22 months

22 months. Officially known as the month that the terrible twos hit our household. Isaac can be so much fun right now, but he can also turn on a dime and throw one heck of a tantrum.

His vocabulary is growing so quickly! I have kept a list of his words in my phone, categorized by which month he started saying them, but I have finally given that up. He is saying so many new words each day, I can't keep up anymore. Some of my favorites: "reach" - when he wants something that he can't reach, "oh no" - now used in place of "uh oh".

his assortment of bedtime friends

His language skills are not just growing, but developing. He has changed the way he says so many words this month. It's like it has finally clicked in his brain how to move his mouth and tongue to say certain sounds. He used to call his blankie "diddy", but a few months ago it changed to something that sounds like "dehdeh". He also used that word for my mom (Nana) and milk. This month he started saying blankie, Nana, and milk ("bilt"). He still says the d sound for n and the b sound for m a lot of the time, but it's getting much better. Following that rule, he used to call me baba, but now it actually comes out as mama. Melts my heart! He also now says the name of most animals instead of calling them by the sound they make.

Isaac used to call both cats 'kitty' and would occasionally refer to them by name if we prompted him. He went through a phase this month where he called them both "Sotee", but now he can tell them apart most of the time.

His favorite word right now is NO and he says it to almost any question you ask.

Isaac started Mother's Day Out this month and did pretty well for the first 2 weeks, but now seems to be doing worse. They say he cries some and is clingy and cranky the rest of the time. He's sleeping half an hour or less on MDO days, and sometimes falls asleep on the way home. I hope he'll adjust eventually, but it's a little hard for me to enjoy my time away from him when I'm always worried about how he's doing.

He is still rear-facing in the car. My goal was ideally 2 years old, but really just as long as we could make it, whether that's before or after 2 years. I thought we were going to have to turn him this month for logistical reasons, but we're still rear-facing. He rides forward-facing in my mom's car and Rodney's mom's car maybe 2 or 3 times a month, but he never minds when he goes back in our car. 

I think we're entering a train phase. We hear a train several times a day from our house and he loves it.

He's getting much better with using a fork and spoon. I didn't start pushing it too hard until a month or two ago, and he resisted at first, but he's doing great now. He'll still use his hands as soon as I turn my head, but he no longer fights me about using utensils.

This month I started keeping the daughter of a friend while she works. Lyla is 11 months old and comes 2-3 days a week to play with us. Isaac really likes her and likes having a playmate (as much as they can be playmates at this age), but he gets very jealous of Lyla. He doesn't like it when I hold her, or when she plays with his toys. That's all very normal for this age, but I feel like it will be very good for him once he fully adjusts. I know this combined with Mother's Day Out has been a big change for him, and is probably a lot of why is he acting out, but we're just hanging in there for now.

The past few weeks have been challenging, and I know we still have a long way to go, but I love this little boy so much. It's a learning process for all of us, and he's worth it.