22 Month Update!

I have been meaning to write a little update on Zay for months now, but somehow time just keeps getting away from me! Sorry this is such a long post, but I want to try to get all the fun little memories down while they are fresh in my mind!

Isaiah James – you are getting to be such an independent little boy. And where did the time go...you are closing in on your 2nd birthday! You continue to figure out your fabulous little world one day at a time. I love your innocence, your smile, your charm, your curiosity, your humor and your determination.

You are fantastic at sharing – but it is usually with the dogs, so you get in trouble for this. The dogs make you SO happy, but usually make Mommy SO frustrated. All three of you get in cahoots together and some days it’s all I can do to stay sane.

You continue to be such a happy little boy. There just isn’t a lot that gets you down. Even when you get in trouble and have to go stand in the corner (timeout), you do so willingly. We generally will give you a warning that you are doing something you shouldn’t and if you don’t listen we say “Corner!”, and off you trot! I’m amazed how HARD it is to discipline you consistently, however I can already see the rewards we have reaped because of our consistency. A lot of times it is hard for me to keep a straight face while correcting you. And it hardly seems fair that I laugh at you and then discipline you for doing it! Somehow we have found a good balance and Mommy is continually working on her maturity as well! Overall, I think you are growing up to be a very polite and well-mannered little boy.

Some other things that you have been up to, is talking. At least more than you were a few months ago! Recently your coined phrases include:

“my daddy” (about the only thing you are really possessive over is your daddy)

“mama, dada, mama, dada” (you will say this constantly until one of us comes and looks at what you have done or what you want to do)

“daddy vroom” (meaning, daddy drives)

“mama vroom” (mommy drives)

“Vroom” (tractor, train, big truck, semi)

“Bailey – haha!” (somehow everything Bailey does is really funny to you)

“Ball!” (you can spot a ball anywhere, and if it’s round it’s considered a ball. It’s clearly your favorite thing to be on the lookout for, and you get so excited when you find anything round!)

“Ball-ball” (This means football, because we watch football 24/7 in our house!)

“Thank you” (This isn’t recent or new, but you say it all the time without being told…accomplishment if you ask me!)

Side Note: Zay’s words are still not where they should be, but he is gaining more everyday and I’m so proud of him! I literally think he learns a new word each day. I’m realizing that Zay is definitely Shane and my child. If any of you know either of our histories, you probably wouldn’t be surprised to know that Zay doesn’t say a lot of words correctly or even at all. Shane had a speech impediment when he was young, and only said about 5 letters of the alphabet correctly when he entered kindergarten. Meeting him as an adult, you would NEVER guess this. And I, well I didn’t say any words when I was young, not because I couldn’t but because I was shy. I was hoping that maybe we would skip this challenge with Zay, but I’ve come to terms that this will be a little bit of a challenge for us. (Like we can’t handle a challenge or ten!) Overall, Zay just doesn’t talk a lot, and when he does say some phrases you have to know what he’s talking about because a lot of the time it really doesn’t sound anything at all like what it is supposed to. I will be meeting with our AEA teacher this Friday and she is giving me some suggestions on when we should get a Speech Pathologist involved. In my opinion it will be sooner rather than later in order to give Zay as much of a head start on learning how to say things correctly as we can. In the past I’ve been told we need to wait until he is at least 2, so we will see!

Despite the fact that you don’t say many words, you are as smart as a whip! It’s amazing the ways you can communicate without saying anything! You use your creativity to get your point across, which is quite impressive. Generally, you only have to be shown a new sign once and have it mastered the next time! We haven't introduced too many new signs, because we want you to speak, but I think you would rather use sign language in all cases. And I would say that you throws less temper-tantrums than most kids your age, which is surprising to me because you don’t even use language which is how most kids work through their frustrations. I think you completely understand almost everything we are saying. You follow multiple-step directions, and like to help out whenever and wherever you can! Your problem solving skills amaze me…and scare me! You are not afraid to do anything and anytime! Gives me a heart attack some days!

Potty time…well, we aren’t really there yet. But you did pee on the potty a month ago! Surprised us both! You thought it was the funniest thing and laughed so hard when mommy yelped in surprise to your little stream spraying all over! I hope I’m not ruining our ‘window of opportunity’, but I haven’t pushed this at all yet. I’m really just waiting until we are home fulltime together. I feel like I can be more consistent then. Right now, diapers are easy and they make me think you are still my little baby! Ha!

Outside time – wow, you LOVE to be outside!! It is a battle to get you inside when we get home from work/daycare! You chase after the dogs in the backyard, then want to swing, then want to sit at the patio table, our outside activities never ends! You love to be outdoors, and on beautiful days like today I just can’t blame you!

This leads to another favorite. Baths and showers…generally necessary because of massive amounts of outside time. Daddy and Mommy talk in a secret code around home. We are VERY careful when speaking of taking a bath or shower. Generally as soon as those words are spoken you are running to the bathroom and taking off your clothes! Hard not to love a little boy that likes to be clean!

Praying – we pray before dinner each night and you love to partake! You clasp your hands and hold them proudly above your head so everyone can see that you are praying. The other day, we were having breakfast together and Grandma Judy joined us at the table, but she wasn’t eating. I asked you if you would like to pray with me, and you quickly folded your hands and we began to pray. Suddenly you stopped us, and scowled at Grandma Judy because she wasn’t praying with us!!! Watch out people! If you are going to sit at our table you are going to have to pray…EVERYONE prays in this house! :)

Reading - I'm still amazed at how long you can sit still and let us (or insist that we) read a book. It’s the first thing you run to go get in the morning. This is another thing that will be so nice when we are home together – we won’t be rushed to read our books in the mornings! We can just read, read, read, and then read some more! Fine by me! My new favorite saying is "Children are made readers on the laps of their parents", makes me think of you and your love of books!

TV - Zay = big fan of the TV; Mom = not a big fan of the fact that Zay is a big fan of the TV! We limit the time you watch tv, but wowzers – you sure like your Sesame Street! You can tune out every other thing if that show is on. For this reason, I’m hoping that when we move, we will have a separate family room to put our gigantic TV in, so we won’t be so tempted to even turn it on during the day. And dare I say we skip getting cable in our new home…….? I’m not for sure, but it’s been discussed! HGTV and ESPN we will miss you, not to mention DVR! Don’t worry Zay, we should still be able to get Sesame Street! Eeek!

I can’t think of too many other things at the moment, but everyday is an incredible adventure with you, Zay. Never a dull moment! You make me smile each and every day. And at the end of the day you still like to cuddle before bedtime and are a champ about going to bed! We still a regular early morning risers, but like Daddy says - you are just excited to hang out with us each morning! :) Love you, Zay-Zay!!!

So long, folks!