The Dennis Diary: 21 months...well, 3 weeks ago

For starters, our little man is growing like a weed. Over the past few weeks, we've seen major changes in his vocabulary. He's begun to put a few two word phrases together and seems to learn new words everyday. A few of my new favorites:
1.   "Cancake"- Pancake- He was actually saying this at 18 months, but just seems to use it more frequently these days. He usually says the word as soon as I walk into his room in the morning.  Yesterday morning I heard "Mama, juice, cancake" on the monitor. As sleepy as I was, it made me chuckle.
2.   Amen- Rob and I love that he's started saying this when we tell him it's time to pray. I was wondering when he would add this to his list of words and I'm so glad he did. It's so darn cute. He'll say it at bedtime and mealtime right after we say, "Tripp, let's say our prayers" and before we even start praying. Then he'll say it again after we finish. I love it!
3.   Off- He loves to help turn off the lights when we leave a room. He will even point to the light switch and say "off" if he knows we're getting ready to walk out of the room. What an energy conscious child! The other day while I was at work, Rob noticed the baby monitor flickering several times. At first he thought there was something wrong with the monitor, but upon closer inspection he heard Tripp say "off". Tripp was flipping the light switch beside his crib on and off, on and off. We thought it was funny at first, but then worried it might become a problem at nap time and bedtime since he did it again the next day. Thankfully, he has stopped doing it before he sleeps and now only flips the light on when he wakes up from his nap...essentially saying "My nap is done Mom/Dad".
4.   Horse
5.   Cow
6.   Yes!
7.   Oh no!
8. Bath
9.   Juice- This is his word for drink, milk, and water. We aren't 100% sure where he learned the word since he's never been a juice drinker. In fact, the few times I've offered him prune (for constipation), pear, apple, or grape juice, he turned it down for water instead. I'm always happy he prefers plain water to the sugary stuff, but I still wonder where he picked up the word. It's possible he got it from one of his favorite books " I Met a Moose in Maine One Day," but who really knows!
10. Eat
11. Cracker- My least favorite word since he loves to ask for one at every meal.
12. Moon
13. House
14. "Coo Coo"- Cookie Monster- He thinks the blue guy is hilarious, but who doesn't!
15. Big Bird and Bird
16. Sheep
17. Mouth
18. Nose
19. Book- He loves to be read to. We love the way he backs up and plops into our laps with a book in hand. It's the cutest!
20. T.V.
21. Bus- He's always pointing out every bus he sees and will say "bus" with a huge smile when the school bus passes by our house...even if we are inside, he knows the sound.
22. Socks
23. Mine
24. Night Night
25. Whoa
26. Shoot- It's not a bad word, but he definitely picked this one up from me. I never really noticed before, but I guess I say it when I make a mistake, drop something, etc. The other day Tripp dropped one of his toys and then said "shoot". I didn't think much of it at the time, but then laughed to myself when he did it again a few days later. I guess it's just a reminder that little ears are always listening and little minds absorb EVERYTHING.

Tripp continues to be a champion sleeper. Daily naps are still absolutely needed and I hope this trend continues for a long, long time. He usually goes down between 12:30 and 1:00 pm and naps for an hour and a half or two. Occasionally I put him down at noon if he's super cranky, but I prefer to hold him off so he'll sleep later into the afternoon. This shortens the gap between nap time and bedtime and makes for a much happier Tripp. That in turn makes for a much happier mommy and daddy!

Tripp still loves to be outside. He would stay out all day long if I let him. The park is one of our favorite places to go and we're blessed to have several great ones in the area.

The little man had suddenly become obsessed with "choo choo" trains...especially "Thomas the train". "Thomas the train" and "Dinosaur Train" are lifesavers in the morning while I'm getting ready. I bring Tripp upstairs to our room and let him sit on a few pillows to watch a show while I shower, dress, and dry my hair. It allows me to watch him, but keeps him from getting bored and taking everything out of our bathroom cabinets...A mess that's not super fun to clean up.

He's more of a picky eater than in the past, but overall I would still consider him a good eater. We're not able to get him to eat all veggies, but he does like some. I think the pickiness just comes with toddlerhood. Ketchup usually makes anything better. I don't allow him to have it on everything, but he loves putting it on his eggs in the morning, a habit he learned from his Daddy. I'm not a big fan of making more than one meal so Tripp always eats what we eat. It doesn't stop him from flexing his toddler muscle at times and saying no to a few things, but overall he does pretty well. If he loves something, he'll practically eat his weight in it.

He's a very loud child and really feeds off of the energy in a room.  Just seeing another child laugh or giggle brings the biggest smile to his face. Even though I don't always understand what he's saying when he gets on a roll, he's constantly babbling.

He doesn't prefer Rob or I over one another. He's pretty equally attached. Daddy's really fun, but Mommy is more comforting when he's upset, hurt, or needs something. He's at a stage where he doesn't want either of us leaving the house without him. Tonight when I got home from work, Rob and Tripp came out to greet me in the garage. I had a few things to get out of the car so after saying hello, Rob took Tripp back inside to wait for me. I could hear Tripp screaming "Mama," bursting into tears, and Rob telling him I was coming right in. He calmed down as soon as I walked in the door, gave me the biggest smile, and stretched out his arms to be picked up. His happiness was short-lived because "Dada" left to run a quick errand not much later and the crying started once again. I'll guess we'll just chalk it up to the fact that we're both loved! We fill equal, but very different roles in his life and I'm thankful for that.

Tripp still loves to read and brings us what seems like several hundred books a day to read to him.  Neither I nor Rob mind it one bit. We know reading is an important learning tool for children so we're happy to oblige.

He's very affectionate and will give a hug or kiss almost every time we ask for one. I know all parents must feel this way about their own child, but we sure hit the jackpot on this little guy!