2 years

Crazy bath hair!

Well, Grant’s second birthday has come and gone.  I still can’t believe that he is two.  It was a special day filled with family and friends.  If you didn’t have the chance you can read all about it here.  After this month, I have decided I am going to update Grant’s blog every 2-3 months.  He is still changing quickly and learning new things daily but bi-monthly should be sufficient to keep track of it all and keep everyone updated.  

Growth:   I was waiting to update this post until after Grant’s 2 year check up today.  He weighed in at 27 lbs 2 oz (40th %).  His height was 34.75" (60th %).  They did not measure his head circumference.  Overall, he seems to just be a lean little boy and built very much like Matt and myself.  He is still in a select few 18-24 month clothes but mainly 24 month and 2T clothes.  I have even found some 3T shirts that we need to get some use out of now because there is no way they will fit him at or around 3 years old (I think this is just a sizing fluke based on brand).  Shoes are 6-7 and he is still comfortable in size 4 diapers. 

Teeth:  Grant’s 2 year old molars still haven’t popped yet.  I am telling you… this boy has been gnawing hard core on those gums for over 3 months and they still haven’t come in.  Grant also had a dentist appointment last week.  He did great.  He let the dentist look in his mouth with the mirror and the hygienist put the chocolate toothpaste (aka chocolate flavored tooth polish) in his mouth on her instrument.  They said each time we will try to do more and more without making it a traumatic experience.    

At the dentist!

Language/Comprehension:  We have been working on shapes, colors, letters, and numbers and we see progress daily.  He mixes pentagon and octagon up in his shapes puzzle but knows circle, triangle, square, rectangle, and diamond.  He is getting more and more consistent with colors and very often gets red, white, orange, and yellow correct.  He can count 1-13 rather consistently and recognizes numbers 1-5 when asked to pick them out.  If you sing “one, two” Grant answers “buckle my shoe.”  Then we can reverse it and he does the counting part and we answer with the other all the way to 10. 

We have been working more and more on letter recognition but there isn’t much progress there.   

He more often than not uses your, my, me, and I in the correct context and is using them more and more.  We have also noticed a change in Grant’s memory.  He will refer to something that happened several days ago and it takes Matt and I a little while to catch on.  We are so used to his little brain always being in the present.  For instance, he has still been referring to his trip to the dentist, what they did and the fact that he got to pick out a car from the “treasure chest.”  He has also been talking about the "birthday snowman" he and my mom built.

Grant can say the “Come Lord Jesus” blessing in its entirety but towards the end he does have a tendency to mumble and follow up with a loud, proud “Amen!”  

He still won't push the pedal to make it move

Mobility/Coordination:  Grant can unzip and take his coat off and put his hat on (usually facing the right direction).  We work on dressing/undressing and there are certain pairs of pants Grant can pull down along with being able to pull down his underwear and loves trying to put on his socks.  He is a pro at taking his socks and shoes off.  At his birthday party, he successfully blew out his candles.  Occasionally, he will use the proper grip on crayons/pencils.  He still primarily eats with his left hand, throws with his right and colors with his right.  I will say that he does most things interchangeably with both hands so we will see how that continues.  He can give a real thumbs up now and knows he is two but can’t show that on his fingers yet (he holds up all 5).  Grant can also roll his tongue and loves doing so and will occasionally catch a ball. 

Potty Training:  I had good intentions of working with Grant for the days we were off between Christmas and New Years.  Well, then we both got sick, ran fevers and Grant had some looser stools… none of which make for good training or practicing conditions.  He still has potty successes here and there but nothing consistent.  Sometimes he will ask to sit on the potty and others he will absolutely refuse.     

Grant-isms:  Grant likes to pretend fall and say “help me please” because he needs help up ~ He has discovered picking his nose but luckily those fingers haven’t found their way into his mouth ~ When he gets a time out, he cries and says “I’ll be nice” over and over ~ Answers a yes question with “Mmm Hmm” ~ He doesn’t like to be ignored and if we have our phones out looking at something he will say “put it away mama/daddy” ~ He is bossy, bossy, bossy right now!

Things he likes:  Still loves baseball and his tee ~ singing Christmas songs (yes, still!), music, and dancing ~ playing the guitar  

Funniest moment(s) this month:  If we are playing basketball in the basement Grant will yell “miss!” when you shoot the ball ~ If he sees a commercial with Christmas décor but no Santa he will ask “Where’s Santa?” 

Biggest change(s) this month:  Unfortunately, we had some regression this month and since being back at daycare in the New Year Grant has occasionally been biting or attempting to bite… usually unprovoked.  Not cool!

Firsts:  Sledding!  With some really good snow earlier this year (which has all melted now!) we have been able to get out a couple of times to enjoy.

Grant and his "birthday snowman"

My mom took Grant to a local nursing home by the name of Villa Loretta.  My aunt takes care of the many animals they have so it was almost like a petting zoo for Grant complete with goats, rabbits, horses, donkeys, chickens, monkeys, llamas, and others I probably forgot. 

Illnesses:  Grant and I were both sick this month.  Grant had a pretty bad cold and ran a fever of 103-105 for 4 days.  He was fever free for over 24 hours then the day before he was supposed to go back to daycare and me back to work his fever came back and spiked at 105 again.  It was just a virus so there wasn’t much we could do other than keep him comfortable with Tylenol and cuddling.   

C Diff update:  I am happy to say that Grant has still showed no signs of C Diff.  It has been a busy month with outreach though. 

Grant was featured in a Fond du Lac Reporter article and Chicago PBS story on the human microbiome. 

Here are some of the links if you haven’t had the chance to read or watch them.  The PBS story is very interesting.  They are hoping to find other applications for stool transplants and have some promising research on the horizon.    

Click here to read the Fond du Lac Reporter article.

Click here to read the American Journal of Gastroenterology submission on Grant.

Click here to view the Chicago Tonight PBS story that Grant was featured in.