Some of my old notes - finally!

Josey - approx. 10 months

• says "Dadadadada"
• wrinkles his nose, smiles, and breathes in and out of his nose really fast
• loves bellies! Sticks his fingers in belly buttons, and will grab around waists and suck or zerbert bellies
• loves grabbing faces and necks and putting his mouth (or teeth now that he's got some) on them
• very charming to strangers; will stare at them until they smile, then will put his head on my chest and smile, pretending to be shy. He then leans way around me and plays peekaboo with them
• as soon as he sees the nursing pillow or me lifting my shirt he starts grabbing at me saying "heh heh heh"
• likes standing up against things and slamming his chest, chin, or both on them. He also likes banging heads, especially with Dad
• he's a real ham and will do anything for a laugh or a reaction; he even goes so far as to slap himself repeatedly in the head and laugh each time

Josey - 13 months

• has stopped breastfeeding and is now sleeping through the night most nights now that he's in a toddler bed
• drives cars and trucks around and makes very realistic engine noises

Josey - 14 months

• gets very excited when dad comes home - will wave with both hands at the door until he sees him, then shrieks "Daddy!"
• loves smiling at strangers and trying to get them to pay attention to him
• loves walking on his own in malls or outside. Daddy has taught him that sticks and puddles are fun
• has decided that he hates getting dressed and will cry like he's hurt whenever I try
• practicing his mad look - sticks his lips out and wrinkles his forehead, which is really funny to see
• loves putting his head down on the cats
• gets stuck climbing the gates and screams bloody murder in frustration, then gets right back up when I take him down
• says "cheese", "hot" (whispered "hot-ee), "Daddy", and can sign "hungry" (chews on a finger), and "again", and waves and blows kisses
• puts his pointer fingers and thumbs together to make be sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and puts his hands together and rocks for "Out comes the sun"
• one morning after I asked him if he was hungry, then got distracted, I found him in the kitchen eating a stack of bread that he had pulled off the counter

Josey - 15 months

• gives kisses (sometimes with tongue) when he's feeling generous
• loves boy things like trucks, cars, and blocks
• tried to make some animal noises like horses, cats, dogs, cows, horses, pigs, ducks
• has very good fine motor skills like removing marker caps and putting them back on, and placing very small objects in little holes
• takes kleenex and "blows" his nose making a honking sound

Josey - 16 months

• knows which key starts the car and can put it in the ignition
• can climb up cut out steps in the side of the play structure and likes to go down the slide backwards on his tummy
• starting to be much more vocal and uses different sounds
• can point out different animals in books

Josey - 22 months

• strings words together: "Daddy's big broom", or my favourite: "Hand Poo On"

Josey - 24 months

• saying broken sentences "Bambi on Grampa's wall"
• still loves his Little People, reading books, tools, helping Daddy do stuff
• getting very defiant - will watch your reaction as he's doing something bad like coming near the baby after he's been told to leave him alone. Tries to hit or kick Roanen if he feels like we're going to take him away from him
• likes watching shows or movies on tv, like Poko or his Berenstein Bears DVD
• sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:

"Teeko, Teeko, Eeta Ta, How a wunna a-a-a, Up-a Up-a Up-a Up-a Up-a...(this can trail on indefinitely until he remembers there's more to the song) Ky" Repeat all over and over

• knows most of the alphabet, especially if someone else is singing it he'll sing every couple of letters and mouth the rest
• loves going to Toybus and plays really well with other kids. He especially loves singing time and watching the other kids do the actions to songs he doesn't know
• is now in his new bedroom and bed. We had some trouble getting him to start sleeping in the bed at night because he was constantly asking for "old bed", but is ok with it now, especially since he helped daddy take apart the old bed - "old bed gone"

Josey - 27 1/2 months (this is out of order)

• acting up a lot, throwing tantrums and not being happy with anything that is done for him or to him
• doesn't like getting his diaper changed, especially if it's poopy, but does not want to go on the potty except to pee once in a awhile
• says "please" and "thank you" although he needs to be reminded sometimes
• getting comfortable with other kids, but expresses it through hugging, grabbing, and flailing his legs at kids
• does not want to play on his own much
• likes smiling at Roanen to make him smile back, but still gets aggressive - kicking him or covering his face, etc
• has a good bedtime routine: bath, pjs, stories, snack, brushing teeth, then a song, but still needs someone sitting in his room until he finally falls asleep (which sometimes only happens after a lot of fooling around)

Roanen - 3 1/2 months

• hates the car! We had to stop 5 times on the way to Ottawa because he was screaming hysterically
• has slept through the night (9 hours straight) a couple of times, but mostly gets up once to nurse then goes back down to sleep easily
• naps very well during the days - sometimes sleeps up to 3 1/2 hours straight in his crib
• crying peaked at about 3 months, then slowly lessened. He's still quite fussy around dinner time, though
• loves when his legs and arms are moved - "dancing", especially when Russ does it, and will stop crying just about every time for it
• very happy and smiley - coos a lot and blows raspberries

Josey - 25/26 months

• speaks very well, but still signs "hungry" and makes a kissing sound for "thirsty"
• likes doing "Cheers" with everything that is the same - drinks, Rice Krispies, feet. He had his first bath with Roanen and was very excited to see that Roanen also has a penis: "Cheers penis!"
• has started saying "thank you" after every time he says "no", whether it's appropriate or not
• loves playing at Toybus, especially playing and singing "Sleeping Bunnies"
• sings his ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Head & Shoulders, and knows a lot of words to the Grampa song and others
• likes sitting beside Roanen on the big chair and says "One Two Boys!"
• gets on the bed in an arch and says "Tunnel!" - tries to go over top of Roanen and says "Roanen in tunnel!"

Roanen - 7-8 weeks

• gets very fussy and cries pretty much inconsolably
• will not nurse if he's not hungry, unlike Josey, so he can't be settled down that way
• sleeps on his own for 20 minutes to an hour in the AM, then 2-4 hours in the afternoon
• goes about 3 hours at a time for the first ocuple of stretches of night sleep, then 1.5 to 2.5 hour stretches thereafter
• very smiley when he's in a good mood, which usually doesn't last very long - does not like being put down very much when he's awake and will fuss even in the swing

Roanen - 8 months (yes, I failed to record a large chunk of his infancy - it was pretty much a blur of not sleeping and lots of screaming)

• having mostly short naps (around 30 minutes) but will sometimes go 1 or 1.5 hours
• eats TONS of food of varying tastes and textures - generally has no problems with new foods
• likes flirting with people now and everyone in public remarks that he's such a happy baby
• can sit on his own quite well and is starting to pull himself up to standing on things
• army crawls very well and pushes himself up on all fours and rocks
• will play by himself for longer periods of time, especially if he's outside on the deck, but becomes very agitated if Josey starts harassing him, or if he decides he wants to be held
• has developed a really annoying whine
• likes jumping on laps or in his exersaucer
• wakes up a lot at night (4-8 times) and needs to be nursed back to sleep - ends up in our bed most nights
• wakes between 5 and 6:30 in the AM
• says "A-dadadada"
• gets very excited when he sees Daddy and loves being rolled across the bed
• loves looking at himself in the mirror or in photographs - makes out with his reflection in the mirror, tongue and all :)

Josey - 2 1/2 years

• saying lovely things like "Hey cat! Come see that friggin' baby!", "How my get that friggin' sock on?", and "Oh Twap! (crap)"
• plays pretend a lot. For example, a dialogue between two grapes:

Grape #1: "Oh no! One monster gonna get me! He gonna eat me! You run away!"

Grape #2: "Ok, my run away!"

Grape #1, being eaten by the Josey monster: "Aahhh! He eat me!"

• uses nail clippers like a cell phone
• exhibiting obsessive compulsive behaviour like starting completely over from the beginning if he has a problem with something, and lining things up in perfect rows
• really likes Duplo and makes "tractors"
• pays very close attention to his food and notices when he has eaten it into the shape of something (Roanen's teething cookie into the shape of a bone and his toast into the shape of a dog - and they actually do look like them)
• mostly toilet trained. He only wears underwear (doesn't like training pants and will pee in them) and tells us when he has to poop and almost always when he has to pee - he'll have one or two accidents a day

Josey - 2 yrs 9 months

• telling us every time he has to pee and poop! (from about a month ago). He's still in a diaper at night, though, and it's usually pretty soaked in the AM
• starting to go to bed on his own without someone in the room - his naps have been like this for a while and as of Oct. 14 he has gone to bed on his own 3 nights in a row and gets better at it each night
• says "Nice day outside!" at least once a day regardless of the weather
• getting very good at his "please" and "thank you"s and is starting to figure out "sorry" and "excuse me"
• not very interested in colouring or playing with playdough for any extended periods of time , although he will make "faces" now when he draws. He makes a circle with two little dots for eyes, a big smile, and sometimes a forehead or hair.
• loves being active and playing outside
• still quite agressive with Roanen. He'll grab, kick or squeeze him, but will also sometimes hug him very gently or play nicely and share

Roanen - 9 months

• loves finger foods, especially Cheerios, and gets mad if there isn't something he can eat himself on his tray
• pulling himself up to standing and starting to cruise
• might be trying to say "Kitty", and sometimes says something similar to "Teddy".
• screams extremely angrily if something is taken away from him, or if he's in a bad mood and Josey dares to walk by him
• crawling on all 4s very well now
• gets very excited to see Daddy and hugs him tightly while pumping his legs as a greeting when he gets home from work
• eats mass quantities of food and is now over 20 lbs.