livelovesimple.com

Roman James @ 20 Months

DenaJanuary 20, 2015

livelovesimple.com

livelovesimple.com

Growth & Appearance: You seem to get more mature every day, more handsome, too. You look so much like me when I was your age. I found a toddler photo of me the other day and the resemblance was striking. You look like your Papa, too. In my eyes, you are perfect. I often wonder if it’s because I am your Mama or if it’s because you really are perfect.

Although I don’t know your exact measurements, you are undoubtedly big and tall. You wear a 2T in most clothes and a 3T in pajamas (since they have built-in feet). You weigh between 32 and 35-pounds and I have no idea how tall you are. We really need to get you into the doctor for a checkup/measure, but my fear of the rampant flu (and this year’s largely ineffective vaccine) is keeping us away from there at the moment.

You had another haircut since your last update and this one was even more adorable than the first. We will stick with this style for a long while. Your Papa and I both just love it, as does everyone who sees you.

livelovesimple.com

livelovesimple.com

Sleeping: You’ve been sleeping well for awhile now and, after the six months of hell that we went through, I thank my lucky stars every day. The most difficult sleep issue that we face these days is how sensitive you are to sounds. Just like me, you wake up at even the very softest sounds. Even though we still use your sound machine at nap and bedtime, any little peep can wake you up. The other night, you woke up every time the heater went on and the heater goes on a lot during these frigid, winter nights. You would wake up, cry a little, and then (gratefully) settle back to sleep. Still, your crying woke us up every hour or so and that made for a difficult night all-around. Most nights this doesn’t happen, but you do typically wake/cry/settle at least once per night.

When you are sleeping, your Papa and I tip-toe around the house, avoid anything that makes noise, and talk only in whispers. Living in this little house with such a light sleeper has proven to be quite a struggle. I have no idea how it will work in a couple of months when we have a crying newborn here with us! It’s a scary thought, but we’ll make it somehow. I’m constantly reminded of how quickly these days of baby and toddler-hood will be gone completely and I try so hard to cherish every precious moment — even the challenging ones.

livelovesimple.com

livelovesimple.com

Talking: In your last update, I listed out all of the words that you were saying. This time, I won’t attempt it because there are just too many. Your vocabulary expands every day. You really are, as they say, “like a little sponge.” It’s obvious that you have a thirst for knowledge. I haven’t been around a lot of toddlers, but I have a feeling that you are a bright one. The things that you say and do and put together and understand completely blow me away.

Over the past week, you’ve started stringing a couple of words together at a time. For example, when you want to get off the bed you say, “Me down.” Anytime you want to know where something is, you say, “Where’d he go?”

livelovesimple.com

livelovesimple.com

Development: You love to help. You are a master with the feather duster. You put all of our recycling in the recycling bin and garbage in the garbage bin. You help me unpack the groceries. You retrieve your shoes, coat, hat, mittens — whatever we need. The pride on your face when you successfully complete a task is perhaps the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

You love to create! You spend time drawing on your chalkboard each day. I bought you your first coloring book a couple of weeks go and you just loved it. I can’t wait until you are ready to start some real projects — it won’t be long now. I hope that you always have this deep love for art & creating.

There is always so much going on with you developmentally that it’s hard to capture in a few paragraphs. Some other things that you are mastering are building block towers, helping me to put your clothes on and take them off, and playing with toddler apps on the iPhone/iPad. (Although you’re too smart for most of those apps! You master them in no time and then get sick of them quickly.)

Favorites: Curious George has been your favourite show for a very long time, but I think you may finally have a new favourite — Blue’s Clues. You still absolutely adore your “Georgie” though. Your favourite foods are bananas, grapes, olives, macaroni, french fries, cheese, potato chips, and broccoli. You also love smoothies and drinking through a straw. Other than your favourites, however, you’ve become quite picky and mealtimes can be challenging if I don’t bend to your will — so most of the time I do! Other than the things I’ve mentioned you don’t have too many favourites. You like all of your toys and have been having a lot of fun with your Christmas presents, especially your dinosaurs, drum, blocks, and train set.

livelovesimple.com

livelovesimple.com

Dislikes & Behavior: You are an exceptionally well-behaved toddler. A couple of weeks ago we went to lunch with some family who were in from out of town. They wanted to watch a football game and there were only high-top tables available. You can’t put a highchair or booster seat at a high-top table. So I held you on my lap and hoped for the best. You sat on my lap like an angel for over an hour. It was incredible! I’ve also taken you on some larger outings, including a full day in the city, and you were good as gold. The only time you get cranky is when you are tired and even at that you are quite sweet.

For the most part, the only time you exhibit “bad” behavior is when you don’t understand something. For example, after we’ve had a toss with one of your balls you might toss something at us unexpectedly later in the day. You’re quite strong and it hurts! But we try to remember that you’re only doing it out of confusion. You will also test your boundaries a bit when you don’t get your way, but those times are few and far between.

When you do act out, and continue to do so after a warning, we put you in timeout for one minute. (Timeout is currently your crib because it’s the only place that will contain you). After a timeout you’ve usually learned your lesson and I can count on two hands how many times we’ve had to use that method. I am a big fan of the timeout method of discipline and hope that it will always serve our disciplinary needs. (Wishful thinking!!)

You are a little bit shy. Your crazy/funny personality is usually reserved for our house only. You are incredibly attached to your Mama & Papa and most of the time you don’t want anyone else to hold you. It can get exhausting for us, but secretly I love it a little bit. I would keep you to myself forever if I could.


The most important thing that I want include in this update is how incredibly joyful you are. You are the happiest little boy that I have ever known. You smile and laugh all of the time. You have the sweetest disposition and a deep zest for life. You get thrilled over the simplest things. When I tell you that it’s time for a bath or a book or a meal or a car ride, you just get so excited and start to run around, laughing & smiling, in anticipation of whatever we’re about to do. You have a true “Joie de Vivre” and I pray with every fiber of my being that you never lose it.

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There are no words to express the happiness that you bring to my life every day. It sounds silly and like I am gushing, but it’s the simple truth. Every morning when I hear you wake in your crib, I so much look forward to going in your room and picking you up for our first cuddle of the day. I kiss your cheeks constantly, every time I pick you up. You give the sweetest hugs and kisses now, too! I can’t express my gratitude for you, my little monkey. You are my sunshine.

Until next time…

xoxo,
Mama

Comments (3)

  • Suzy

    January 20, 2015 at 12:32 pm

    You have such a sweet boy! With all that you’ve been through, you are so blessed! What if you had some bratty loud and mean kid and had to go through what you did.

    I’m actually a little jealous of how much Roman loves art! Sam will color a little, but he prefers his toys and books (thank goodness that he loves his books!) I do hope when he’s older he’ll want to do crafts with me.

    We were having the same problem too with the heater kicking on and waking up Sam. I put his sound machine on a higher pitch white noise (it’s super annoying to my ears, but it seems to be working!) and I just moved it closer to the door. It’s hard when we get ready in the morning since our bathroom is right next to his room. Needless to say, he’s been getting up way early than before.

  • Momista Beginnings

    January 20, 2015 at 5:50 pm

    Aw he sounds like a dream and is growing up so handsomely! Congrats, mom…for a job well done (so far at least, we still have plenty of time to screw up…jk). I hear ya with the sleeping struggles, at least when you mentioned the hell you went through before. Once Mia began sleeping through the night, it was like a miracle. She, too, went through a small phase of waking up at least once or twice on her own, only to settle herself down within a minute before heading back to sleep. Now she’s golden….EXCEPT on the random days where she skips her nap. I can’t explain it, but only on those days, she’ll wake up about 2 hours after she’s gone down for bed in this panicked cry/scream, flailing her arms and speaking gibberish. It’s like she’s half asleep or just in this whole other state of mind. It takes anywhere to 5 minutes to calm her down and get her back to sleep, and then she’s fine. It’s the weirdest thing. Anyways, glad you’re getting more rest lately and very sweet photos of your little man 🙂 -Misty

  • Tina

    January 20, 2015 at 10:35 pm

    That first photo is so so sos sos os sosoooo cute!!!!!! I would have that blown up and framed haha. My daughter is also a master of the feather duster! And I’ve been avoiding her wellness check at the doctor because of my fear of sick kids. I finally made an appointment and the first opening was MARCH. Way way way late on this one now!

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