Kye Summary of Month 23

I promise I’m still alive 🙂

I’ve just been very busy….well, busy laying out and enjoying this beautiful weather!

It’s been too great outside to be sitting at the computer!

Anyway Kye turned 23 months old at the beginning of this month and we’re now in his last month of having to count the dang months.

I am SO ready to just say “he’s 2” instead of “he’s such and such month.” So ready, in fact, that I’ve been saying “he’s two” since like December. 🙂 Here’s what Kye’s been up to this past month:

words:

At this point, there is NO WAY to keep track of all the words Kye can say.

He’s a talking machine and says pretty much anything he hears us say.

The most exciting word has been “yes” as up until now he would only nod his head to say “yes” and couldn’t actually say the word.

Also now that he can say “help” it’s soooo much better than hearing him whine all the time (here’s a video showing multiple words – including help).

He’s also in love with Sadie this month and enjoys saying her name over and over (here’s a video). It’s pretty precious!

While he does love the dogs, he’s not above getting on to them either (as you can see in this video).

He’s speaking in full sentences, although they are still 3-4 words max and I can’t always make out what he says.

water:

Since we are gearing up for preschool in the fall I want to make sure we are doing things at home that prepare him for life in a classroom.

I know this sounds gross, but I tend to slack on the washing hands thing.

Zach and I just aren’t very germ-worry type people and he’s a boy so it’s not like he’s even touching that junk when he goes potty.

However, we need to get him on track with this so we have a little stool and have started to wash hands after going potty (good luck getting us to remember to wash them before eating though…).

Kye LOVES the water in the sink and will often want to play in it with things.

I don’t allow this often as our water bill gets crazy high super easy but he got these fun washcloths for Christmas so we had to help them “grow” right? (here’s a video)

drinking:

Kye’s always enjoyed being a “big boy” and it’s only more and more obvious the older he gets.

He LOVES to drink our drinks so it’s a good thing we pretty much only drink water!

He’s become quite the pro at drinking out of straws and holding the cup himself without spilling.

He has even started to master drinking out of a cup with no lid.

I used to have to help him or else it’d be a huge mess but he’s for sure making progress!

Bible Class:

Kye LOVES going to Bible Class.

Every time we get in the car now he asks “class?”

When we are going to class he’ll talk about it the entire way there.

He’ll talk about how Mommy is going to class, Daddy is going to class, and Kye is going to class.

Here’s a video attempt at him saying all of this. It’s pretty adorable.

In Kye’s stocking I got him a little Bible from the dollar store.

They use them in his class at church and I thought it’d be nice to have one at home.

He LOVES it. It’s so precious to see him walk around with this little Bible and listen to him “read” from it.

He points to the words and reads all about Woody and Buzz and their Bible adventures 🙂

Here’s a video of Kye reading his Bible and a video of him getting pretty upset when he accidentally ripped it!

video:

As you can tell, I’ve been taking a LOT of pictures and videos this month (probably to make up for last months post haha).

Kye really enjoys the camera being on him (I wonder why…) and especially enjoys watching videos of himself, as this video shows!

I’m probably raising my kid to be mega conceited. I mean wouldn’t you be if someone followed you around taking pictures and videos of your every move???

truck book:

Another favorite thing right now is Kye’s truck book that I got him for Christmas.

It’s a board book all about different types of transportation.

He will read and read and read for like 20 minutes or so all on his own with this book!

It’s especially cute to see him in his playroom, filled the brim with toys, yet he’s sitting there choosing to read a book (here’s a video).

jewelry:

Zach does NOT like this current phase but I “get it.” Since I started with Stella and Dot I wear a lot more jewelry and Kye doesn’t realize that it’s a girl thing and not for boys.

He loves his mommy and naturally wants to be like me (which is SWEET so I’m going to enjoy it while I can).

If I’m not watching him closely then I’ll find him in my jewelry case helping himself to my stuff.

As a result I cleaned out all my jewelry and picked out some pieces that I will never be wearing again, and some of my more “manly” stuff.

I put those necklaces and bracelets in Kye’s room so he won’t be so tempted to wear my stuff.

It’s worked great and you’ll see him sporting a necklace or two in many of the pictures I’ve been taking lately. Don’t worry Zach…I’m sure the phase will pass quickly!

playroom:

For our first month living in the house I’ve just wanted to let Kye adjust to his new home.

We spend a LOT of time playing in the playroom as it will be the room where he’ll have roomtime (once I get back to it!).

Here’s a video when we first took him up the stairs and showed him his new playroom.

Here’s a video of his first time going down his slide (into the ball pit, duh!) and another video of him showing off his sliding skilllllz.

And another video of the fun Buzz and Woody have in the playroom with us.

He also enjoys playing with his sit and spin but hasn’t mastered how to do it the right way yet.

Here’s a video of him dancing with the sit and spin!

dancing:

Kye’s love for dance that Mom taught him has carried over to the new house, no doubt.

It’s also carried over into other parts of our days (as you saw above with the sit and spin).

I went shopping at New York & Co recently and the whole time Kye kept begging to get out of his stroller.

He’s never done that before so when I was checking out I let him get out.

The area around the counter is tiled and he broke it DOWN for the whole store!

As each song ended he’d say “YAY!” then as the next song started he’d go back to dancing like a crazy person.

It was so, so funny and I totally wish I’d had my camera. I guess this video of him dancing for Matt and Robyn will have to do!

cars:

I think one thing Kye’s into that isn’t a quick phase is playing with cars and trucks.

He gets out his little basket of cars at least once a day and enjoys talking to them, with them, at them, and for them.

He’s so great at playing on his own and actually doesn’t like for me to interrupt. It’s a good chance for me to get stuff done 😉 Here’s a video Kye talking with his cars.

videos:

Kye is getting closer to that two-year-old-allowed-to-watch-tv age and as we get closer to it I highly doubt we’ll suddenly switch to being a tv watching family.

However, I do think it’s okay to start incorporating other videos and such than just Your Baby Can Read (which is now SO much cheaper than when we bought it! grr!).

One of his board books came with a farm animal dvd (Petting Farm Little Scholastic but here it’s known as “cow movie”) and it’s great because it’s just a video of the animal, the name of the animal on the screen, then children reading the name and saying the animal sounds.

It’s simple, educational, and entertaining.

I also bought him a $5 dvd from Target after our trip to the fire station last summer.

Another mom recommended it to teach about fire safety so I figured it’d be good to add to our collection.

He only watched it once that summer and it was SO boring so we packed it away.

I’ve pulled it back out and he loves it (it’s called Mighty Machines aka the “truck movie”).

Crissy also made us a copy of their LeapFrog Letter Factory (the “A movie”) and that’s the current favorite.

It’s SO great for letter sounds and Kye is actually catching on and will walk around saying “B-buh” I do love some Disney movies and am fine with watching them on occasion but don’t make it a regular thing as they are long, non-educational, and can actually be pretty scary.

The only other “tv” watching I’ve been allowing is Veggie Tales. Have you ever watched them?

OMG so funny, catchy and GREAT lesssons. We only have one thirty min. video but as he gets older I hope to add to the collection and have it be on our daily video rotation.

Toddlerwise recommends two 20-30 min video times a day so these videos have added variety to our Your Baby Can Read routine!

pens and markers:

Kye loves to color, but he especially enjoys coloring with pens.

How ugly does that make a picture? Def not fridge worthy!

I guess he sees us using pens all the time and it’s another “big boy” thing. I’m okay with him using them especially since we have a STRICT only color at the table rule around here 🙂

He also saw some markers I had in the cabinet one day and enjoys coloring with them as well. Thank the LORD they are washable 😉

hiding:

Hands down the majority of time in our house is spent saying “where’s Kye???”

He’s hardcore into hiding right now and he’ll even ask to play hiding (“hide????”) on a regular basis.

His favorite spot to hide is the couch under all the pillows. But sometimes he does get creative 🙂

He understands the concept of someone counting and he has to run and hide.

One day he and I were playing this game and I counted then when I went to find him he had actually hid in a rather good spot!!!

This video shows where I found him 🙂 He’s also getting pretty good at “counting” then coming to find us too. It’s a fun family game around here!

This video shows where I found him 🙂 He’s also getting pretty good at “counting” then coming to find us too. It’s a fun family game around here!

praying:

Since birth we’ve always prayed with Kye before each meal and before going to bed.

I know we need to be praying much more than just at those times, but hey it’s better than nothing right? Kye KNOWS we pray at both of those times and will remind us if we forget.

It’s precious to hear him say “pray???” or to see him fold his hands waiting for prayer.

He now has become very involved in the prayers and it’s hilarious to see him nod his head and whisper while we pray.

This is another one of those hard-to-catch moments but I tried with this video and this video. I guess you’ll just have to see it in person.

our bed:

I honestly think Kye is probably ready to move up to a big kid bed from the crib.

He LIVES in our bed. NO, not for sleeping.

But pretty much all other hours of the day he wants to be on our bed.

He loves to take his toys on our bed, hide in our bed, have tickle fights in our bed (and he’s learned to tickle us too!) and he especially loves to play “two” on our bed. “Two” is his way of saying he wants us to throw him 😉

counting:

I don’t know where he learned it but Kye can count. Only by twos though!

He will constantly be playing with his toys, point at them and say “two…four…six.”

He especially enjoys counting when we throw him on the bed and I’ll have him count before I throw him.

It’s hilarious to try to get him to say “one” We will say “okay Kye say one” and he’ll immediately say “two!”

We go round and round like that kind of like a “who’s on first” type skit.

Here’s a video attempt to catch him counting but of course he basically quit doing it when I turned on the camera (typical). Here’s another video of him being just plain silly!

stickers:

don’t all kids love stickers? They are such a straight-up waste of money!!!

You give them the stickers, they stick them all over the place, then you peel them and throw them away. I have a strict rule that stickers only go on people or paper.

Kye’s been receptive to the rule for the most part and enjoys wearing a sticker…or two…or ten now and then 🙂

energy out:

it’s winter and it’s been cold so I’ve totally slacked on taking Kye outside.

You know how dogs have to get energy out and if they don’t they will go a little crazy?

I think kids operate the same way because Kye will crack up and run circles around and around the house (here’s a video).

He’ll even tell me to “walk mommy” and often want to hold my hand and just go around in circles. Guess we need some warm weather 🙂

sensitive eyes:

This is something I plan to ask the pediatrician about at his next visit.

I don’t know if it’s that he has blue eyes because his eyes aren’t really that blue but for some reason he’s mega sensitive to the sun.

He always has been as but now that he’s forward-facing in the car seat it’s a real issue.

Luckily Kye is great about wearing sunglasses and has mastered putting them on himself! Although they may not always be on correctly…

At this point Kye just keeps getting more and MORE fun…hopefully it’ll keep only getting better until he’s at least 13 🙂