fingers, belly, belly button, knees, feet, toes. He will point out his own body parts when asked. Sometimes he'll name them on his own. He also likes to name other people's (and pets') eyes and noses.

Here are some pictures of John hanging out on Grandma's couch the other day.

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