General Update: April

NAME/ALIAS: AGE: Piper, 3 years 6 months

PSYCHOMOTOR STUFF: hopping better on one foot, seems very clumsy lately- maybe a growth spurt. For sure her feet are huge now. No real new milestones, just perfecting old skills.

COGNITIVE STUFF: I’ve noticed some different imagination techniques- for her at least. She is acting more and more like actual animals when she pretends, more so than just the noises- the real affectations of a cat or a dog. Amazing memory surfaces frequently. She is starting to question things on t.v. more and more, especially when characters are expressing emotion. We talk a lot about real and pretend.

ACADEMICS: Reading and writing growth in the last couple of months. She is going on pure sight words although we try to sound out words occasionally together. She is good with repetitive books, I’d say a level C right now. She points to words so I know she is really reading them and doesn’t just have the whole page memorized. Writing is hard still as there are many letters she just doesn’t know how to make on her own. She can write everyone’s name in the family without help, and a few other words. She has made a couple little books with pictures and words. We started working on telling time last night and she is spontaneously talking about and making patterns all the time.

CREATIVE OUTPUT: Is lately into playdoh again and asks to play most days with it. Is showing a bit more creativity in her designs so they look more like the real thing. Her people drawings are still pretty good, but no new leaps here. She also draws these strange but controlled circular designs.

EMOTIONAL ISSUES: typical 3 year old stuff. sibling rivalry. She is becoming more and more like me in terms of food issues. I try not to let her see mine- but she does all the same things I do. Her food can’t touch, she needs different utensils for each food item, food must be at the right temp. If it is supposed to be hot, it must be HOT not warm. Same with cold temps. I’m hoping she won’t inherit my noise sensitivity as she seems predestined to be as loud as possible. She is very in tune with my emotions though and tries to make me happy if I seem sad, turns down the t.v. if it’s loud, etc.

SCHOOL UPDATES: She did very well on her report card with the exception of social areas. The teacher commented that she has made good progress since she started though, so I am pleased. She has mastered everything else on the academic list (no surprise) I’ve signed her up for next year for two days a week again.

ANYTHING ELSE: Socialization is much improved in last couple of months. She plays regularly with kids in the neighborhood more often now, and seems to interact well with others at school. I’m waiting for a conference next week on this, as socialization is her weakest point at school, and was the main reason I enrolled her there. Oh, and she is pretty much potty trained at night now.

General Update: January

NAME/ALIAS: AGE: Piper, 3 years 4 months

PSYCHOMOTOR STUFF: Getting better at playing the Wii, likes the Wii Fit game for kids especially. Walked on stilts (cans basically) at the Children’s Museum. She was adamant she wanted to try them, and hopped right on. Even when someone knocked her off, she climbed right back on. I need to make her a pair to play with at home now.

COGNITIVE STUFF: Loves her Leapster Explorer, still argues about everything and debates/explains why she is right and you are wrong.

ACADEMICS: Is doing some workbook type stuff- nothing major, nothing hard. I was surprised at how easy they were, and how many things in them she learned even years ago. She really likes the Cariboo game I picked up for her, but she does try to cheat and figure out where the balls are ahead of time so she can find the right card to get it.

CREATIVE OUTPUT: coloring more inside the lines, and with more focus than before.

EMOTIONAL ISSUES: She is the most stubborn person I know, and she can ignore you like nothing I have ever seen. Everyone comments on the ignoring factor. If she doesn’t want to do something, or if she has her mind made up- she will not look at you, and there is no emotion whatsoever. You are simply not there.

SCHOOL UPDATES: n/a

ANYTHING ELSE: Loves her sister dearly. She is so good with her, makes her laugh, plays with her, speaks for her, carries on a conversation with her and then tells me what Stella said. I am enjoying watching them play and learn from each other.

General Update

NAME/ALIAS: AGE: Piper, 3 years 2months

PSYCHOMOTOR STUFF: getting better at really using a hula hoop now, tries to dribble a ball (hands)

COGNITIVE STUFF: She is big into arguing her point now, and is very logical about it too- not the typical arguing tantrum type stuff she has done for months. Her language is much more rich and complex and expressive. Sometimes I am just amazed at how she speaks- and the things that come out of her mouth in her baby sounding voice.


ACADEMICS: Last night we went out to dinner and she entertained herself with the sugar packets: making patterns and counting them. She is really into counting everything right now and has great one to one correspondence. The teens mess her up, and as long as it took her to count to 12, it might be ages before she gets to 20 correctly. She continues to be fascinated with the moon, and we talked more about it last night since it was a crescent moon. At dinner she told us that our lemons were crescents- apparently her word of the day. She pointed out the stars in the sky and argued with us about whether one was an airplane, a star, or a planet. Self-sufficient on the computer with general use. Can use Word and Paint. plus several software programs like KidPix and JumpStart. Opens and closes programs with ease, prints, and shuts down computer.

CREATIVE OUTPUT: Lots of building of forts, tents, houses: out of pillows, couch cushions, blankets, and other misc. materials. She has very elaborate plans and gets upset when we make her clean up. Poor Stella is picked up and carried to these areas and forced to play. :) She has also been rewriting songs that she knows with new lyrics. I was impressed that the meter and rhythm still matched the original tune.

EMOTIONAL ISSUES: Again, very argumentative, usually age appropriate when tired or hungry, but often just to be silly or sarcastic. Is completely logical and uses reasoning with her debating. She’s loud! I guess in general we are a loud family, but it really comes to light watching her. Will not sleep in her own bed. We have finally got her out of our bed and sleeping in a chair/ottoman combo in our bedroom. Is embarrassed about performing still- will NOT perform if asked. I caught her waltzing the other day with her stuffed dog and she immediately stopped and hid when I looked at her.

SCHOOL UPDATES: n/a

General Update: October

NAME/ALIAS: AGE: Piper, 3years 1 month

PSYCHOMOTOR STUFF: Finally got brave enough this last month to ride her 16in bike (even though she rode her 12in one with no problem) She’s had it forever, but I think she was scared because it wobbled a bit when she’d get on it. It still a tad bit too tall for her, but she did great. We also recently acquired a Wii system, and she is all over it. She loves the swordfighting game especially.

COGNITIVE STUFF: She’s finally ready to do puzzles on her own. Nothing amazing since she’s only doing 12 piece ones independently, but I am so proud of her for finally having the patience and drive to complete them. Previously she would only do them if I helped her and gave her hints about turning the pieces, and would throw a fit if they would not fit exactly. She will work on 24 piece puzzles with a lot of encouragement.

I always type out her update in Word before I post it. I realized that last October’s update was in the same folder so I opened it up and this is what it said:

“Piper has discovered YouTube on the iPhone and looks for favorite videos. She is really good at the puzzles on it even though she struggles with regular ones without help. She gives up too easily when frustrated because a piece won’t fit perfectly even when she knows where it goes.”

Funny that I was talking about her frustration back then too!

ACADEMICS: I’ve noticed more patterning with her blocks. She is a whiz on the computer now and it’s a fight for me to be able to get on it myself. I got her the Jump Start cd’s for Pre-school and kindergarten, and it will be interesting to see how she does on them. I’ve observed her trying to teach Stella to do things like use my iPhone and turn pages in books. Other than a couple of sight words, there’s no real reading yet. I’ve made her a couple of books to hopefully encouraqe her. She’s been very interested in the Scrabble Jr. game lately though, and also in copying my writing. She will only write her name by herself if I bribe her however.

CREATIVE OUTPUT: Lots of drawings- more birthday cakes, an aquarium with fish and a castle, has added eyebrows to her people drawings.

EMOTIONAL ISSUES: Very strong-willed and independent right now. Is having difficulty with jealousy over any of Stella’s new milestones. If someone is excited that Stella can crawl, then Piper immediately has to show us she can crawl too.

SCHOOL UPDATES: n/a

General Update

Child's name: Piper

Age (in months, or years and months): almost 36 months! She will be 3 on the 11th, so I guess this is my last general update here.

Physical abilities: She got a real hula hoop and a real jump rope as an early birthday present from my sister. Previously, she had been using various things around the house to play the part. She is not great at either one yet, but she can get the hula hoop around a couple of times, and she tries so hard to jump rope. Maybe soon she’ll figure it out. She can write her name and use a computer mouse correctly. I had to bribe her to get a video of her writing her name. She was being as silly as she could to push my buttons, but I kind of still got a record of it.

Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc: speaks pretty well in long sentences and clauses. Vocabulary is good, as in I have nothing to compare it to but she uses some fairly complex words. She surprised me by counting to 8 in Spanish the other day. I wonder how many other words she knows since she is not a performer at all. The main language hang-up she has right now is using “her” in place of “she”.

Reading/pre-reading: She knows a couple sight words and her name, but I have not done anything with her in the longest time. She reads her books to herself and tells the story by the pictures even if she’s never read it before. She reads to Stella all the time too, especially the concept books with a picture and one word. Asks me to write other words like mom, dad. and caterpillar. She knows environmental print like store signs and traffic signs.

Number stuff: I overheard her count to 8 in Spanish and 11 in English. Direct teaching has no result. She’ll get it when she gets it. Getting better with patterns.

Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc: She is very interested in games right now, board games and especially computer games. She is quite proficient on the computer and easily starts her games up to play. These games work on patterns, letters, numbers. shapes, colors, etc. Some of it she already knows, but its still fun for her. She loves to do mazes.

Creativity: Loves to make lists, especially birthday lists, and tells me what to write. She drew this picture of a birthday cake a few weeks ago, but I hadn’t posted it yet. The cake is sitting on a plate and has 6 candles, apparently she thinks she should be six this year. The swirls on the cake are the sprinkles and icing.

Imagination: most of her play is pretend play now. She loves her dollhouse and her regular dolls.

Social:really wants to be and play with other children. She is still a bit aggressive at times with others her own age. She is wonderful with Stella, and does everything she can to make her happy when she is sad. I love that she gets up every day and tells her good morning. She talks to her like a normal person and not a baby, which is so nice to hear. She also “translates” for us what Stella is saying.

Character/personality: Still aggressive but can be very sweet and loving. I’m ready for the terrible twos to be done. She never really has true tantrums, but she is very vocal when she wants something, and has little patience for waiting.

School Updates: n/a I’m looking in to sending her somewhere for a couple days a week just to be with other kids.

Link to blog/websites/photos:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

May: General Update

Age (in months, or years and months): 31.5 months

Physical abilities: Is trying to do the monkey bars/rings at the park. Does pretty well, but I still have to support her legs as she moves her arms independently. Has developed an increased love of dance again this month. Weird jumping moves where she stands in place with her feet spread wide apart and jumps straight in the air and turns 180 degrees then plants her feet again.

Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc: Singing finally! She started out with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and has added several more songs to her repertoire in the last couple of weeks. She was always one to sing and make up her own songs, but singing known songs is new for her.

Reading/pre-reading: ABC song, Has picture read a story to Stella a couple of times, but nothing particularly new as of late.

Number stuff: We have more rote counting this month: 1-8. She is still much better at number recognition and 1:1 counting than she is at rote counting. I find this odd, but maybe it’s normal?

Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc Very interested in weather this month and night vs. day. Seems to be trying to figure out how the sun and the moon relate to one another and the patterns that ensue.

Creativity: same

Imagination: More pretend play, imaginary friend play, is using her kitchen more since I moved it into the living room again.

Social: Is interacting m ore with other kids when she has the opportunity. She still gravitates towards older ones, but is starting to prefer girls more often…or maybe she’s just has more chances to play with girls lately.

Character/personality: sweet, loving, stubborn, argumentative, bossy, loud

School Updates: n/a

Link to blog/websites/photos: http://onefunkymunky.blogspot.com/

General Update April

Age (in months, or years and months): almost 31 months

Physical abilities: Is doing better at jumping over objects and is also trying to jump rope. Has been very interested in using scissors this month and is actually doing quite well with them. Mostly doing small cuts and not long ones yet. Discovered the corkscrew apparatus at the playground and enjoys twisting around it from top to bottom.

Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc: The girl talks non-stop and is driving us all crazy. She narrates to herself all the time, as well as demanding our attention and acknowledgment when she is speaking. Vocabulary use this month includes: terrible, exquisite, and interesting. She now declares certain things as her “favorite” now, and her new catch phrase is “Let me share that with you” as in I have something she wants and now I have to share with her. I’ve heard several Spanish and Chinese words this month also, and she obviously memorized certain vocab from t.v. and her Dora books such as “sigue” “vamonos” and “abre”

Reading/pre-reading: nothing new, still reads tons of books and enjoys “reading” to the baby. If I have to read Snow White and the Seven Dwarves one more time I might go insane though.

Number stuff: I am starting to hear more correct rote counting 1-5, although it is still hit and miss. She has a new sudden increased interest in money and knows all the coin names, although she does mix them up at times.

Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc: Is making connections between everything, especially if it relates to something she has seen on Dora. Another catch phrase is “that’s just like…” She told me the other day that I must have taken a shower while she was at the playground because my hair was wet. We have begun attempting some very simple mazes and thinking skill type activities such as looking at a picture and trying to decide what’s wrong with it or what’s missing?

Creativity: Has started drawing tadpole people this month, and carries around this little notebook she loves to write and draw in. Still prefers pens to other mediums right now. Cuts out snowflakes using her scissors and attempts to fold paper into airplanes with limited success.

Imagination: Still very involved in pretend play

Social: I’m seeing more interactive play with other kids. Likes to play tag- her version of running around and screaming “you can‘t catch me!”. Declares other to be her “best friend” and this changes by the minute and often includes me

Character/personality: Has adapted well to the arrival of Stella at the beginning of the month. Was a little whiny at times, but is doing better. Still figuring out her new role and position in the family. She is working out how far she can push us and whether or not I will get up to discipline her while nursing. Definitely pushing her boundaries to see how far she can go. I’m seeing arguing from her lately rather than compliance and following directions. We are working on expressing our emotions, and she can be so funny at times. She told me at the store the other day with such expression in voice and body “I am NOT happy Mommy!” The lady behind us was cracking up. I feel like she has grown up sooo much this month, even more than I thought It doesn’t help that I get weekly comments from people who think she is at least 4 years old. On a positive note she is pretty much potty trained now and has not regressed yet.

School Updates: n/a

General Update March

Age (in months, or years and months): almost 30 months

Physical abilities: regularly climbs out of her crib every morning. She’s been able to do this for months, but fortunately it was containing her psychologically until recently. I guess I can try to take the side off again. The last time we took off the side rail she would not stay in her bed though at night. She also pulled herself up on the counter the other day so she could stand on top of it…crazy upper body strength.

Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc: It’s hard to believe she’s not older at times. Vocabulary is amazing and sentences get more complex every day. She talks non-stop and is intelligible to others most of the time. Vocab examples: delicious, disgusting, perfect, snow plow (that one threw me since I have no idea where she picked it up) beautiful, difficult. She will tell you her first and last name now. I’m not sure why I never thought to teach her the last name before now?

Reading/pre-reading: We still read lots of books every day, but not as many as we used to. She would love to do more, but Mommy is tired, and she gets mad at Daddy because he changes the story and mixes it up on purpose to be silly. She has a lot of books memorized and often reads them to herself.

Number stuff: I think she’ll be the last child on here to rote count past 1-2-3 correctly even though she can identify the numbers in print. Loves the number 18 for whatever reason.

Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc I can’t remember any examples right now, although I had a really good one the other day. If I remember I’ll update.

Creativity: loves to draw with pens now in her journal. Tells me what she is drawing, but I have a hard time visualizing it. A lot of her writing is still scribbles, but it is more focused and not completely random. Still enjoys playing with stickers and painting. Will pretend to paint if I tell her we can’t right now.

Imagination: Plays dinosaurs with daddy a lot of the time, which I find ironic. She has a love/hare relationship with them just like she did with bugs last summer. She is scared of her little robotic dinosaur she got for Christmas, bvt talks about it and shows it to people all the time. She just won’t touch it. Loved watching Jurassic Park a while back when it was on t.v. Knows many dinosaur names and what they eat. She continues to pretend play with her dolls and stuffed animals a lot of the day.

Social: has been having play dates with a new little friend who is about a year older than Piper. Gets along fairly well with her and plays well together. Can be a little aggressive and demanding at times about what she wants them both to do though.

Character/personality: Wild child this month at times, loud, boisterous, and extremely full of energy. We also began potty training seriously this month. She has been doing extremely well except for the last couple of days she has had accidents during the day. She is very proud of herself, especially when she poops. We have also gone two nights dry so I am optimistic t

School Updates: n/a

Link to blog/websites/photos: http://onefunkymunky.blogspot.com/

General Update for January

This is the quick update for the month. I wrote it at the beginning of the month, but never got around to posting it.

Age (in months, or years and months): 27 months

Physical abilities: has been going up and down stairs forever, but is now handling them with ease. I'm occasionally seeing alternating feet on stairs as well. Superb upper body strength. She amazed me by pulling herself up on her ball pit bars (shoulder height) and climbing to a sitting position.

Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc: talks non-stop. Is interested in calling people by their real names now instead of just grandpa or daddy.

Reading/pre-reading: Erick thinks she can read a few sight words, especially names of cartoons on t.v. I've witnessed it once where she told me the name of what was coming up next in the guide. but it may be a fluke, who knows.

Number stuff: no change. Thinks she can count and is good 1:1 and for quantities, but still can't rote count to 10 on her own. Will read the numbers in order in her books 1-12.

Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc:

Creativity: real drawings now. Likes to draw snakes and rainbows.

Imagination: pretend play is huge, dress up, using a towel to be a ghost, loves her baby dolls and pretend food. I know there's more I just can't think of the unusual things right now.

Social: better with other kids, no more hitting at least. She is very affectionate and wants to touch other kids a lot, but is extremely gregarious and overly physical so that it scares them sometimes. Needs to learn personal space and boundaries.

Character/personality: Extremely bossy this month with both adults and children. This was a hard month for all of us living with Erick's parents and moving twice. We are finally settled in our new place and routines are back in place. She did well with all the chaos and has adjusted well.

School Updates: n/a

2009 Year in Review

My baby grew up in 2009 and now she doesn't even seem to be so little any more. In fact she will tell you she's a person. Here is her year in review.

January
1. She learned to jump off the couch and how to scare me to death.
2. She enjoyed playing with her MegaBlocks
3. She could string one inch beads and buttons on a lacing string.
4. Nods her head correctly and consistently
5. Sorting by color and shape
6. Discovered t.v.

February
1. Identifies most pictures in books by name
2. Chips front tooth.
3. Develops dislike of all meat except chicken nuggets.
4. Can identify all body parts on self and many on a doll.

March
1. Begins drawing circles
2. Counts 1-2-3 on her fingers
3. Adept at using iPhone even better than some adults
4. Walks up stairs without holding on
5. Visits Monkey Joes for the first time
6. Stayed overnight for the first time at Grandma's house.

April
1. Opens doorknobs.
2. Climbs ladders
3. Doubled speaking vocabulary and says "please"
4. Requests books by title.
5. Rides her tricycle
6. Really into her artwork this month

May

1. jumps with both feet off ground

2. climbs the curved ladders at park

3. noticeable increase in vocabulary and sentence length

4. we went to Indy 500 Kid's Day on the Circle

June

1. estimated 500 words speaking vocabulary

2. really into creating art this month and choosing her own colors

3. fear of bees begins along with obsession with insects and rocks

4. weaned from nursing

July

1. learns to somersault

2. watched fireworks and is scared of the loud noise but fascinated by the display

3. visits my sister and family in PA. Goes to Dutch Wonderland, the Crayola Factory, and the

Philly Children's Museum

4. visits the Marion County Fair

5. eats/plays at Incredible Pizza for the first time

August
1. State Fair visit and holds a butterfly

2. another visit from my sister and Jaxin

3. Mommy went back to work

September

1. turns 2 and has her birthday party at Holiday Park

2. can slide down a fireman pole and pumps her legs on a regular swing

3. more abstract language, added colors, shapes, emotions, adjectives

4. starting to call herself by name

5. is a bully and aggressive to other kids, even bigger ones

October

1. goes to the pumpkin patch for the first time

2. goes trunk or treat & trick or treating as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz

3. perfects her frisbee throw

4. huge reading spurt and interest in books. Wants to be read to constantly

November

1. begining to recognize humor in stories and on t.v.

2. more empathetic towards others

3. Thanksgiving at the grandparents' house

December

1. living with grandparents and mom/dad altogether

2. moved into a new apartment

3. beginning of bossy behavior

4. huge leaps in imagination and pretend play

5. discovers Santa and singing

General Update December

Age(in months, or years and months): 26.5 months

Physical abilities: I've not really noticed anything new this month. We are in the process of moving, so there are a lot of boxes ready to go now. The other day I packed up all of her toys and books in her bedroom. I was not paying attention and she climbed up on top of three boxes (about 6 feet in the air) and yells "Look at me!" I about had a heart attack.

Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc: Longer complex sentences, but still sounds like a baby. She's a little bossy this month and very opinionated. Using words such as "I'd rather"

Reading/pre-reading: A little less reading time with me this month, but still very interested. Requesting other areas on Starfall besides the ABC area.

Number stuff: She is very confident about her counting ability even though she still skips numbers. I gave her a popsicle the other day, actually half of one, and then she asked for another so I gave her the other half. She still wanted more, and I said that she had already had 2 while holding up 2 fingers. She holds up 5 fingers and says that she wants 5 popsicles. I guess I'm not too worried about the rote counting since she seems to have a good understanding of quantity and 1:1 correspondance (even if she says the wrong number at times)

Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc: She wanted donuts the other day for breakfast but we didn't have any. She told me I needed to go to the store to buy some for her, and that she'd also like some chocolate milk. I didn't expect her to have made the connection that food doesn't just magically appear in the kitchen, you actually have to buy it. When told we needed to go home and take a nap, she said she'd just be able to sleep in the car and we didn't need to go home just yet.

Creativity: nothing new to report except as linked to imagination

Imagination: Huge month for pretend play. She is very interested in preparing food for us and pretending other toys are food. Blocks are cakes, anything can be a glass of milk or water, she makes candy out of legos. Frequently feeds the dog, although the poor animal is so confused as to why Piper keeps giving her "food" that she can't eat. She even puts it on plates to serve it. She is also turning objects into paintbrushes and pretending to paint in the bathtub, on boxes, etc.

Social: I was very happy with her interactions at Thanksgiving with her younger cousins. She has never shown any interest in playing with them before. They are 19 months old. When they would get upset about a toy she had that they wanted, she was so very sweet and would give it to them all on her own and share. She still won't really play with them, but I was glad she was kind for once. Of course she idolizes her 7 year old cousin and really only wants to hang out with him.

Character/personality: Sweet, silly, manipulative Has started understanding time out, and will sit for a moment but runs to me saying "sorry mommy" over and over to get out of trouble.

School Updates: n/a

General Update: November

Age(in months, or years and months): almost 26 months


Physical abilities: jumping off higher objects to the ground, helping with chores such as putting silverware away, making her bed, more laundry help, spontaneous cleaning, etc


Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc: still talking non-stop in 5+ word sentences. Adds words to the end of her sentences correctly such as: again, too, now. Finally saying “thanks” correctly instead of “your welcome” Is very polite and says “please” all the time without prompting now.


Reading/pre-reading: continues to love her books and can be rather demanding in the car when she wants to read. I have a bag of books tied around the back of my seat, but she still can’t reach them from her car seat. I used to just give her a couple books when I strapped her in, but she is reading through them so fast that she needs more to sustain her. Now she yells at us to give her more books while I’m driving. “Mommy, three more books please, NOW!” She is starting to recognize the humor in stories better. She loves the David Shannon books like “No David!” and also the Bad Kitty ABC booksNumber stuff: no change


Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc not sure if this goes here…but has started responding to the t.v. as she has become more exposed to it recently. She is infatuated with Dora now, so not only am I watching Dora, but reading tons of Dora books. We watch mostly Nick Jr (used to be Noggin) because there are no commercials. She loves the little puzzles and songs in between the cartoons. and is going up to touch the screen on the right answer or talking to the t.v. about what just happened.


Creativity: this was the month all about play-doh, although she still loves to paint. We do play-doh at least twice a day, and boy am I tired of it.


Imagination: big increase in pretend play with cooking food and serving us things to eat. Is very attached to her dolls and stuffed animals.


Social: did great trick or treating and did not bother the other kids. Was polite and said thank you (usually) when she got candy.


Character/personality: very loving this month and has been initiating hugs and kisses with us. Kisses the baby in my belly, although I think she is clueless about what it means. She is also very empathetic towards the characters in her books and has been giving them kisses when they get in trouble or look sad.


School Updates: n/a

October General Update

Age(in months, or years and months): almost 25 months

Physical abilities: perfected her frisbee throw, moves in all sorts of ways to get where she’s going i.e. galloping, jumping, spinning, etc., buckles herself into her carseat (just the top part)

Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc Sentence length increasing to regularly 3-4 words. I hear longer sentences at times. This isn’t new, but I keep forgetting to document it: uses lots of descriptive words when talking (big, high, heavy, colors, numbers, etc.)

Reading/pre-reading: She got the Tag Jr. Leapfrog system for her birthday and loves using it. It gives me a break at times, but she is still demanding to be read up to 100 different books per day.

Number stuff: Recognizes most numerals now, but rote counting is usually not in the right order although she hits all the different numbers.

Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc has discovered YouTube on the iPhone and looks for favorite videos. Is really good at the puzzles on it even though she struggles with regular ones without help. She gives up too easily when frustrated because a piece won’t fit perfectly even when she knows where it goes.

Creativity: still loves to paint and do art, enjoys picking out her own colors and applying them to the paper or canvas. She is in a stage where she wants me to draw things for her to color.

Imagination: lots of pretend play with little people and these Animal Planet dogs she got for her birthday. Still enjoys cooking food and serving us

Social: still a bit of a bully, has trouble sharing

Character/Personality: testing boundaries this month to gauge our reactions, I’ve noticed that when she is in trouble or sad she refers to herself by her name, but most other times still calls herself “baby”. She doesn’t want to sleep in her bed and wants to be with us in our bed. We switched over to a day bed for her, and she’ll sleep in it, but has to be really tired to go directly there without a fight. Potty training is progressing. She goes on the potty about once a day, but we aren’t consistent enough with it yet. I’m hoping to make it a priority over my fall break in a couple weeks.

General Update

Age:21 months
Physical Abilities: marching, actual brushing of teeth not just sucking the toothpaste off J, jumps into pool and goes under water, can sort of throw a Frisbee, does an okay somersault, jumping off curbs and steps
Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc I have no idea on how many words now, up to a 1000 probably. She’s getting better at sentences, I’ve heard up to 5 words at a time, but usually it is 1-2 words. She is using the pronoun “I”, ie. I did it, I jumped, I stomped, I got it, etc.
Reading/pre-reading: points out letters all the time now but still only knows a few consistently. I have caught her “reading” her books pointing to the words and saying the story to herself. It is adorable to hear her using expression and sounding just like me. We are still reading tons of books everyday.
Number stuff: can count with actual numbers to 2, sometimes 3. This is a step up from her make believe number words she used to use. She counts all the time now but it usually goes 1,2,1,2,1,2,9! She also tells me frequently how many of something there is if it is only 1 or 2.
Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc: really into using her shape sorter again for some reason, this is the category I always think about and see examples of daily, but can never remember them when it comes to writing them down.
Creativity: painting has turned into a big mess. She loves to mix colors and they usually end up like mud. Her coloring seems to be more concentrated on the pictures and not just random scribbles. Still very into drawing circles and dots.
Imagination: pretended her sunqlasses were a car the other day while shopping complete with vocalizations and everything. Loves to tease and pretend to make mistakes just to make us laugh.
Social: better with other kids, remembers names of friends/family now and asks for them all the time. Still prefers to play with boys over girls. Very possessive of her toys and lets everyone know they are hers.
Character/personality: so independent and doing everything herself, sweet and loving, Fearless!
Anything else/other: we tried PT but it didn’t go over so well. However since I stopped pushing it, she has become increasingly bothered and upset by her wet/dirty diapers, yet refuses to go on the potty chair.

General Update June

Age (in months, or years and months): 20 months
Physical abilities: jumping better with both feet off of ground, loves to swing by her arms on the bars at the playground, climbing everything still and is completely fearless, enjoys her sit and spin and her motorized car, perfecting kicking and throwing
Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc: estimated 500 words now, maybe more. She talks constantly but still mostly in one word bursts. It’s hard to explain since it’s not a sentence but if you put all her words together without pauses it makes sense and is an understandable conversation. The last couple days she has been babbling a lot and I have no idea what she is saying. I can only hope there will be a language explosion soon. Receptive language is still huge. She understands multi-step directions easily and points out about any word I ask her in her books.
Reading/pre-reading: Knows a few letters, can say all the letters but does not apply them correctly to the appropriate ones. Understands what letters are and that they have names. We started with starfall again so maybe it will click with the rest of them. Asks for books by name and will sit through longer stories now.
Number stuff: has a grasp on the quantity 1 and 2. Numbers are not her thing.
Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc not really into her puzzles, but likes her matching one as well as the game memory. If she is throwing a fit I can tell her to stop or she’ll have to go to bed, and she stops generally.
Creativity: loves art time, although we haven’t done much lately. Is more focused on her creations and likes to choose her own paint colors and work. Would do art all day if I let her. Plays on her recorder all the time much to our poor ears’ dismay.
Imagination: all of her dolls and stuffed animals must participate in her playtime whether it is sliding down the slide or riding her tricycle. She put her dolly in the microwave the other day. She must have been very bad.
Social: having more interactions with other kids. Loves older children about 4-6 years old. Everyone thinks she is older than she is and treats her as such. We went to a party a couple days ago and she basically deserted me the moment we got there to go play with the others children.
Character/personality: Has become very particular about having dirt on her, although art/paint does not bother her. Must wipe her mouth with a napkin between bites and constantly needs her hands cleaned. Is scared of bees now even though she is fascinated with insects. Is very empathetic and reassures me when I am upset with her. Pats my arm or back to make me feel better. Very affectionate and loving
.Anything else/other: I am home for the summer since school is out. Can’t wait to spend more time with her and play all summer.

General Upday: May

Child's name: Piper
Age (in months, or years and months): 19 months
Physical abilities: independently rides her tricycle now, jumping with both feet off the ground. I noticed she was doing this on the bed and couch, and it took forever to get her to jump for me on just the ground, but she can do it Yay! Can climb the curved ladders at the park.
Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc So much progress here. I can understand her more often than not, better pronunciation as well as another big increase in vocabulary. Usually 1 word, but occasionally we get 2-3 word sentences. Increased love of opposites right now.
Reading/pre-reading: becoming more focused on letters, tries to name them but still only knows a few. She does very well at reading her books and naming things in the pictures
Number stuff: not much change, still tries to count but not using right numbers. Understands one more or just two when I am giving her something.
Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc: Very much into matching and sorting things still
Creativity: Starting to tell me what her pictures are- mostly circles still
Imagination: nothing new, just pretend play with her dolls, stuffed animals, and kitchen. She loves her Mrs. Potato Head she got for Easter, and is also really into the small plastic animals like you get at Michael’s or Target.
Social: she had a couple of social interactions this month at her cousins’ birthday party and at Gymboree. Can be very quiet in public around people she doesn’t know until she gets warmed up.
Character/personality: loving, silly, determined and persistent
Anything else/other: we’ve started to play hide and seek and she thinks it’s very funny. I will say that it is a little tedious to “find” her in the same place over and over. She needs a new hiding spot. :)

General Update: April

Age (in months, or years and months): 18.5 months
Physical abilities: learned to open round doorknobs, climbs in and out of the bathtub for about a month now, walks up and down steps independently w/o holding on, but she will still turn around and crawl down them at times. She climbed up a ladder in the store the other day before daddy saw her, and climbed the ladder like bars on the playground that were very widely spaced. I introduced her to stacking pegs and she has enjoyed manipulating them. Is using a pretty good pencil grip now.
Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc: has doubled her speaking vocabulary to around 140 words in the last month but pronunciation is still unclear. My favorite new word is “please” for obvious reasons.
Reading/pre-reading: asks for books by name/content now, we are reading a lot of I Spy books and she is really good at identifying most things on the page. This is helping a lot with her vocabulary too although her receptive language is far greater than her oral. She is also really into books about bugs, spiders, and animals
Number stuff: no changes, still counts 123
Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc: has determined that if she pushes enough buttons, eventually the DVD player will play her favorite one. Also knows how to turn on the cell phone that we used to let her play with. We had been turning it off so she wouldn’t call anyone, but now she can get around that. Excellent at matching games. We’ve started playing a modified version of Memory using only 4-6 cards at a time.
Creativity: Loves her art time as usual, although she is drawing on herself much more and enjoying being messy.
Imagination: Starting to make connections and apply real world knowledge instead of just copying. For example we took the dog for a walk the other day on her leash (we never use it usually) Piper carried the leash around for the next week along with her stuffed doggie. Made her dog toys kiss each other which was really sweet. I have no idea where she got that from
Social: not much interaction lately with other kids
Character/personality: Very loving and sweet lately, giving lots of kisses and hugs. Is requesting to be carried more when usually she doesn’t want to cuddle or be held much.
Anything else/other: I was off work this week for spring break so I would put her in my bed first thing in the morning so I could sleep in a little later. I was woken up several times this week by her poking me in various parts of my body and naming them for me, including trying to pry open my mouth to name my tongue and teeth. She’s known her body parts for months now, but I love that she’s finally able to articulate the words herself now. The language explosion has been great

18 Months...Look How Big I Am!

Is she really a year and a half old already? Sometimes it seems like she should be so much older, and other times she is still my baby girl. I can't believe how much she has learned already. This is a long list of things she can do at 18 months. Some things she just started and others she has done for a long time.

Stats: height: 34.5 inches, weight: 25.5 lbs, shoe size: 5 1/2, clothing size: 18 months for pants, 24 months for dresses/one piece outfits, and shirts, some 2T shirts, tights- at least 2T or bigger,

Teeth: all except 2 year molars, one front tooth is chipped

Hair: light brown/blond, almost reddish, getting longer every day and is past her ears now, can wear in pigtails.

Eyes: brown

Physical: walks (frontways, backwards, & sideways), runs, jumps off furniture, climbs everything, walks upstairs independently (but will use railing if it is there) and downstairs holding on to the railing, bounces on bed, strings beads and buttons on lacing string, pushes front/back on full size tricycle, can pedal tricycle if you give a slight push, tries to wash/dry hands, brushes hair, brushes own teeth several times a day, helps do laundry putting clothes in and out of the dryer, turns dryer on, blows kisses and gives real kisses with pucker, turns light switches on and off, closes doors and tries to turn door knobs, unscrews lids, kicks and throws balls overhand, "shoots" baskets, enjoys building with her megablocks, thinks it's funny to look at things upside downwhile looking through her legs, can balance on one foot for a second or two,

Clothing: can put on socks and shoes sometimes, hats, takes off clothes, unzips zippers, helps put arms in coat, hates to wear her shoes and frequently removes her socks.

Food: loves fruits and veggies, wants to feed self, uses fork and spoon, drinks from a straw, sippy cup, has distinct food and drink preferences, loves choclate milk, has still not had soda, breastfeeding twice a day, not using high chair at home-but still when eating out and at grandma's house,


Language: (about 80 words/sounds) pronunciation not great
words: mama, dada, daddy, ball, bye, no, dog, hello, yum, papaw, all gone, up, bug, nose, baby, what's this, bad, balloon, ladybug, book, this, uh-oh, see, beads, boom, whee, whoa, bite, bee, stinky, jump, hot, yucky, dirty, shh, pretty, bike, peas, tickle, block, eat, duck, blue, see ya, bubble, step, zoom, twinkle, ouch, play dough (dough), beans

animal sounds: dog, cat, cow, owl, dinosaur, lion, sheep, pig, mouse, chick, chicken, bird, airplane, train, car, frog, monkey, snake, horse, duck, kiss, laugh, cough, goose, camel, alligator, tiger, bear
Receptive language is amazing and she easily follows multi-step directions, I can't guess at her language comprehension

Cognitive: can point to all body parts on self and some on doll, easily does peg puzzles, working on 6-12 piece jigsaw, understands the word "rotate" and will rotate puzzle pieces if I remind her when a piece does not fit, does matching Eric Carle animal puzzle, sorts by color, shape, and occasionally size, stacking cups in order, stacks blocks (8) and builds trains, uses computer for Starfall, Kneebouncers, and Fisher Price websites, iPhone aps-drum kit, barnyard animals, sesame street podcasts, intentionally moves objects to where she can best use them to reach other things, seems to ask why or what happened questions, remembers what comes next in videos and books...anticipates, can pick out most shapes and some colors, matches numbers to pictures of numbers in her magnet book, some opposites like hot/cold, up/down, on/off, "counts" 123 on her fingers when watching Sesame Street,


Books: identifies objects in books by pointing or saying the word/sound, reads books to self for up to 30 minutes, loves to listen to stories and song books, can turn pages in books by self, pretends to count objects, can identify a few letters

Music: sings parts of songs- ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, Row Your Boat, Elmo song, likes to play piano and other percussion instruments, loves to dance and has several moves, loves her baby genius nursery rhymes and TMBG cds and dvds

Art: LOVES art, uses crayons, pastels, tempera and finger paints, paint brushes, playdoh, colored pencils, markers, stickers, gluesticks. Has own art notebook to draw in at any time, draws circles and lines, likes aquadoodle, doesn't mind being messy

Pretend Play: feeds dolls/animals, pushes on tricycle and car, makes them say whee when sliding or having fun, talks on phone incessantly, cooks food in microwave, pretends to eat,

Potty Training: throws diaper away, signs potty, gets own diaper and wipes, has gone on the potty a few times, but once she got sick I stopped pushing it. She is too feisty to try it again right now.

Personality: loves to tease, has a good sense of humor and does things wrong (like pants on head, wrong shape in shape sorter)just to get a reaction and laugh, rare to get a true temper tantrum, but she is very strong willed and yells at you if she is frustrated or doesn't want to be touched, loves to give kisses to everyone and everything but in her own time, Fearless and never gets hurt. If she cries you know she is really hurt. Very independent! Loves to play in water.

Social: likes other kids but not around them much, prefers boys over girls, possessive of own toys, went through a hitting stage, but I think this has stopped. Loves animals especially dogs

Sleep: sleeps through most nights, but hard to get to sleep at bedtime. Takes nap(s) easily during the day.

Favorite things to do: art!, books, puzzles, pretend play, climb, dance

General Update

Age (in months, or years and months): 17 months
Physical abilities: Has started walking sideways, really funny to watch but I can't figure out where she picked this up? Loves to jump on the bed, but still not getting both feet up yet. Enjoys leaping into our arms when we least expect it. Last night she climbed up the back of the dining room chair like a ladder.
Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc: learning more words every day, probably about 70 words.
Reading/pre-reading: Can identify most objects in books now by either saying the name or pointing it out if we ask her where it is on the page.
Number stuff: Counts/shows on her fingers 1-2-3 when watching Sesame Street.
Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc: Working on 6-12 piece puzzles. Is getting more adept on the computer and on my iPhone- very scary indeed!
Creativity: Still prefers her art time over most everything else. Drawing has become more focused and on a smaller scale, but I'm not real sure what she is trying to do. Loves to draw circles.
Imagination: Lots of pretend play with her kitchen and stuffed animals, although she is not really into her dolls. She likes to make her animals do crazy things like ride her tricycle or slide down the slide. They often kiss pictures in her books or talk on the phone with her. She is a big tease and will do silly things just to get your attention and then laugh, or act like she is going to give you a kiss and then run away.
Social:Doing better around other kids now and is not typically the aggressor. Does stand up for self though if threatened by holding arms out in front of her to keep other chid away. She is still a little possesive of community toys, but at least is not grabbing other kids' stuff.
Character/personality: Has been sick the last week or two and was very clingy to mommy. Did not want to go to grandma's house and cried when I left, which she never does. Since getting better, has become even more independent and willful, needing to do everything herself.
Anything else/other: Going to bed has started becoming a struggle again, although she is sleeping well all through the night. Next week is Daylight Savings Time and I am so dreading it, since I know she'll be up "late" and I'll be functioning on zero sleep at work.

General Update: February

Age (in months, or years and months): 16 months

Physical abilities: still climbing up everything like a monkey, tries to jump on the bed, but not getting both feet off the ground yet, I can't believe she hasn't tried to climb out of her crib yet. Rides all of her toys (shopping cart, car, etc.) like a horse now, complete with rocking motion.

Speech/language: vocabulary, sentence length, etc: No changes, she has learned a few new words in the last week. I'm trying hard to catch one of her important phone conversations on video, but she always stops when she sees me. Last night she helped us yell at the t.v. about a play on the Superbowl. It was pretty funny.

Reading/pre-reading: still one of her favorite things to do. She reads in the car all the time and brings us book after book to read to her.

Number stuff: nothing new to report.

Other cognitive stuff: puzzles, reasoning, etc: We started doing harder puzzles with her. I have some old wooden Playskool ones that are not jigsaw...maybe 10-12 pieces. We also have a couple jigsaw ones. So far we've been doing them together and talking about how the pieces fit together and how the picture looks. She can usually figure out the last couple of ones on her own. She knows the word "rotate" and that helps her understand when she needs to turn a piece around. Last night she did a new peg puzzle at a friend's house super fast, and my friend went on and on about how smart she was.

Creativity: Loves her art time, and is really into stickers right now. Since she climbs everything, we try to think about what to put up so she can't utilize objects to climb even higher. She has resorted to moving things from other rooms to get where she wants to go. The other day she had moved her shopping cart into the kitchen and was standing on the push bar against the counter to get into the sink. She also stacks pillows and cushions, and even uses the dog to get into more trouble.

Imagination: We're seeing more pretend play with her little people. She holds long conversation on the phone, and tries to get the dog to talk on it too.

Social: Has spent a little more time around kids lately. She's going through a hitting phase, and even hits other kids in the books she reads. We are working on this a lot. At the museum she hit another little girl, and the second I started to say something, she looked at me and then gave her a hug. I'm hoping this goes away fast!

Character/personality: very loving and sweet to us, compasionate to the dog especially

Anything else/other: wondering if I should start potty training. She knows the hand sign for potty, and what it means. I'm seeing most of the signs, and she will go get her own diaper if I ask if she needs one. I'm kinda waiting to see if she start doing it independently though.