Corey Update - Part 2 of 3

Corey chillin out - 18 months

18, 19 and 20 months old (October, November, December 2011)

In October, Corey went for his 18 month checkup. At that time, he weighed 22lbs (7th percentile), 31 inches in length/height (16th percentile)....so this little guy is tiny. He is growing, but he's on the small side, that's for sure. The doctor did notice that he had an ear infection and that his tubes had fallen out. He was not showing any signs on having an ear infection, so this was news to us, but she did mention that he may need another set of tubes. He did wind up having the tube surgery and and his adenoids removed. You can read more about the surgery by clicking here. 

Waiting for his Ear, Nose and Throat Dr. at his checkup

Happy Boy!! Always smiling....

During the fall, you could almost always hear Corey saying his favorite catch-phrase "Oh Man!" (Oh Me-an!) He would say it after dropping something, or if someone else dropped something. If a show was paused on the TV he would say it, and sometimes he would just say it walking around the house for no reason. :)

Roar

His love of books really started and he loved to point to the apple in one of his First Words books and say "Apple" or point to the babies in the pictures and say "Baby". His other favorite books were (and still are) Moo, Baa, La La La, & The Goodnight Book by Sandra Boyton and Counting with Baby Mickey and Minnnie. And anything Touch and Feel - like the animal books. He also started doing puzzles more and more. He's VERY good at puzzles and building with blocks.

Reading after an intense finger painting session

He is VERY into his books.

Best buds

I love these two soooo much.

Mom, why are you taking our picture AGAIN??

In the car Corey was especially talkative. During our car rides home from work, we would ask Corey to repeat certain words like "Car", "Truck", "Yellow", "Light", etc, but they would almost always come out sounding no where near how the sound of the actual word is supposed to sound. Like for instance, the word "Car" would come out sounding like "seeseee" or something like that. So Paul and I would joke that it was like that Saturday Night Live skit with Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph as Art Dealers where they would mispronounce simple words. The dialogue would go something like this....
"My name is Josh."
"Nice to meet you, "SheeShay."
"No, it's Josh."
"Yes, SheeShay."
*at about 1min 40 seconds in you'll see what I mean

So Paul and my little "inside joke" is to just say "Nuni" (the name of the Art Dealers) whenever he doesn't say the word correctly! LOL!

Hanging with Daddy

Every weekday morning commute I feel as I though I am a bus driver. The first drop off is Corey. As soon as we turn into Judi's (caregiver) neighborhood, he immediately recognizes where we are and says "Bye Bye" and waves.  He knows that we're about to drop him off. It's so cute. Then after that, I take Paul to work at the one end of the main campus at UTSA and then Ashley's drop off is next at the other end of the campus at the Child Development Center.  Then it's off to my building which is located a couple of blocks away at another campus. Phew! I am exhausted once I arrive to work at 8am (more like 8:05 or even 8:10am some days). I do my best! :)

Corey at Judi's with Roy (Jacqui's fiance), and his friends Beaux and Jude
Check out that smile!

Corey wearing his Christmas sweater from Judi

In December, his vocabulary soared!!!! By the end of December (during our trip home to NJ for Christmas) he was talking a bunch. 
 

Below is a list of some of the words he started saying and his pronunciation:

a-bwo Bwiley (Bo Riley) - a child's name at Judi's daycare

Wooter (water) - he says it with Mommy's NJ accent! woohoo

a-sauce (applesauce) - says the same for when we wants yogurt

A- Ada (Ashley) - sounds nothing like Ashley but we keep working on it. :)

a-naaaat (goodnight)

peas (Please)

A None (signs "all done" and says it)

Da tu (God Bless you ) says it when you sneeze or cough

Papaaa (Pop-Pop) - My Dad
Nanny - Nanny - My Mom

Pepaw - Pepaw - Paul's Dad
Mimmie (Bimmie) - Paul's Mom
I-nine (Little Einsteins) - Kids TV show

KeeYee (Kitty)

Nemonem (M&M's) -  his FAV candy

Cookie (keekee)

Tato (Tater)

"Ma mis" (Thomas) - Just recently started getting into Thomas the Tank engine

(a bwa why) - Loves the show Super Why (another kids program)

Staring at the first fire of the season

Focused painting...

Hanging out with Jude at his birthday party

At the end of November and early December Corey began learning to put his dishes in the sink when we tell him. He picks up trash on the floor and is getting better at listening when we tell him to go "here or there" or pick up his toys. Granted, most times he doesn't obey, but we are getting there.  Speaking of disobeying, this little guy has quite the temper. He started getting super duper picky with his food and when you tell him to eat his food or that he can't get down from his chair, he starts with the attitude and will knock over his cup and plate of food. The dogs LOVE this, but Mommy and Daddy....not so much.  

Crazy baby *blurry but cute*

On the other hand, this little guy is very affectionate. He opens his arms out to be held all the time. You can almost guarantee he will be near me all the time in the house. I can't be out of his sight for long. He is usually walking in between my legs or pulling on my skirt to be held.   He'll rest his head on your shoulder and snuggle in your arms. If you ask for a hug, he'll give you one right back.  He will even put his arms around Ashley out of nowhere. He rests his head on the dogs all the time and snuggle with them on the couch. He is just a love bug. And that smile....oh boy. I just melt. (can you tell he's a Momma's boy?)

More to come in Part 3 of 3 of Corey's development...