21 Months

 

Grant using the oven mits becuase it was hot

Growth:  According to our home scale Grant is weighing in at 25.6 lbs!  That is up another pound so we are happy to see some positive movement after so much negative and stagnate weigh-ins.  According to his growth chart, he is just over 33” so that would put him up about 3/4-1”.  Grant is wearing 18-24 month, 24 month, and 2T clothes, size 6 shoes, and size 4 diapers.

Teeth:  No new teeth this month… still holding steady at 16

Language/Comprehension:  Grant has still been developing his use of longer sentences.  He usually talks in at least two or three word phrases but is expanding more and more to three and four word sentences.

Some cute words/phrases from this month:  Says bless you after someone sneezes, big pumpkin (emphasis on bigggg!), says I love you (very often un-prompted), tractor house (our shed in the back yard), tractor ride, guitar (anytime he hears music), no-no mommy/daddy/Bucky/Monty (using sign language, pinching his fingers together and saying it at the same time), and our absolute favorite this month tomato soup which sounds more like "no-no boop."  He loves to greet us with “hi baby” or “hi morning” regardless of the time of the day and I think he has picked the hi baby up from me.  When I go into his room in the morning and he pops up out of bed usually the first words out of my mouth are “Hi baby, good morning.”  A fish also apparently says “bubble, bubble, bubble.”

So here goes my first video attempt.  It is a little longer than I wanted because I couldn't edit it down at all but it is just a sampling of some of Grant's words that he would cooperate and say. 

 

Mobility:  I would say mobility is still about the same.  He is just working on fine tuning all of his skills now.  Walk, run, climb, crawl, jump… He practices them all on a daily basis.  His throwing has also become much more coordinated.  As coordinated as he thinks he is, he still has some work.  He took a tumble down the stairs this month.  I was upstairs in the bathroom and Matt had gone downstairs and didn’t realize Grant was following him.  Well next thing you know we hear several thumps and crying.  We still aren’t sure exactly how many he fell down but after just a couple seconds of crying, no visible bumps or bruises he was ok. 

Grant-isms:  Grant loves having his sleeves rolled up and will insist "sleeves-up" (even if he has short-sleeves on or even no shirt).  He also loves sitting on his smaller, not made for sitting toys ie his John Deere metal tractor and his little caterpillar.  Another favorite is standing in front of the refrigerator with all his magnetic letters and rambling off random letters of the alphabet.  He no longer thinks he needs a bib and as soon as you put it on he is saying "no, no, no" and ripping at the velcro.       

Riding his caterpillar

Things he likes:  Grant likes to find “mommy’s baby” by pulling up my shirt and kissing my tummy.  He also loves talking to baby but his mouth has to be right on my tummy.



Feeding the goats

We went to The Little Farmer this month and Grant got to feed the goats which he loved.  He drove the tractor, rode the bikes, climbed on the hay and played in the pumpkins… all in all a good day!




Showing off how strong he is to impress Addie

Peek-a-boo

Grant also loves turning lights on and off.  He has discovered one set of light switches that are near the stairs and he knows that if he stands on the 2^nd stair he can reach the switch himself.  Needless to say, he thinks it is a fun game but it has gotten him in trouble a time or two when he doesn’t listen.  

Grant also loves doing the motions to itsy bitsy spider (favorite is washing the spider out) and loves the song “you are my sunshine” and will ask over and over for “more sun.”

Funniest moment(s) this month:  Matt and I gave each other a smooch and in the background Grant said “I Love You.”  It was so sweet!

At a wedding we were at this month, there was a gentlemen in a bright orange shirt and Grant pointed to him and said “bigggg pumpkin!” 

 

Talking about the big pumpkin Grant is terrified of one of our fall/Halloween decorations.  A big plastic pumpkin meant to be outside but it has been super windy so he has found a home in the foyer.  Well, Grant avoids that area at all costs and will say "no pumpkin" when we try to take him close to it.  In order to alleviate this fear, the pumpkin has been eating supper with us and we have been feeding him which has actually helped Grant's aversion to it! 

 

Biggest change(s) this month:  We have been noticing Grant use his left hand more and more.  When he colors/draws or throws something he is still very dominant with his right hand but when it comes to eating I would say 95% of the time his spoon/fork is in his left hand.

 

We have also noticed that when we pray Grant will bow his head instead of looking around the room.  He can also get each of his fingers interlocked in order.   

We are also getting more and more glimpses of the “terrible two’s.”  More and more often Grant will throw himself down and scream or cry anytime you tell him no or stop no matter how small or trivial the issue is.    

Firsts:  We traveled to Tomahawk for a friend’s wedding and had an amazing time.  We even got to see a few snow flurries.  Grant danced a little but was pooped by 10 o’clock and couldn’t fight the battle anymore.    

Illnesses:  For two months in a row and officially being 2 months post-op and transplant… NONE!!!  We are saying prayers that we have a quiet fall/winter on the illness front and we can make it through with no illnesses that would require the use of antibiotics.  Our pediatrician and specialist in Chicago agree that it would have to be a pretty severe situation to merit the use of an antibiotic just because of Grant’s susceptibility and not being too far out from all of our troubles. 

Playing in the leaves