545+ days with our little Dane sprout. Happy year and a half baby boy!

One and a half and he’s like a real boy now. He definitely is the epitome of boy. Dirt, rocks, grass, trucks and cars, trashtrucks, trashcans, just plain old trash, trains, bugs, balls. All things he is obsessed with. Obsessed. I don’t know who teaches him these things but he genuinely enjoys them. And I swear he already has a sense of humor. He says things and laughs at himself.

So, hang on because, because I’m about to get all preschool educator on you. Skip this paragraph if it makes you go cross eyed. Dane can rote count to “gwelve” (twelve). Yes! Count. It’s mind blowing. I mean, sometimes he skips a few numbers but still. At 18 months, he’s demonstrating math readiness skills. He can label several colors and he’s using his language to request. Except, we need to work on a need vs. a want because he will say things like “need a popsicle” at 7:00 am. Decline. Insert choices. You can have yogurt or toast. We sing lots of songs up in here. ABCs, slippery fish, drive the fire truck, baa baa black sheep, and wheels on the bus to name a few. We are also thinking of putting together a two disc compilation album of the random songs that we make up (that all happen to have the same tune haha). All your favorites, like “We’re Almost Home” when he’s losing his mind in the back seat, and “Nice And Warm” when he gets out of the bathtub. Yours for only 3 payments of 19.99! Just kidding. Seeing him grow and go through this language and learning burst has been super fun. Def a proud mama.

I wanted to share this developmental chart for one-two year olds, since I get so many questions about how Dane can talk so much. And really…I don’t know how Dane is demonstrating skills that are above his age level. Maybe it’s all the book sharing we do? I’m honestly not sure. If you have any questions at all regarding your child’s speech and language development, please, please, email me or send me a DM. I would be super happy to help!

*developmental chart from www.asha.org

18 months has been fun but we definitely have our ups and downs. We transitioned to one nap and we’re officially in the toddler meltdown stage. I’m so not ready for tantrums. That’s a whole new world of parenting. We’ve been working on “name it to tame it” from No Drama Disciple. So now he screams, throws something, and says “mad”. Then we hug and work it out.  All in all, I’m not ready for my baby to be a big kid. But as he gets older, he’s also gotten cuddlier and even sweeter, giving hugs and saying “snuggle!” Today he even grabbed his raccoon and mouse (Travis insists on giving him a variety of woodland creatures) and hugged them both and said “Cuddle party!”  Savoring this precious time.