Developmental update: Colin is 18 months old.

[rivka]

It has been pointed out to me that perhaps I shouldn't post about how much my life sucks and then disappear for a week. Sorry.

Here I am, back! And with a developmental update. Colin is 18 months old, and a fine big capable boy.



Just recently he's really gotten the rules down for peekaboo. He "hides" (announcing "hiding!") and then pops out and shouts "peekaboo!" He has not fully grasped the principles underlying hiding, which sometimes makes for very cute results.

(Also a perennial source of toddler cute: Colin thinks he can jump. What he can do is squat down and then stand up quickly saying "jump!" It's almost like jumping, right? He's very proud.)

He's got a few hundred words now, which he deploys with verve. We can have real conversations:

Me: Want to help me put away books, Colin?
Colin: touches a book. Alex.
Me: Are these books for Alex?
Colin: Chapter.
Me: Yes, those are chapter books.

Colin: pointing at my monitor. Baby! Becky! Baby!
Me: You want to see pictures of Becky and the babies? (pulls up our friends' baby blog.)
Colin: reaches for the screen. Baby. Carry.
Me: You want to carry the baby?
Colin: Yes.

One of my favorite new words of his, which he uses all the time now: "Turn." He'll take a bite of a cracker and then hand the rest to me, saying invitingly, "Turn!" Or Alex will get out of the bathtub, and if it doesn't look like I'm getting ready to put him in next he'll anxiously say "Turn! Turn!" He was in a study today at the Johns Hopkins Cognitive Development Lab, and he eagerly directed me and the experimenter to take turns with a particular toy. It feels like it's of a piece with the general harmoniousness we've noticed in Colin all along.

He has a few two-word phrases: help me, other side, read again, cut it, and, inevitably, more see-see (i.e., nursing). They are stereotyped for the most part; he's not flexibly putting together two different words he happens to know. But it is still definitely an expansion.

He likes to reel off lists of words. When I'm rocking him at bedtime, I'll hear "Red. Red. Orange. Blue. Green. Pink." Or he'll look up from playing and start naming animals and making their sounds. "Sheep! Baaa. Neigh... horse. Cow. Cow. Moo." Or he'll just start pointing to and naming parts of the body. I guess that when you only have a couple hundred words, it's hard to make conversation without relying on lists. (Colin is actually the world champion of animal sounds. You should hear his elephant trumpet.)



Colin and Alex are as thick as thieves these days. They chase each other around the house and climb all over each other. As soon as he wakes up in the morning he looks around: "Alex? Alex?" He wants to be right where she is doing right what she's doing. Sometimes this poses difficulties on the homeschooling front, but I try to remember that their good relationship is more important to me than her learning this particular thing at this particular moment. On her side, of course she sometimes finds him annoying, but she also plays with him much more than I expected her to.

Colin likes: airplanes, trucks, trains, and other things that go vroom. Bunnies. ("Hop! Hop! A bunny!") Being "pretty," such as dressing up in Alex's dress-up clothes or putting ponytail holders on his wrists and ankles. Playing in the sink or other water sources, which he attempts to justify by pleading to wash his hands. Being read to. Looking at pictures online, particularly Google Images searches for "commercial airplanes" and our friends' aforementioned baby blog. Having his entire family in sight at all times. Nursing, a little too much.

He continues to be a good regular-food eater, although ironically he isn't any heavier than Alex was as a terrible eater. He loves meat, fish, shellfish, rice, pasta, fruit, raw vegetables. We've got another one here who loves sushi.



His sleep continues to suck, but he has slept through the night twice now, so I have a tiny shred of hope that it will improve. We've decided to nightwean in a few weeks (after our camping trip) in hopes that that will lead to a big breakthrough in nighttime sleep.

Comments

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

the juggler squeeed when he saw the picture of alex and colin. i kid you not.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I really, really love that picture. It's everything I was afraid they wouldn't have because they're so far apart in age.

[ailbhe]

In our home ed groups, where the children are not accustomed to being separated into age-groups, they play together in very mixed-age games from toddlers to the very early teens, and the rules become sort of automatically adapted to suit the different abilities. They do also play in similar-stage-of-development groups, but it's not a big deal either way.

What astonishes me is siblings who enjoy and seek out each others' company. That makes me choke up.

[xpioti.livejournal.com]

I love the picture of Colin eating sushi; he's so cute!

[acceberskoorb.livejournal.com]

So cute! Love your updates!

[puzzlement.livejournal.com]

So sweet! It's interesting how the narrative goes on: the happy baby becomes the eager-to-please toddler and so on.

Also, re the twin blog: twins are cheating. Two babies, too cute.

[(Anonymous)]

I would expect that Alex and Colin would mostly get along, a three or four year age difference is not that much unless the children are kept in age segregated activities. What I mean is that in the home-school groups where I grew up and the ones I'm part of now, the children generally interact in age integrated groups. Older children are expected to help younger children and younger children are expected to accept help. The more I am around my own children (3,2, and 8 months) and others the more convinced I am that a lot (most) sibling rivalry is created by parents and caregivers. For instance one sees very little sibling rivalry among Mennonites where it is expected that all family members will love and respect and care for each other...Kyndra

[kate_nepveu]

A few hundred words at eighteen months! Wow, go, Colin.

Good luck on improving his sleep.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Well, I haven't kept track. If I try to make a list, I get up to around 200 quickly and then things stop occurring to me, so it's probably over 200 but not by much. I guess technically that's "a couple hundred words," not "a few hundred words." ;-)

[kate_nepveu]

Either way, that's still a whole lot (and you're talking to someone whose toddler had a little less than that at 22 months, when she was deemed was "most talkative" in her class => ).

[laurarey.livejournal.com]

That is very impressive!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Eh, both of my kids have been talkers. I don't know how hugely meaningful it is, but it certainly is fun.

[laurarey.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can imagine. I can't wait to hear what Rachel has to say. I was a very late talker and Rachel communicates so well without words that her language skills seek to be developing more slowly as well. She understands when we speak to her, but just hasn't started really using words herself. I suspect I'll turn around one day and she'll just speak to me in sentences.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

I totally love the photos, all of them. He's cuteness personified (so's Alex!). It's great getting these updates, thank you very much for sharing.

[almeda.livejournal.com]

My husband says you need to know about this site (http://www.airliners.net/search/), for all your airplane-photo needs.