Britt turned 21 Months Old on September 6th!
This month I decided to use pics of her and Kye together for her monthly post.
This was a big month in the world of siblings: they play TOGETHER and they ENJOY it!!!
It’s awesome! I can get stuff done without having to keep an eye on Britt constantly because the two of them will happily play together on their own! Whoooohooo!!!
Playing army guys and even cleaning up as a team (here’s a video)
Using What to Expect the Toddler Years here is where Britt is at compared to the norm for her age.
At 21 months Britt can do everything a toddler her age should be able to do including:
- build a tower of two cubs
- point to one body part when asked
Kye asked for a picture with some of his “friends” and guess who came running saying “me too!”?
Britt can also do everything a 21 month old will probably be able to do including:
- kick a ball forward
- identify two pictures by pointing
- remove an article of clothing
building a block tower is easier with a partner: here’s a video!
At 21 months old Britt can also do everything a toddler her age may possibly and may even be able to do including:
- brush teeth, with help
- put on an article of clothing
Playing chase is THE favorite game around here!
It always ends in lots and lots of laughter
Some of the topics in this chapter are awkward.
A lot about private parts! My kids bathe together and NEVER has Kye been worried his private is going to “fall off” because his sister doesn’t have the same one? And never has she shown any interest in his privates or any type of “envy” that she doesn’t have what he has?
I mean these must be some MEGA socially aware children that they are talking about!!!
We keep privates VERY light around here. I don’t want it to be an awkward thing for as long as possible.
Let’s face it: changing in front of everyone while at home makes life easier on us all!
Baths together (and by together I mean the KIDS together…we don’t do family bath time or something haha)?
Way easier than separate for sure!
Plus I want to have more babies and I plan to nurse those babies so the longer I can keep the whole girl parts vs boy parts thing a non-issue then the longer I’ll be able to nurse a baby freely in my home without worrying about my son seeing it or it being “inappropriate.”
We call everything a private and Kye has said that Britt doesn’t have a private so I just told him that hers is different than his b/c she’s a girl.
No further questions or curiosity has occurred.
Kye has done some “tricks” in the bath with his privates and we had a talk about how we don’t play with our privates.
He’s also past the age of changing clothes in front of others (other than our core little family).
I just simply told him that we call them our privates for a reason and that we need to keep them private.
I also have had a talk with him about others touching our privates or asking us to touch theirs and how he needs to say no and tell mommy right away if that ever happens.
So we’ve covered our bases, but still continue to be naked (yes, I will do quick clothes change in front of the kids on occasion too) around our home with no issues!
I know some people feel awkward about that kind of thing but, for us, we are all still comfortable with the way we are dealing with it for now!
My free nightly entertainment! Here’s a video of their “show”
Another thing I thought was super odd was this chapter talked about whether or not it’s still appropriate to kiss your 21 month old on the lips?!?! SERIOUSLY?!?!?!
Am I the only person who finds that crazy ridiculous?
I still kiss MY dad on the lips and I’m 28 years old! Growing up my immediate family and extended families were all very affectionate.
I think it’s a wonderful thing and something Zach and I both love with our children.
Zach and I aren’t very “PDA” type people with each other. I don’t think we are very mushy or all touchy-feely, but we love to hug, kiss and cuddle our children.
I cannot imagine EVER finding that inappropriate???
I know the day may come when Kye won’t want me to kiss him in front of his friends and such (although for my brother and
I LOVE watching them line up to race down the hallway and how Kye always let’s Britt have an advantage! Here’s a video
Okay, another weird thing about this chapter of this book.
Or maybe I’m just the weird one because I don’t worry about showing my kid affection, how they feel about having different privates than their sibling, or their sexual orientation???
Your kid is 21 months old and you are, legit, concerned about their sexual orientation. Already!
This chapter dealt with people concerned with their boys preferring to play with “girl” toys as well as girls being “rough and tough” rather than “feminine.”
It also discussed boys refusing to play with dolls and preferring to play with army guys and how that bothered the parents because they wanted their child to be “gender-neutral.”
I’m sorry but don’t we have ENOUGH to worry about as parents?
Why try to force your kid into what you “want them to be”?
If your boy likes to play with your daughter’s dolls…WHO CARES!
Kye loves to play baby with Britt and I think it’ll make him a wonderful father someday!
His favorite color was dang PINK for a long time and we didn’t make a big deal about it.
He’s FOUR. And Britt? Well, she is obsessed with balls and tackling and running around and being rough.
Again, why would that concern me? She’s got an older brother! She adores HIM and wants to be just like him so of course, she will play like he plays and do what he does!
And don’t even get me started on raising a kid to be “gender-neutral.”
Boys are naturally drawn to trucks and building blocks and things like that.
Girls are naturally drawn to babies and pretend play.
It’s been proven again and again and again. God made us different. Plain and simple!
I just don’t believe in pushing something on your child like that and can’t imagine literally losing sleep over what toys they chose to play with?!?!?!
They love to set up ALL their toys and play together with them!
Such a natural mommy already 🙂
Seriously…this chapter kinda pushed my buttons. I mean these books are pretty liberal in a lot of ways as it is but this chapter has tempted me to stop doing these monthly posts.
Or to find a new book to use as a guideline.
I feel like so often I read through the chapter and have to skip through a lot of portions because a lot of the advice is stuff I don’t agree with and that doesn’t fit with my personal worldview or value system for my family!
I do really like knowing where my kids should be with their
Love them so much and how she always wants to be in the picture with him!
Crazy faces 😉
I’m so blessed to have my wonderful children and so thankful for their friendship together!
They bring me so much joy and I love how much laughter fills our home.
I took this video of their roaring contests…as you can tell our house is NEVER quiet and I wouldn’t want it any other way!
Sweet sister misses her brother at school each day!
You can look back at Britt’s 20 month post here and Kye’s 21st month post here!
The book didn’t bother me as much back then haha I think I was more focused on the portions of it that applied to things I could use during that phase in parenting.
Which I liked re-reading the post about Kye and being reminded that it’s important to explain things on “their level”, that teaching right and wrong is important (and how to do it correctly), and that there were times where I felt like I NEEDED nap time/bed time because of Kye’s behavior.
It’s easy to forget that HE went through a “tough toddler” phase too…it makes me feel better able to cope with Britt’s toughness at times 😉
After re-reading his post it reminded me of the good in the book so maybe I’m not as annoyed by it now haha But I’d still love another option if anyone has anything to suggest!
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I completely agree with you on the private part matter. You can thank Sigmund Freud for that! My brother is 4 years younger than me and we took baths together until he knew what the private parts were, which like you, if we didn't ask my mom didn't tell. My mom just told me to let her know when I wasn't comfortable with that anymore. I wonder if some of the parts in the books might be giving you all the possibilities of what could be going on during that stage, not necessarily what they should know/ask/be curious about? My brother played with my Barbie dolls with me for the longest time. And then I played with his toys like cars and what not. Freud's Theories are becoming excessively popular lately because of the research they are doing for homosexuals(I don't know what name is preferred on that subject).