adventuresofprinceroman

[adventuresofprinceroman]

24 Months 3 Weeks Milestones

Roman tells us “Sleepy time” and says “I’m so tired”.  He also says “I funny” and “I silly”.  For example, he put a funny hat on his head and said “I silly” while smiling.  What a sense of humor!!  It was dinner and he said “breakfast time” while smiling to make a joke.  And it’s the cutest thing… he initiates cleaning up by himself and attempts to sing the clean up song.  And this little guy thinks he can eat a whole bag of chips!  He has been randomly requesting milk with a straw sometimes and he hardly ever drinks milk.  

It was Mommy & Daddy’s anniversary so we went to Angel Orensanz and got the cutest pic of him on Delancey Street.  And we of course went to Katz’s Deli for dinner!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Roman is really into play dough this week and says “Make this dinosaur” or “Help me make this”.  He even said “make a pile” when he was stacking up all of his dinos.  He loves feeding his dinosaur and tells it to “eat ____”.  He produces “how” questions such as “How make this?”.  He also asks questions such as “What’s happened?”.  He comments about things in his environment by saying “It’s ____” (e.g. – yucky, dirty, color).  He tells us to “fill it up” or “more fill it up mama”.  He loves when swing him by the arms and says “swing me now”.  “Now” has become one of his favorite words within phrases since he likes things done immediately!  He also uses phrases with “too”, “another”, and “other”.  He says “no mama this way” to point in the direction he wants to go.  He labels things we never knew he knew like a knight, farmer, etc.  He loves labeling colors.  He pretends to be an animal and says the sounds while acting like it (e.g. – flaps his arms while saying “flying pteradactyl”, swings his arms to pretend to be a monkey and says “oo oo oo aa aa aa”, etc..  Little guy is going to be great at charades!  And the silly guy has been obsessed with Thanksgiving pictures – way to early for that!

He loved going to Longwood Gardens this weekend and produced phrases such as “tree houses”.  He climbed up four of them and saw “dragons”, “birds”, and much more!  There was even a cool log chair to sit in.  He loved running around the fountains, touching the flowers, and he was obsessed with the “map”.  He wanted me to show him where we were and where we were going.  He also got to go to Chuck E Cheese with his best friends and we even took him to the circus.  He has been helping out at the playspace and at our community fairs.  He still loves playing in the toddler area and getting on the ride-on toys.                                                                                                                                     

Another favorite is the Little Zookeepers class.  This week he got to pet a frog and even made a frog life cycle.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

The week ended with a bang – it was our official grand opening party at Princeton Playspace!  We cut the ribbon with the mayor, had yummy food and cupcakes, did fun activity and just had a ball celebrating!  Mr. Roman wore a Princeton Playspace t-shirt to represent!

[adventuresofprinceroman]

24 Months 2 Weeks Milestones

It was Mother’s Day this week!  Roman took the mommies out for pizza and did such a good job sitting at the restaurant since he was using his stickers.  He requests help such as “take it off”.  We then played soccer in the backyard and he said “kick the ball” and he is really getting the hang of only using his feet.  We have to sign him up for lessons!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

He got to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum this week and was a HUGE fan of the water table and wait for it… DINOSAURS!  He also loved playing a hand biting game with his grandfather – such a cutie!  They even went on an MTA bus.  Roman helps with everything around the house.  You can tell him to go get the play dough container and he brings it or if you tell him to close it then he closes it.  He cleans when you say “clean up”.  He does a very funny thing during mealtime and eats without using his hands as if he is a dinosaur!                                                                                                                                                                                 

Roman has become a commenting machine!  He says “I broke it. As you already know, toddlerhood is a very egocentric phase. ”.  As he’s falling he will say “I falling”.  He said “Other sock mommy” when he lost a sock.  He knew what he heard when I said “I heard something” and he said “turtle”.  He’ll repeat “turtle power”.  He says “Dinosaur I love it”.  He is starting to ask longer questions such as “Can you open it mommy?”.  Roman has been very into reading all of his new books he received for his birthday.  He says “Good Dinosaur” – his new favorite movie!  And he of course loves his Dino Trucks gift.  It was Daddy’s birthday and we got him some Key Lime Pie delivered all the way from Miami.  And Roman got to celebrate again with a House of Cupcakes cupcake (which he ate like a dinosaur again!).  

If you ask a question he answers appropriately.  For instance, if you ask “What are you eating?” he replies  “I eating strawberries”.  He often says “I have it”.  If he finds something he will say “right here”.  And it’s so cute he’ll say “Help me this” and we model “Help me with this”.  While playing with Legos he says “Fix it Daddy”, “Put the slide in”, “Down the slide”, “Pirates”, “That’s a flag”, etc.  And he likes to say “mess it up” or “make a mess” and destroys things around the house.  He produces a variety of phrases with “I” such as “I stick”, “I do”, etc.  He’s also the boss at the playspace and loves sitting up front.  He got to touch a HUGE snake and even made his own snake puppet during class this week.  

[adventuresofprinceroman]

24 Months 1 Week Milestones

Roman’s official birthday was last week, but we celebrated this week!  He helped his mommy make chocolate covered pretzels (or ate them!) and we even practiced blowing out candles!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

His dino party was out of this world – we painted dinos, made fossils, dug for fossils (in sand and in ice!), followed footprints, blew up dino decorations, and ate dino claws (Bugles) and bones (pretzels)!  His dessert table was DELICIOUS complete with the most beautiful cake and dirt pudding!  Someone had a rough start to the party since people were playing with the dinosaurs, but he pulled through and was all smiles!  Someone drew him a dinosaur on the white board he was in LOVE with.  He was very shy when we all sang him Happy Birthday.  Can’t believe he’s two!

At the party he was beyond excited to open his gifts.  His Auntie Olga and Uncle Reza did a gift competition!  We really didn’t want the party to end.  We are gradually giving him his birthday gifts at home to keep them motivating.                                                                                             

He is as excited as ever!  Some of his favorites include of course the dinosaurs, transportation magnets, Lego pirate set, and more!  And he’s still eating cake from his birthday!  We of course still do not go anywhere without bucket – even in the rain.                                                                                               

He went to go see his friend Demir play soccer this week.  He loves reading “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” book.  He says the cutest phrases such as “I can’t find it”, “squeeze the lemon”, etc.  He’s obsessed with feeding birds with his grandpa and says “feed the birds”, “bird food”, etc.  He even has conversations about it.  Receptively he now answers a ton of questions such as “Where does a fish live?”, “What does a ____ say?”, “Where you do live?”, etc.   

[adventuresofprinceroman]

24 Months Milestones

Roman had a blast celebrating his 2nd birthday on a beautiful spring day! He got to go to the Central Park Zoo where he was amazed by the birds and kept pointing and saying , “Wow bird!”, “see bird”, etc.  He could not contain his excitement!  And he of course checked out his favorite spot by the seals.  Then he got to have ice cream in Central Park followed by his favorite slide followed by yummy burgers and milkshakes at Black Tap.  He received lots of amazing gifts for his birthday!  When he received a dinosaur shirt he loved he said “Put this here” and I modeled “Put the shirt on please”.  He ran around the streets of NYC and roared while chasing all of us.  

He was very excited preparing for his birthday party and even went to go run errands at Target with mommy.  He said “dinosaur tissue” and then “I use dinosaur tissue”.  He loves wearing his dino tail too and searching for dinos in the sensory box – followed of course by lining them up!  Can’t wait for the actual celebration next week!  He has been getting better about letting go of things when they are not his or he can’t have them.  Although when we went to check out a school he tried to take a bucket of dinosaurs and would not stop crying!  My mom said we are in trouble because he now says “buy this” if he’s watching a commercial or in a store and will also say “pay this”.  He has also discovered the attic and “climb the ladder”.  

We’ve been catching him talking to himself a lot while playing… almost narrating his actions.  While he’s doing something he’ll say “I + action” such as “I hiding”.  If he is in a stroller and wants to get out he says “I walk”.  And he loves looking for things.  For instance, he will say “Mommy here?” and then will say “not here” if he cannot find me.  Or if he’s looking for water he’ll say “Water here?”.  And he is very intrigued by things that are missing and will say “Missing?”.  My mother came back from errands one day and he said “I miss you grandma” and he will say “I love you mommy”.  He loves greeting people at the playspace by saying “Hi” and waving.  He always says “Bye” and will even say “See you later”.  He interacts with new children and old friends there (e.g. – pushes them in the yellow car, holds their hand and takes them places, pretends to run after them, etc.).  He requests clearly via “I want + item”.  He can now say “pacifier” clearly when he is ready to sleep, but we really need to take it away!  Wish us luck!

[adventuresofprinceroman]

23 Months 3 Weeks Milestones

He produces sentences “I need more”, “I need that”, etc.  He sometimes adds more words like “I need that dinosaur” or replaces “this” or “that” such as “I need dinosaur”.  If he hurts something he says “toes hurt” or “leg hurt”.  He’s great at initiating play and his imagination runs wild – he’ll pretend to roar and play chase.  He’ll also say phrases such as “water RUN!!”.  He’ll say “Let’s play”, “Let’s paint”, etc.  He tells us “I like it” and “I love it”.  He initiates songs by himself such as “5 Little Dinosaurs Jumping on the Bed” and if he wants you to sing one he’ll say a line such as “EIEIO”.  He sings lines such as “baa baa here”.

Roman got a visit from Uncle Dan this week and ate a ton of sweets.  He has been better about sharing at the playspace – was even sharing his dinosaur fossils.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

During the weekend, he joined us for our first Communiversity table where he blew bubbles, ate cotton candy (second time ever!), munched on popcorn, and lots more!  He also got to walk around campus with Anneanne and see all the blossoms.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

He hit a huge milestone – his first movie ever!  We went to see Zootopia.  He watched the movie in his own big boy seat that reclines and ate popcorn like a champ!  He was a natural!  He tried to run up the stairs once, but that was all the way at the end of the movie.  We also got to visit the Queens Zoo where he loved the birds and farm animals.  This was of course followed by some ice cream.  We also celebrated his friend Asher’s birthday at Bounce U.  He was slightly afraid to go in the bouncy castles, but mommy went in with him!

We tried Little Zookeepers again this week and he LOVED it.  He said “WOW!”  and repeated what the instructor Travis was saying about the animal such as “white teeth”.  He still said “I touch it”, but waited his turn very well.  He brings his bucket of dinosaurs everywhere – even runs with them in the playground and brings them on the swing!  He talks to them in the car and said “dinosaur teeth”, “bite”, etc.  Roman also continues to be our Gift of Gab model – check out our Gift of Gab store for the latest in our clothing line! 

[adventuresofprinceroman]

23 Months 2 Weeks Milestones

Roman got to go to his Marquand Park movie premier at the Princeton Environmental Film Festival – everyone recognized him!  He sat in the theater for a few minutes in the beginning… with his dinosaurs of course!  He then got to visit the playspace and loves it when it’s not crowded.  He was even pretending to be a fireman!  He also loves the infant toddler area and Lego wall.  He even helps mommy clean by wiping and putting away chairs.  And this past week he has become a Gift of Gab model!

He is into a new show called Dino Trucks and hasn’t stopped playing with them.  When we were at the hair salon he said “I looking dinosaur”.  He says new words and phrases left and right.  For example “rubber ducky”, “blast off”, etc.  We’re working on his /s/ sound by telling him to put his teeth together and making a snake sound.  Since his whole world revolves around dinos he produces phrases such as “dinosaur fossils”, “baby dinosaur” and other phrases to show possession such as “baby dinosaur”, “dinosaur legs” and “dinosaur horns”.  He can now label all different kinds of dinosaurs such as Stegosaurus and Triceratops – he picks them out from a mile away!  He also has the dinosaurs pretend to eat!  He’s also been enjoying Legos and loves walking on the canal.  He even feeds himself like he’s a king!

Another behavior he’s taken up is standing on the table, which he also did at a restaurant.  With repeated reminders and redirection the behavior stops.  He says phrases such as “Don’t touch” or “go away”.  And he is quite smart – if someone does not give him what he wants, he goes to another person.  He also associates getting certain items from certain people (e.g. – ice cream from grandparents, movies from dad since he is the only one that knows how to operate technology around here).  

[adventuresofprinceroman]

23 Months 1 Week Milestones

The weather has been getting much nicer and the cherry blossom tree has even bloomed!  He now initiates “I love you mommy” and “I miss you”, which of course melts our hearts!  If he by mistake hurts you or sees that you’re hurt he will say “Okay mommy?”.  He also waits for us at the window when we’re coming home from work.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

He has been obsessed with using Windex and cleaning – we need to replace that with water!  Our hobby with dinosaurs is ever growing and he even names a “pterodactyl” when he sees one!  He also enjoys watching dino YouTube videos and imitates actions with his dinosaur.  And he’s been having playdates galore!  We also went to PF Changs to celebrate the opening of the playspace – he did a great job of sitting at the table.  We continue to go to the city on Wednesdays so he can spend time with his grandparents and uncle.  He LOVES jumping on his uncle’s bed!  

He has been having quite a few meltdowns, but we’ve learned that talking about his feelings, and then ignoring negative behavior, and finally praising him when he calms down works best.  It’s been a struggle bringing him to the playspace since he sees it as home base and everything as his so you often hear “This is mine”, “I need it”, or “I use it” (e.g. – the yellow Cozy Cab, Lego wall).  He also insists on having a snack (usually chips) when we’re there.  He tried a donut for the first time!  At the Little Zookeepers class he had difficulty waiting his turn and said “touch” and “mine”.  If something is taken away from him he continues to say “no mama”.  And he’s been exhibiting toddler behavior all around such as lying himself on the floor so you can’t pick.

[adventuresofprinceroman]

23 Months Milestones

My baby is almost 2 – wow! He answered with “I love you too” when I said “I love you” this week. He is so proud of his name now and says “I Roman”. If he is pretending to be a dinosaur he will say “I dinosaur” and then will say phrases such as “eat the nose (or whatever else he is eating!)”.  Speaking of dinosaur, he loves opening dinosaur eggs and he continues to make them stand up as if they’re in a herd within a forest. And this animal lover even got to walk a dog this week! In terms of expressive language, he says “hotty soup”.  He comments on aesthetics of items.  For instance, he says “hair nice”.  He continues to ask “Where are you ____?” while looking for an item and says “I found it”. If he wants to use something such as our phone he says “I use it”.  

He got to go on a Bunny Chase at Terhune Orchards where he ran around, went on a wagon ride, and ate lots of apple donuts. He was playing chase with children and telling kids to “wait!” when they were leaving. He was even trying to blow his bunny bubbles this week and loves smelling flowers – I guess that’s what living in the burbs does to you!  When asked “Where do you want to go?” he says “Demet house” because he loves hanging out with his friends Demir & Su Eva. During play, if we touch any of his puzzle pieces he says “this is mine”. If he wants us to hold something he says “hold it mommy”. He also requests help via “help me mommy”.  Speaking of help (or no help that is!), he has figured out how to snap himself into the car seat! In terms of pretend play, he now pretends to be a dog by getting on all fours. He also pretends there is a ghost and says “shhh”.  

Roman help us set up the playspace before opening day – especially the sensory bins!  And he wore his finest on opening day!  It’s the first week the playspace has been open Roman came to visit for an hour or two a few days during the week.  His favorite part of the pretend town seems to be the ice cream store where he loves to scoop the ice cream into cones and pour tea into the cups.  He also loves the garage, running with the dog, and the light table.  Roman even got to have his first playdate at the playspace with his Thursday playgroup.  He had two rounds of play one day and was so exhausted!  Think we are going to gradually bring him there little by little since it’s time to get used to sharing with others!  And by the way, he already treats himself to gifts at the playspace’s store – he’s obsessed with the animal sticker books!  He does help us run errands for the playspace though.  We had to buy a computer at Best Buy and he was mesmerized by the big screen TVs!  He even got his nails done with mommy for the first time and LOVED it!

[adventuresofprinceroman]

22 Months 3 Weeks Milestones

   He has been putting lots of new phrases together.  For instance, he comments on items that are “pretty”.  When my mother put her sunglasses on, he said “grandma nice”.  He wakes up and finds me in the morning and says “Hi mommy”.  If he doesn’t want us to touch something he says “go away” or if he knows it’s time for sleep he says “go mama”.  But then if he wants us there and we are leaving he says “mama wait wait”.  He imitated “I love you” many times this week, which melted our hearts.  He also said “Uncle Reza” more clearly.  He tells us phrases such as “come on mom” and always requests to go “upstairs” because he wants to watch dinosaurs.  He produces phrases with “now”.

  In terms of receptive language, he answers “What is your favorite animal?” with “dinosaur”.  He has also started to answer what he did such as “Where did you go?” with “gas station” and will say “bye station” as you’re leaving.  He also requests “yoga”.  He now sits in a chair at restaurants and eats without getting up most of the time – he can eat the bread for 45 minutes or so!  He comments on food such as “yummy chicken”!  Speaking of food, he loves his blueberries and raspberries this week – even sticks the raspberries on his finger!  He also comments on weather by saying “cold” and hugging himself.                                                                                                    

  He’s been great at eating his greens such as asparagus and collard greens.  He insists on eating by himself using his utensils, which is exactly what you’d expect at this age.  In terms of play, he has full on pretend phone conversations, which crack us up!  He also gets a kick out of hiding under pillows and says “I hiding” and loves when you say “Where’s Romie?’, which makes him laugh very hard!  He now watches movies with incredible focus.  We tried to go on an Easter Egg Hunt this week, but he was much more interested in the animals.  He got to visit the Mo Willems exhibit at the New York Historical Society.  And he got to see the Dinosaurs Among Us exhibit at the Museum of Natural History plus the Tyrannosaur again of course!  He takes his setting up of dinosaurs on the table very seriously and is obsessed with his dinosaur magnets!

[adventuresofprinceroman]

22 Months 2 Weeks Milestones

He produces 3-word phrases such as “eat the book” when he is using his dinosaur mask.  He say’s “I got it” if he picks something up with his dinosaur puppet.   He is getting better about pairing “open” with other words such as “open egg”.   My mother and I were talking about how he will imitate unfamiliar words – even “taxes” when he overhears us talking about it haha!  When we get home from work he says “mommy here” and “daddy here”.  He has been using “the” in a lot of his phrases such as “eat the sausage”.  He says “come lay down”.  He saw his dad eating chocolate and he said “I want eat chocolate”.  

In terms of receptive language, he answered “where” questions.  For example, for “Where does a pig live?” he will answer with “farm”.  He went back to his old stomping grounds – The Art Farm on the UES where he petted a variety of animals.  He said “scared” when Benny the turtle was crawling toward him.  He’s also labeling “boy” and “girl” sometimes.  When at Barnes & Noble, he read tons of dinosaur books and kept requesting “another book”.  His grandparents bought him two dinosaurs and said “I got dinosaurs”.  On the way back home he was recalling the names of the dinosaurs and he said “T Rex”.  His symbolic play is also advancing.  He was helping me put together a stand and pretended two pieces were dinosaurs and had them “roar” at each other.  He’s been very into his magnetic dress up doll as well.  

Roman is getting great at having a basic conversation.  Someone this week said Hi to him and he said “Hi” back.  He then answered his name “Roman” and said “5” when the woman asked how old he was haha!  We practice “2” since he’s almost 2!  Roman has been a big helper at the playspace.  He wants to help putting things together with screwdrivers and has mastered how to use a measuring tape.  He is of course has been trying out the pretend town as well. And he’s figured out a fun activity with boxes – to poke holes in them with a pen… oh the things that entertain most two year olds!  And he’s figured out how to put olives on his fingers, which I used to do as a child as well!

[adventuresofprinceroman]

22 Months 1 Week Milestones

He started the week right with a Mr. Ray performance at Forrestal Village!  He danced the night away and Mr. Ray even sang a dino song for him.  Roman says cute 3-word phrases such as “hold it dinosaur” if he wants you to hold it.  He pretends to feed his animals and says “eat + food item”.  He was looking for my dad and said “Aypo where are you?”.  He says phrases with “other” such as “other foot”.  And will repeat new phrases like “sweet guy”.  When he sees buses, cars, or trucks he says “round and round”.  He regularly greets everyone and parts with people via “Hi + name” and “Bye Bye”.

  He’s very into putting my shoes on and says “shoes on”.  He says the phrase “put here” often.  He loves using and repeating expanded phrases.  For instance, if he says “head” we may say “put it on my head” and he’ll try to repeat it back!  He follows lots of directions throughout the day as in “go get your sheep diaper”, “go give it to grandma”, etc.  Time to help with more chores! ;)  In terms of play, he loves trying to fix things and put them together with a screwdriver (e.g. – his guitar in my parents store).  We made play dough together in the kitchen.  He also helps mommy with errands for the playspace.  During the weekend, he got to be filmed for a documentary in Marquand Park.  He of course brought his dinosaurs with him – on the swing, in the snow, and everywhere else!  He brings his whole bucket and has them stand up wherever he is – at the pizza place, restaurant, book store, playground… you name it!  We also got to go to the Kids Food Fest in Bryant Park where he loved trying all the yummy snacks and drinks.  He loved the lion at the library and just running around the ice skating rink!

Roman got to see his close friends Demir and Su Eva during the weekend.  He was very interested in playing the violin.  He watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and was cracking up at the funny parts.  He also watched Good Dino, which is totally appropriate since he has an obsession!  He was mesmerized!  Think we know what his birthday theme is ☺  He loves acting like a dinosaur and roars all day long!  He even found a dinosaur within an egg by tapping away at it with a hammer – my little archeologist!  He loved digging and requested, “brush”.  And to top off the week – he got to see the Tyrannosaurus at the Museum of Natural History… biggest dinosaur of them all!  We also got to visit some playspaces in New Jersey called Coco Beans Café and Little Dreamers Café which he loved!  

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22 Month Milestones

Roman had a two fun play dates with his friend Ellie this week.  He loved chasing the cat around while saying “meow meow”.  We also got to go to Wild Flour Café to get gluten-free cupcakes and even visited Aunt Jill’s log cabin.  He tells us to “sit there” or “sit here” if he wants to play something with us such as puzzles.  He loves the more difficult floor puzzles and says “fits” and tries to say “doesn’t fit”.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

He says “mommy huggie” and “mommy see you” if he found me and gets so excited!  For the first time he answered his own question: “What’s that? Banana”.  He recalls events from last week such as “circus animals”, “circus grandma”, and “birthday grandma” (because he was watching a birthday cake show with his grandmother).  He used other new words and phrases such as “tower”, “do it”, “reach”, “want”, etc.  He asks where his pacifier is for sleep “Fier where a you?”.  He also asks in question form “no more?” if something is finished.  He produces number + item such as “5 trees” while hiking, which he loves to do!  He also says “okay” all the time now!

When asked “How many fingers do you have on your hand?” he says “5”.  He’s starting to follow directions with more prepositions such as “Put it on the couch”.  We went to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan to learn about Muslim Cultures all over the world.  When we got there he was not happy that we had to put his stroller and diaper bag away. He kept saying “stroller mine” and “my bag”, but as soon as he saw the space he was fine!  He loved the exhibits like the camel and listened to “Let’s get on the boat”, “Let’s drive the car”, etc.  He got to smell different kind of fruits, touch different fabrics, and build minarets.  His favorite was playing with the dates, pepper, and pistachios.  His grandmother got him a set of dinosaurs, which are now is prized possessions.  He thought the pterodactyl was an eagle and he said “fly eagle fly” – so cute!  His obsession with dinosaurs is intense this week – won’t leave the house without them!  He’s also loving long hikes on the canal, putting change into Robot bank, and wearing momma’s shoes!  And he’s a pro at helping out in the tailor shop – he tries to put on my mother’s glasses, labels colors of threads, and even tries to help take the customer’s measurements!

And the little guys knows all the hiding spots for lollipops!  When he does get one as a treat he is on Cloud 9 – starts thanking you and smiling!  He’s so sweet when we get home from work – gets soooooo excited, runs to us with the biggest smile, and greets us with “Hi mommy” or “Hi daddy”.  And poor baby had another diaper rash – he told us “be careful” as we were putting the diaper rash cream on.  And he has been starting to go pee in the potty for the first time – we’re starting to work on it gradually.  Roman has also become very independent about using the toothpaste and toothbrush independently.  He is also really starting to understand the concept of being scared.  While reading a book at the library he said “ghost scary”.

[adventuresofprinceroman]

21 Months 3 Weeks Milestones

He’s been quite a daddy’s boy this week!  When he didn’t see his daddy, he said “Daddy where are you?”.  He even told me to “call daddy”. And he is so loving this week - wants a “huggie” from everyone.  He comes running to you with arms open wide!  When he wants us together and misses us he says “mommy daddy”.  He got to make Valentine’s Day cards with his dad at Twirl Toy Shop this week!  He has also been very protective of his “bag” and always wants us to bring it everywhere with us.  He produces “box”.  He also produced long phrases such as “I need this” and “I don’t want to”.  He even says phrases with “there” such as “right there”.   He continues to say “no thank you” or “thank you”.  For instance, I offered a book without animals at the library and he said “no thank you” – it has to be about animals!  He continues to love reading and makes comments like “pee yewww” if he sees skunks and always labels or comments.  He loves playing with his letters in the bath.  He imitated his first curse word this week – rhymes with pit - uh oh!  We have to really watch what we say!  

As for receptive language, He has been listening to lots of complex 1-2 step directions that involve distance such as “Go give your Uncle Reza a hug” or “Go get the sheep diaper in the bathroom and give it to me”.  He even puts his clothes in the laundry basket!  We find that he is really curious and watches everything – he even watches my mother who is a tailor sew at her sewing machine… studies her every move!                                                                                                                  

He got to go on a few adventures after he was all better!  We took him to the Toy Fair where he got to go see the latest toys at the Play Fair (wouldn’t let go of his popcorn!).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

He even got to go the Big Apple Circus and was mesmerized by the trapeze artists (as were we!).

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We had a great time at the ‪#‎bigcitymoms‬ biggest baby shower last night in NY. Meet so many soon to be new moms and seasoned Mamma’s. It was an awesome event!

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21 Months 2 Weeks Milestones

Roman is officially a toddler this week!  He has been producing so many different words, but if he is having a tough time communicating he gets frustrated very easily and screams or whines.  I find that even if he knows the word for what he wants he will not say it because the frustration takes over.  He also has quite a high-pitched scream these days - he definitely experiments with different octaves!  In terms of play, he engages in more pretend play (e.g. – farm, rescue vehicles, skyscrapers, etc.) and still loves trying to carry heavy objects.  Floor puzzles (especially dinosaur ones) have also been a favorite!  During Super Bowl Sunday, he loved eating the buffalo cauliflower.  He’s now into picking grapes of the vine and eating it.  And Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, so he’s making his Valentine’s Day Cards!

He has generalized “slippery” to the bathtub and loves saying “splash” while he splashes.  He labeled “crocodile” and “dragon”.  He produced lots of phrases such as “sausage bread”, “I want this”, and “take this”.  He’ll also say “have” when he hands you something since we say “Let me have it”.  He makes us hold all of his animals and can play with his farm for more than an hour.  He even asked a long question “Cow where are you?”.  He makes things fall and says “Oopsies” and “sorry” all day long!  And big news – he answered “Romie” when asked “What’s your name?” this week!  And he consistently says “anne” to my mom, which means mom in Turkish… the actual word is very close “anneanne”.  He also said “no thank you” when he did not want Valentine’s Day candy – shocker!  He did love eating heart-shaped lollipops while making his Valentine’s cards though!

He’s been doing a very cute thing and showing off his new boots and draws attention to them by saying “shoes” – he even said it to a police officer!  He got to see The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show in NYC and was mesmerized.  He labeled animals like “bear” and told me to “clap” when the audience clapped.  He also got to visit a new playspace in Brooklyn called Curiosity on Court.  He loved the puzzles, wooden blocks, and went into a jungle gym for the first time.  His father and grandfather went in with him!  One of the boys there was picking on him by hitting and he didn’t hit back, but did scream and cry.  

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21 Months 1 Week Milestones

It is the sweetest thing!  He now says “hold you” instead of “hold me” most likely because I say “Let me hold you!”.  He uses descriptor words like “big” and even said “heavy” when he was trying to open the refrigerator.  He says “mommy no” and “daddy no” if he doesn’t want us to do something or if he doesn’t want us to leave.  He pretends to count and says “5”.  He tells you to “stop” if he doesn’t want something done.  He will say “take” if he wants you to hold something.  From all the way across the room he pointed to a donkey and said “What’s this?”.  Since there’s still plenty of snow in the driveway we brought it in again and he made his first snowman and labeled “carrot”.

Roman continues to adore animals and pretends to ride a horse, roars holding his new lion, and loves the sheep on his nighttime diapers.  He plays endlessly with his farm and even has his monkeys sleep in his dollhouse.  He found a shark and pretended to be scared of it by throwing it and screaming.  He doesn’t want to leave the house without his dinosaur boots and always shows them off to people.  He pretended to be a doctor while on a playdate with his friend Alex.  He checked my eyes while saying “eyes” and made me say “ahhh” while checking my mouth.  He did the same to a bear.  He got to the Ice Sculpture Festival while we were away in Miami this weekend and loved dressing up the bear.  His feet got stuck in the mud, which he wasn’t too happy about!  He got to be spoiled by both his grandmother though, so you can’t beat that!  And he was thrilled when we returned ☺

He hasn’t been a fan of his high chair this week and will fight going into it.  Our high chair days may be over!  He does enjoy sitting in the shopping cart when going shopping at Target, the supermarket, etc. While eating he says “taste”.  He also uses descriptor words like “soft”.  And if he really likes something he says “yummy”.  He loves singing “Let it Go” from Frozen and will say “Goooo” while dancing.  You see him with his Anna, Elsa, and Olaf bath toys everywhere.  He also tells you he wants to sing “Old McDonald” by saying an animal’s name.  Roman answer’s “What does a ____ say?” consistently with a variety of animals.  

[adventuresofprinceroman]

21 Months Milestones

We’re still clearing the mounds of snow!  Roman said “nana car” when he was inside and his grandmother was clearing the top of the car outside.  When we get home from work as soon as he sees us he says “jacket”, “shoes”, “shoes off”, etc.  He says “mama no”.  He requests the TV Show “Blaze” and “Zoomi” for UmiZoomi this week as well.  He even labeled one of the characters “Molly”.  If he is hungry this week, he will tell you “eat”.  At breakfast time he tells you exactly what he wants by walking to the refrigerator – “cereal”, “juice”, “strawberries”, etc.  He produces “apple juice” and “orange juice”. He’s beginning to join “more” with more words such as “more apple” as well as “Where?” such as “Where taxi?” when he lost it.  

Roman loves following the direction “throw it in the garbage” this week.  He also loves helping grandma and grandpa clean the tailor shop.  He definitely knows the difference between letters and numbers.  His favorite letters are I, O, and A. He gets O right consistently – he labels them while reading and on mommy’s laptop keyboard!  He is starting to sing his ABCs really well too!  He loves counting when on the steps and he sees what looks like numbers he will start saying them such as “3, 4, 5”.  And as for colors, he has been labeling “purple”, “yellow”, and “orange”.                                          

In terms of play, he will take a toy out of the box himself and engage in independent play. When he is done with it he puts it back.  He loves the Lite Brite prototype that we brought home for the Princeton playspace.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

We went to Imagine That! Children’s museum and he loved the “dinosaurs”, “trucks”, sandbox, post office where he made phone calls, and even served me some pizza at the diner when I asked for it!  He also had a playdate with his friend Sammy.  He is sometimes rough and doesn’t realize it, so we talk about gentle touches and how we don’t want to hurt anybody.  Keeping directions literal and meaningful such as “hands down” instead of “stop” has also been helpful.