The Gilliam Gazette: 2-Year Update

Daniel went for his two-year well child exam today. He is thriving! He came in at 33.25" (21st percentile) and 29 lbs. (63rd percentile). It's interesting because they don't take the diaper or clothes off to record his weight once the child reaches the age of two. Also interesting - the pediatrician (Daniel saw a new pediatrician, and we loved her!) said that typically a future height predictor is to take their height at age two and double it. If that's the case, Daniel should grow to be around 5'7". We don't expect he'll be on the basketball team - maybe more like student council. :)

The pediatrician addressed all of our questions and concerns and made us feel very comfortable. Daniel received one vaccination, cried for a second or two, and then said, "All done!" I think he was ready to leave.

We will switch him from whole milk to skim milk. Sounds like a harsh transition, but we were on the upper end of how much milk he should receive in a day. Hopefully this will help him in wanting to eat more at meal times. Typically he does well eating. His favorite things to eat are oatmeal, blueberries, grapes, dried cranberries, and raisins, Typical toddler - he doesn't like vegetables, but we give him some credit for trying them (and then spitting them out).

He does well with cognitive skills. He likes to stack blocks and then knock them down and laugh. I think his record is stacking six blocks. He knows his primary colors well. We color with markers and sidewalk chalk often, so I think that helped him learn. He's starting to favor his right-hand. He follows two-step instructions really well. For example, pick up your shoes and put them in the closet.

Socially and emotionally, he's right on target. He copies others, gets excited when with other children, shows more and more independence, shows defiant behavior, and plays mainly beside other children but is beginning to include other children in games.

As we've mentioned before, his speech is behind. At this age, he should be able to say around 50 words and should be forming sentences with 2-4 words. He says about 10 words right now - his regulars and now he added "sit" and "two." He does, however, excel when it comes to pointing to objects. I'm amazed at what he can figure out in books when I point to something we haven't discussed before. That, or he's just really good at guessing. :)

His movement and physical development are that of a typical two-year-old. He stands on his tiptoes, kicks a ball, runs all over the place, climbs up and down the furniture without help, walks up and down the stairs by holding on with one hand to the rails, and throws a ball overhand. He keeps us on our toes and is very active!

Since Daniel is two now, I probably won't be posting monthly updates anymore. We'll still try to hit the highlights though.

Daniel is awesome. Bobby and I are in awe of how much our love grows each day for Daniel. His fascination for life and curiosity in all things reminds us to look and learn through him with open eyes.

It's amazing... one day you wake up and you've been happily married for 11 years and you have an awe-inspiring, beautiful blue-eyed two-year-old with an impressive head of curly blonde hair. We love you, Daniel!