Matthew at 18 months

Since Matthew is be 19 months I figured I should get some information down at what he is like and doing at 18 months before I forget. I was reading my entry from when Emily was 18 months and there were so many things I did forget so I am very glad I can read what I wrote to remember. S many things I wrote remind me of what Matthew is doing at the same age. He is bigger han she was, taking more after Stephanie's structure. He was 24.2lbs at his check up and 33.5 inches. He loves to run, climb, tries to jump, wants to walk up the stairs, and his new favorite thing is getting a stool so he can turn on and off the light switch. He is independent and thinks he can do everything and get away with everything. He will put himself in timeout if he thinks he did something wrong. Kind of defeating the purpose. It doesn't happen to often though because he is a good boy. He is definitely a mama's boy but is getting better with others.

He loves playing with puzzles, loves animals, Dora, playing with his sisters, the iPad, playing outside, reading books, and being goofy. He thinks he is the funniest guy. He is always making us laugh and likes acting silly. He can climb up both ladders on the playset outside. He makes me nervous put does a great job. he goes down the slide all by himself as well and he doesn't fly off the bottom anymore. He talks pretty well for his age. He probably has over 20 words and is combines a couple words. Some words he says often are, "iPad", "mama", "dada", "ketchup", "Dora", "puffs", "hello", "toilet", "fish", "all done", "more", "grandpa", "touchdown", "hop hop", "no", and "backpack". He gets many of his words from copying is sisters. He loves playing with them and they love p,aging with him. It is such a joy to watch them all play together. Sometimes it doesn't always end well but they try.He finally sleeps well overnight after not sleeping through the night consistently until 14-15 months. Now he gets a good 11-12 hours of sleep a night and then a 2.5-3 hr nap. A couple days he still takes 2 naps but most often he can stay awake for one afternoon nap.

He brings such a joy and smile to our lives every day. He is so lovable and sweet and I don't want him to grow up anymore. He is growing up too fast already that I can't imagine him being 2.

One month into school

It has been a rough first month of school with a few talks with Stephanie's aides and the principal. Stephanie seems to be enjoying herself but she is suppose to have an aide with her the whole school day, she is there from 8:40-12:25, and when I pick her up from recess she hasn't always had an aide with her outside. Who knows what could happen if she doesn't have supervision outside. There is no fence outside and she could wander into the neighborhood behind the school, down the sidewalk into the street, or into the parking lot. After the second time the principal assured me that this won't happen again and they have a plan and a back up plan in place. Stephanie has her good days and bad days but overall is enjoying school and adjusting to a new classroom, teacher, and schedule. She does have a new aide as one of the ones working with her could really handle her. At least that is what I took it as. She wasn't a special ed aide and I think with Stephanie's lack of communication skills she was hard to figure out how to engage her with what was going on in the classroom but at her level. But she still has her same special ed aide that she had last year and the new OT finally starts next week  Hopefully she is a good fit for Stephanie.
Emily has been enjoying her first month of school as well. She was just sick for almost a week recently but has recovered and is back into the swing of things. I do think that going everyday is a big adjustment for her. She does like it and is already making some friends. It is so exciting to hear what she does everyday. It is so different than last year when Stephanie was in the class since now I really know what is going on. I'm glad she is having fun and making friends. She already seems more outgoing and last week she held a girls hand as they walked into class. But she has already said that she wants long hair like one of her friends. I'm sure that won't be that last time I hear that.
I can't believe how big they both are and Matthew is sure upset when they go to school in the morning and he is left at home. He is also upset that Stephanie takes the iPad to school because that has become his new favorite word.