Rowan at 21 Months

Rowan has been going through big changes since I last wrote a 'developmental' entry. Here's a little of what has been happening:

He was initially becoming frustrated with communication. It was obvious to us that Rowan was wanting to tell us more but he didn't really seem to know how. Perhaps this meant his speech wasn't keeping up with his brain. It resulted in a lot of toddler meltdowns up until just before Christmas, when he suddenly woke up one morning and was able to string 2-3 word sentences together (yes, it literally happened that fast...!). Our extended family commented on how his vocabulary suddenly expanded, and we were amazed too. We're hearing phrases such as "door open Mummy", "key door Rowie" and "food hot blow".

Rowan refers to himself as "Rowie" (it must be easier for him to say?) and goes between calling us Mama/Dada and Mummy/Daddy. He's learning new words every day (or so it seems at the moment).

A phrase we're hearing a lot is "Rowie do it!", and that means EVERYTHING. Rowan is wanting to be fiercely independent at the moment and we're trying to encourage safety and boundaries (as in gentle discipline) a lot more than in previous months. We know that he understands, there are plenty of toddler tantrums involved, and last night when he refused to settle down for milk or books before bed and instead wanted to open the door to the loungeroom, he was put to bed without the regular comforts. He howled/screamed for about two minutes before passing out cold and sleeping for 12 hours straight (and here I thought I'd traumatised the poor boy; it was me who was more affected!)

Rowan is interacting with books and television more lately, telling us "uh oh" when objects/people crash or fall over (for example). When the closing credits to a show are on, he tells you "buh bye" while waving. His sense of recognising brands is a little frightening to me - we don't shop a lot (as in non-grocery shopping), and I didn't think I had commercial TV stations on much in our house, but Rowan recognises ads for Target, Hungry Jacks and Big W.


Some of his recent favourites are:

Books - Too Many Pears (Jackie French) / There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Having a Birthday Party (Hazel Edwards) / anything from the Hairy Maclary series (Lynley Dodd).

TV - Peppa Pig, Giggle and Hoot.

Foods - Rice Bubbles, blackberries, strawberries, canned peaches and pears (but won't touch fresh peaches this year!), toast, hard-boiled egg (only the white, egg yolk is the only food he physically gags himself with).

Phrases - "Rowie do it" / "Ohhhh yeah!" / "Mama car beep beep".


After Rowan managed to do a small poo on the toilet by himself the other day (!!!), I decided a teachable moment might be upon us and purchased a seat insert for our toilet. Proudly Rowan walked with the seat around the shops (it has a carry handle) and told the cashier “Rowie poo poo”, which was just as hilarious as it was sweet! :D

We haven’t started the real learning yet, but Rowan’s definitely making the connection between the toilet and how you use it. I don’t want to make a big deal of it, as I’m guessing he’s still a bit young yet and though he has more control over his bladder/bowels than what he used to a couple of months ago, I’m not expecting anything. Since the toilet seat purchase, he’s been getting into the novelty of the seat, and is watching us both very intently when we use the toilet, commenting a lot on what he sees (ie, “paper dry dry” and “Ohhhh.... Mama poo. BIG!”). Alas, life with a toddler. Check in your privacy forever. ;)