MORE MILESTONES MET

Can someone please tell me where time went? Vonn Kaleb is a few weeks shy of being 2, and this momma here is having mixed emotions over the fact that my once cute, pea-sized, fussy wussy, scratchy infant has now grown. At 2, I'm already feeling this, so can you just imagine how much more would it be for me when my son marries and leaves home?! I can't! I can't! LOL.

Okay, let me put aside those mommy hormones for now, as I wanted to blog about my son's development over the past weeks. If you read my post back in December 2014 wherein I talked about developmental milestones, you'd remember that Vonn Kaleb met most of them, although there were a few in which he wasn't quite there yet, specifically in his language and social skills. He was 22 months then when I wrote that, so I thought I'd do a follow-up on it now that he's almost 2. Jeez, almost 2 - now, I'm getting emotional again. Hehe!

Anyway, here are the most pertinent points in my checklist from December:

Plays mainly beside other children, but is beginning to include other children, such as in chase games

✔ Back in December, I mentioned that his social skills improved considerably ever since we came back from our vacation in October. He was still very clingy to Vince and me but he had become more friendly and would say "hi" and "bye" to people and even would give hugs and kisses to those he was very familiar and comfortable with. Vonn Kaleb then would play alongside other kids but I had yet to see him play chase games.

✔ Well, yesterday, Vonn Kaleb played with his three "girl friends" (two older and one younger than him) while we're at church. At first, he didn't want to play away from my arm's reach, but with my permission, I let one of the older girls, "Aubwee (Aubrey)" watch him. Aubrey used some goldfish crackers to bait Vonn Kaleb into following her to the nursery, and next thing I knew, he was running back and forth and all around playing with the girls. Not only was he doing that but he was also saying, "Chay! Chay! (Chase! Chase!)" while running with the girls. So you see, the fact that he was saying "chase" indicates that he was aware that they were playing chase, and that he wasn't just parallel playing. I think my heart melted that time :') The older girls took turns chasing him which he obviously enjoyed. Considering how aloof Vonn Kaleb used to be, this is really a major milestone for us. 

Says sentences with 2 to 4 words 

✔ Back in December, I noted that Vonn Kaleb's speech was a little behind. He started talking at 21 months, but since then, his language and speech has developed a lot. He is definitely speaking clearer now, and he is learning new words every day. His growing vocabulary includes words such as "caboose," "train cars," "huge truck," "school bus," "sunlight," "bridge," "drama," "green car," "purple ball," "fries," "dryer," "ice cream," "cookie," "seagull," "offering," "goldfish," and so much more! He is not speaking 4-word sentences yet, but he does speak 2-word sentences such as "read please," "open please," "out please," "sit down," "fall down," "get you," "try again," "behind you," "hop in," "jump pool (jump into the pool)." He knows his ABCs, numbers (recognizes 1 to 10, and counts from 1 to 20), basic shapes, and most recently, basic colors. He calls familiar people by names e.g., Tacey, Elkin, Aubrey, Isla. He now knows to use interjections such as "Oooppsiee!" (and sometimes he would copy us saying, "Oooppsiee Daisy!") and "Hoy!," and he loves imitating us say, "Grabe!" The first Tagalog word he learned to say (and he knows what it means) is "paypay" (fan).

In conclusion, I'm very much happy and proud to say that my son's speech and vocabulary has caught up now and he has in fact met the normal developmental milestone for speech.

Like any other parent, I'm very proud of my child. As early as he is in his formative years, I could objectively tell that God has blessed us with a very smart and charming boy. It is now up to us, his parents, to take advantage of his early development stage, nurture him, and help him reach his full potential. Such a daunting and overwhelming task when I think about it, but with God's grace, I know we can do it ☻ 

EDITS: As of publishing, Vonn Kaleb spoke his first ever three-word sentence, "More bubbles please!" ☺ What can I say? My boy loves bubbles ♥