Spring Update 2014
Note: Now that Vincent is older, i am wrapping up his “updates” into just a seasonal general family update, instead of doing a dedicated post. I will do dedicated monthly (maybe!) updates on Melanie since she’s still so little and changing quickly.
We bought a double stroller so we can take both kids out on walks, and use it whenever else we need it. Right now it works with Melanie’s infant seat in the back, and Vinny sitting in the front. But later, as Melanie grows out of her infant seat, she can sit up in the front, and then Vincent can sit or stand in the back bench.
We have been trying occasionally to introduce to potty to Vincent. When Grandpa Mike was visiting one weekend for his house search, i had Vincent naked after breakfast since I wanted him to use the bathroom. He didn’t want to, so he ran out of the bathroom and was in the kitchen playing with is book. It was only a couple minutes and then i see him running to the toilet! Too late, i backtrack and see a trail of poop, with the bulk of it … UNDER Mike’s shoe, because he has excellent timing and stepped on it right after it happened on the floor. EWWW!
On Sunday, April 27, i decided to try to put him on the potty throughout the day. He ended up peeing in the toilet a good amount, 4 separate times! He as very proud of himself. Pooping — well he had his big boy underpants on and he realized too late he went poo, but he did go run to the toilet right afterward! And then pooped a little more once he got there. Not fun to clean up though! Eeee. So i think we are holding off on the poop part for potty training, but he can pee in the potty pretty good now.
Vincent loves to watch Paw Patrol. I clicked onto Nick Jr’s website one day and played a few episodes for him, and he’s hooked! They have it on TV too, so i should record it for him. He also loves Timmy Time, and the Baby First TV shows.
Another one of Vincent’s most recent obsession is singing Bob the Builder. It is his first actual attempt of singing a song. He sings it all day long – at daycare, in the car, during playtime, at dinner, in his room.. well you get the idea.
This month he’s really improved his animal sounds. He can say them for turkey, cow, pig, monkey, cat, dog, bear, lion, sheep, horse, frog, snake, dog, bee, rooster, chicken, owl, birdie, bee, and probably even more. We have a book that has Animal Sounds that he really enjoys reading at bedtime. He brings out all his stuffed animals!
He is definitely talking a lot more. He can say a lot more words now, like yes and no, cold and hot, dirty, Pop-pop (grandpa) and Oma (grandma), oatmeal, ice, pee, poop, most of his colors (he seems to like purple and gets it mixed up with blue), some of his numbers, and a lot of animals. Still though, many words are hard to discern. Like the other day he wanted grapes but he kept saying “lake” and it took me forever to figure that one out. That’s the only reason I want him to talk more is so that we can communicate with less temper tantrums. He recently been a good at trying to “mimic” or repeat what we are saying when we tell him a word. So he seems a lot more interested in learning to speak. YES!
Vincent got his second haircut at the barber. His first haircut wasn’t too noticeable, so this time we had them trim it a bit shorter and use more of the razor. Dad said he did great, and of course the best part is getting to choose a lollipop! On the photo above, the left is before, and the two on the right are after.
I went back to teaching my RIPPED classes after about 3 months off during maternity leave. It feels great to be back! I feel good and can make it through the class just fine, but my abdomonials are really weak, so i need to keep working on that. Before i took my leave, i was teaching 4 classes a week. U-JAM on Monday nights, Turbokick/RIPPED on Wednesday, and then RIPPED on Thursday and Saturday. It would be awesome if i could get back to that schedule, but i think for now i am going to start off with Saturday and Monday, then maybe add Thursday. For now that should be good!
Vincent is finally in 3 year clothes after fitting 24 mo/2T for over a year now. He is still in a size 8 shoe.
Grandma Lisa and Grandpa Mike are finally moved into their house! Though they are doing a lot of work to it to make it accessible. We have given them new nicknames so Vinny can say them easily — Pop-pop and Oma! He loves saying their name and is excited to see them. We’ve been having lots of dinners together and hanging out around the house.
We bought Vincent a tricycle right before i went back to Maternity leave because we had a couple of days off from daycare and i thought he would like it… but he didnt really like it that much. He is still too small for it.
We practice shaving with daddy in front of the mirror. He was studying dad like a hawk and mimicking everything he did. Too cute.
We had a few visits from friends lately — Charlotte and Evan on separate occasions.
We finally got a bean bag chair to do bedtime stories in. Butters finds it to his liking.
Vinny has been “tucking in” his animals at night. He sleeps face-down, so naturally his stuffed animals do too. I got him a toddler sized pillow recently, too.
Vinny now knows how to open the screen door. By himself. Not a good thing.
Vincent loves to help with the laundry. He can help sort colors and whites, open the washer, put the soap in, put the clothes in, and start the dryer. I find it fun to include him on everyday chores. He likes learning new things and new words.