My charming boy

It is so excited to watch my baby growing up. It is so excited to watch how much he has gotten into

his personality from my husband and I, which make him a charming boy.

My husband and I are very stubborn, so does Francis. Uff! Don't even try to change our minds! 

My husband is a natural leader and a people person, so does Francis. Everybody likes Francis wherever his goes. At the pre-school, he is very popular among his little friends and the staff. He is known as the dinosaur boy!

My husband and I are persistent on what we want to achieve. He is very persistent of what he wants since he was a baby! When most babies are easily to distract from what they want, this never happened with Francis and it is still this way.

I have a creative mind since I remember, so does Francis. Before he was 18 month, he began to describe his scribbles. At age of two, he was already making up stories and his imagination

is getting better and better the most he is exposed to wonderful things around the world. 

Here is Francis at the preschool playing

with his favorite wooden blocks. 

He built a dolphin park!

Her is Francis drawing of a roller coaster.

He has been asking for a roller coaster for Christmas

 since a couples of months ago.

So I am in my conquer of getting a roller coaster for him. 

He has in mind a big roller coaster and those are for bigger kids

and quite expensive, so I am searching around to see if

I can find something that fits what Francis wants for Christmas.

Francis, my Little "da Vinci"

It is too early to know if Francis will follow my footprints as a Graphic Designer, but he definitely is creative with a great imagination, this is why I call him, my little 'daVinci.' Since the beginning of this year when he was about 19 months, he began to scribble shapes. The first shape he scribbled/drew was a diamond, and as soon as he finished it; he called me while pointing at the diamond: 'Mom, a kite' — I think that he randomly drew the diamond while scribbling. Several months have passed since then, and he has gained more control over his scribbles, so he has lately been scribbling/drawing 'whales and sharks.' One time while scribbling on the easel, he said: I't's a shark swimming in the castle.' It was a very long sentence with a great imagination.

A whale drew by Francis

A shark drew by Francis

He has recently discovered how to trace letters. I don't have anything do with this. I just gave him the crayons, so I could focus on a project I was doing from work this past Monday, September 23. A few minutes passed, so he came back to show me that he wrote the uppercase letter 'V', lowercase 'u' and the lowercase 'l.' He has mastered to trace the uppercase letter 'V' and the lowercase 'l,' but I am not sure about the lower case 'u.' Now he asks us to 'write' letters, so he can watch us tracing them.

The letter V traced by Francis

The letter 'u' traced by Francis

My boys are discovering the importance and the enjoyment of writing, which it is very interesting to me because it is happening around the same time, even when they have not worked together on tracing. Tommy has worked on tracing at school or the therapy center where Francis and I are not around. Because they both are intersted on 'tracing' I will definitely be looking for tracing educational tools that suit their deferent learning styles/needs and I can work with both kids at the same time. I know kids should be kids and Francis just turned 2, but I cannot stop him. It is better that I follow his lead! I am thinking on Hand Writing Without Tears, but it is quite expensive and I am not sure if Francis will like it. If you have any suggesting please email me or comment in this post.

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!

Celebrating Francis's transition to a big bed

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed

Because Francis began to climb on the changer attached to the crib, we got concerned he could get hurt. Therefore, it became a safety issue more than he truly being ready to sleep in a big boy bed. I honestly think it would be great if he could stay longer in the crib, but his safety is first. Both of my kids escaped from the crib at their 18-month. This make me proud of tommy because he was struggling with gross motor, but he jumped out of the crib. There is not a specific age for a child be ready for this big transition; according to the experts in child development, it ranges from 1 1/2 to 3 1/2  years old.

Our crib is a 3-in-1 convertible crib and it has been a key to be successful in this big transition in my kids life. Tommy didn't struggle at all, every stage was an exciting experience for him. Because the transition is done by stages rather than straight to a big bed.  The first stage is replace the big rail for a small rail. I did it yesterday evening because the mattress was already placed in the last level and Francis climbed to the changer at nap time. When Tommy and Francis saw me changing the rail, the both knew the meaning. Tommy started to say:"bed" following by Francis. It was so excited seeing them celebrating. They got on the bed and began to pretend they were sleeping. And of course, they began to jump. I was a big moment to see them celebrating together.

Once the crib was transformed to a toddler bed, we went down stairs to get dinner ready. Francis was so excited that he came to me several times saying: "Mama, Mama bed." When I told him it wasn't bed time, you can see his reaction on the picture below.

Finally, it was bed time. I let the boys play around in Francis room. They truly had fun in this transition.

  

 Everything was fun until I laid Francis down and tuned the light off.  Francis got scared of the change and he didn't want to lay down on the crib. So I gave him a little more time to stay awake and explore around so he was tiered more than usual. Before putitng him down I rocked him and he was tiered enough to stay in bed. I waited until my husband came home, and then, I checked on him. He was sleeping on the floor. I put him on the toddler bed. He slept thru the night fine in bed and didn't fall off.

First time sleeping without the big rail.

The boy made it! 

He slept through the night without falling off.

This picture was taken a few minutes after he waked up.

Today at nap time, he did great. He fussed a little, but he went to sleep for two hours without getting out of the bed.

Waking up from his first nap without the big rail.

 It is too early to say it is a successful transition, but I am happy with how it has been so far. 

Here is the picture from his second night.

When I was about to fix him, he switched his position 

and got into the middle of the bed.

Francis is not a baby anymore!

My Precious Boy, Francis!

It has been a while that I haven't written about my precious boy, Francis. The best word to describe him is "NON-STOP."

He is 18 month old and he brings so much joy to our family. He has a charming personality that makes him to stand out wherever he goes. We went to a birthday party, and by the end, one of the staff member was cleaning up the wrapping paper from the gifts. Then, Francis went there to help with cleaning up. When they were done, he gave her a high 5, meaning they did a good job. None of the other kids paid attention to help with cleaning up, just Francis.

Francis's fake smile

I love his fake smile. He does it since he was about 9-month old.

Apple Monster

Francis cannot see an apple because he has to eat it.

He is an expert apple tief at the grocery store

when Daddy gets distracted. 

Francis has good communication skills. He switches form one language to the other without a problem. If he requests bread and I ignore him, then, he requests "pan" (bread). He is properly starting use phrases, like "let's go;" "Tommy, come! or Tommy, ven." We are hearing many, many words in both languages. He began to answer simple questions, such as: What is this animal? or Who is this person? when he was 15 months. He perfectly names whatever is asked. He uses the words "Thank you" or "gracias" properly most of the time. Because of Francis bilingual communication skills, I know his learning process is faster than what it should be for his age. When he was a baby his pediatrician said we should be aware of language delay due to bilingualism, which I already knew about it. But Francis figured out how to be simultaneously bilingual without interrupting his language development.

His knowledge and comprehension are impressive. When we are getting ready to go out, I just tell him something like; Oh Francis you are forgetting your coat, he stops and goes back to get his coat from the hook. He mastered a 6 piece puzzle with one explanation and one practice. He can currently put a puzzle of 8 pieces together very quick and as soon as he is done he says: "again" and takes the pieces out and put them all back again. He currently recognizes and label the numbers up to 10 and label all the letter of the alphabet in random order and can sight read single words. I was impressed when I saw him taking a catalog and naming the letters of the min heading of the cover, here was when I realized he was learning the alphabet. Wherever we go, if he sees a sign or a poster he names the letters he sees; I usually pay close attention when we go out if I heard him naming letters because I want to follow his lead and encourage him to keep his initiative of practicing the alphabet. 

His playing skills are way ahead of the game, sometimes when he is playing along, if one pays attention Francis is counting his toys up to three and whatever number comes to his mind. His pretend play is skills are really good. His abstract thinking is impressive. For example: He was eating a slide of zucchini and it had a small whole in the middle, he took the zucchini and showed it to us and said that it was the letter O. He knows that circle, rectangle and square are under the category of shapes. I don't sit to teach anything to Francis, he just absorb it from being around. So I have been looking for simple ways we can satisfied his curiosity for learning without feeling the pressure I cannot keep up with him. 

Francis's pretend play

He began to do simple form of pretend play since his was 13 month.

But now, his pretend play sills have gotten more complex 

as you see it the photos and videos.

Francis also pretends that he is sleeping.

I realized it during the Christmas break.

Francis is acting up that he is dramatically crying.
He is a good actor!

He began to open small jars, as well as, open door with handles when he was 16 month. He is already getting curious about open doors with knobs. He also began to pour at his 16 month. He likes to color at the glass door. He says: "Coco" which means he wants to color. But his favorite school utensils are the markers, because he enjoys to take the lid off and put it back while he names the colors. Yes! He is also very interested on learning the colors and he actually can properly name some colors. He is always busy discovering things with his little hands. Having good fine motor skills help him to have great self-care skills. He can unzipped and zip (He needs minimal assistant), so he takes his coat off almost by himself. He likes to brushes his teeth. He loves to help around the house. I let him to help because it is a good way to increase his self steam and encouraging love for learning at the same time.  I am not doing any activity to help him to develop fine motor skills, it is just happening. This is other reason I know Francis's thinking process is ahead because while Tommy was in the Early Intervention Program, the therapists explained to me that fine motors skills is the way they determinate how babies and toddlers use their minds.

Putting toothpaste oh Tommy's toothbrush

(He was 16 month)

He loves to color with markers rather than crayons.

Markers are more fun for him because he 

likes to take the lid off and put it back. 

In this photo, Francis was disappointed because 

Tommy got on the bus to go to school.

Opening door with a handle

(He was 16 month)

He is a great helper!

The littler broom is one of his favorite toys.

So he is "NON-STOP."

Other people who don't know us are also noticing that Francis is a little ahead of the game. A couple of time my husand has been asked in the grocery store how old Francis is and when he says his age, they think he is older or they noticed Francis language skills are really good for his age. Francis had his 18-month check up on January 23rd and the doctor when over his milestones with my husband. He told my husband that Francis is doing everything for a 2 year old and maybe more. The lady from Parents as Teacher also see Francis's advanced development and started to brought toys for older kids. He enjoys to play with her to the point he doesn't like when she have to leave.

I avoid to do structure activities with Tommy if Francis is around because Francis creates too much distraction. But Francis is a good learner, so he is learning things really quick and he is picking a lot for the few moments I do things with Tommy and he is around. As any toddler, he needs an environment that nurture his curiosity for learning, which is what I am doing. I realized he doesn't need me to sit with him and teach, he just need to be around of all kind of educational sources, developmental toys and when possible be part of the activities I do with Tommy; as well as, a lot of free play because he can express what he is learning from his surroundings during free play. So I don't feel a guilt anymore for not dedicating time to him as I would like to. It is not about quantity is about quality. So I will be focused on providing sources that will enrich his knowledge, as well as, teaching him healthy eating habits, this is the best heritage I can give to my charming boy.

The dolphin of my ocean

Tommy has shown aptitude for a swimmer since he was a baby, even our former pediatrician mentioned to us when he was a few months old. But it wasn't until the end of this past summer, he formally started private swimming lessons, once a week for 30 minutes. For my surprise, he began to swimming in seven lessons. So 7-30 minutes lessons, equals, 3 and half hours that Tommy spent to learn swimming. Between those seven lessons, he had a break of 3 weeks. He is all about "ACCOMPLISHMENT and PRIDE."

This not the best photo ever, but it is the best one that shows

Tommy's natural aptitude for a swimmer when he was 11 month old.

Tommy is aware of the danger of being under the water. In one of his session, he went under the water and he got a little scared, but he acted quickly! He got his head out and swan to reach the edge. It's just his natural aptitude for swimming. As we all are born with aptitudes and talents, my son has also born with his aptitudes and talents, but they are overshadowed for his genetic disorder. Some typical people may just see DISABILITY on him, but I have the privilege to be raising a young little boy who is all about "APTITUDES and TALENTS" and God chose me to be the person who will see beyond all labels given to a child, just because, he was born with a genetic disorder.

I have always heard people saying dolphins are the ocean's angels, well Tommy is the dolphin of my ocean. With his ACCOMPLISHMENTS, Tommy raises me up to walk on stormy seas, he is the angel that gives me hope to keep going because I won't drown. He always does something that gives me hope, so he is the one that feed my passion to do everything I can, and beyond, because I weakness, in many ways, how capable he is.

Regardless the challenges he has had facing in the last almost two years,

he always finds a way to keep shinning.

______

Swimming is recommended for kids with sensory processing disorder or kids who has issues with the proprioceptive system.

My little sunshine

I am a little late with the update of my little sunshine. He is shinning like a rock star. He turned one on July 12 and he had his birthday party on July 21. He had a good time in his first birthday party. He is in the stage of shyness, so he was a little shy in his birthday party, but he warmed up at the end. He enjoyed the cake so much! 

Enjoy the pictures of him eating his first birthday cake,

 it is the first time actually eats a piece of cake. 

We are very proud of our little man and we wish the best for him. We all enjoy being around him! Since he was about 8 month old, we could not distracted him from something he wanted, so now that he is toddler it has gotten worse. He is showing temper tantrums when he doesn't get things on his way. The fun is just staring! He has giving a whole new dynamic to our family. He is very funny and curious boy.

Francis's 11 months milestones

• Rolls a toy car a cross the room
• Does simple forms of pretend play (Takes a block a pretend is a cup and share his drink with me).
• Points to a body part (nose)
• Favorite word "No"
• Increases his vocabulary. Three new words: nose, ball and salta.
• Repeats words after us in both languages (English and Spanish). Some words are not very clear
• Shows interest on walking down the stairs.
• Follows instructions in English and Spanish

Francis's 12 months milestones

• Keeps improving to walk up and down the stairs
• Keeps improving his dancing skills, which is funnier.
• Keeps improving his climbing skills
• Likes riding toys even when they are too high for him
• Enjoys playing with balls, cars, piggy bank.
• Stacks blocks of different sizes. 
• Actively plays Peek a-booh by covering himself under a blanket or taking the blanket out to discover an object or a person
• Begins to incorporate words to his pretend play (He says hello! to answer his phone that is his hand that works as a phone in Francis' world)
• He can place smalls rings in a thin pole
• Point at pictures on books or objects when named 
• Helps to put a few toys away
• Increases his vocabulary (Uses often the words: bye, agua, banana, mom, mamma, bubble)
• Say the animal sound for  caw and dinosaur. He is currently working on the animal sound for sheep and horse.
• Put a hat on and take his sucks and shoes off
• Switched from the baby bottle to a straw cup
• Begins to drink with open cup, but still working on it.
• Enjoys to be around other kids. 
• Shows shyness toward strangers
• Explores unfamiliar environment

Word Count at the end of his 12 months

There are two reasons I am keeping a word count of words Francis has said since he was 8 months, when he began to say mama and dada. The first reason is that Bilingualism can cause language delay. And the second one is that I had a concern when Francis was born, I noticed he could have Ankyloglossia or a heart shape tongue. His pediatrician checked him and his tongue passed his lips, so it is very mild that it won't cause issues in his speech. So far, speech is one of Francis's strength in communication skills. Here is the list of 24 words Francis has said so far: go, bebé, hi, hello, ball, daddy, bye, agua, banana, mom, mamá, mammy, bubble, nose, salta, booh for pick-a-booh, tah for clap, book, voy, no, papá, qué, bear, hola

Video of Francis's First Words at his 8 months

Video was taken on March 20th, 2012

In this video Francis was calling me "mom." 

My little man ready to go to church

 Francis doesn't like to pose for the camera,
 but I could capture a good picture of him, well a little messy.

Our supper baby is modeling an outfit sponsored by Aunt Melissa 

and the shoes were sponsored by Aunt Ibeth

This is one of Francis' favorite toys. 

Going up holding the rail to get Daddy

Video of Francis going up and down the stairs

Our expert climber gets up on the slide.

He is still working on sliding down by himself

At the moment, Francis is not having language delay due to bilingualism.
His speech and language development are right on track and maybe ahead; He is perfectly dominating both languages. I am persuading myself to not feel a guilt for not stimulating him as much as we would like to. It seems he knows it all. When I think I am teaching something to him,  he already knows it. He is very observant, which is an important skills for quick learning. He was 2 months ahead of kids of his age when he was two months old, and now
he had accomplished milestones 6 months ahead of his age. Having an older brothers helps for his stimulation, but it is not enough to jump developmental stages 6 months ahead. 
I don't know what God has planned for my little sunshine, but I am ready for it!

———————

Ankyloglossia is very common, but many parents don't realize about this until it is an issue with speech. Ankyloglossia runs in families, but I haven't find a connection in our families, yet. The website www.tonguetie.net has great information about it. 

Baby Francis, our rock star is walking

We are very excited having our little sunshine, Francis. He brings so much joy! His laugh is contagious, his big smile lights our days and his gorgeous eyes allow us to see, life is precious. We are very proud of him and his accomplishment in a short period of time. Having an older bother helps him to figure things out faster, but Francis and his big bother didn't spend much time together during Francis's first 10-month. Tommy was at school in the mornings and extended care in the afternoons, so Francis was at the house waiting for his big bother to come home in the evenings. Many of Francis' advanced accomplishment has been because it is the way he is and having bigger people around him helps to boost his development even faster. Tommy won't be at extended care anymore, so we are very excited that the boys will spend more time together. I am excited to watch how much they will learn from each other. 

Francis' 8-month milestones:

• To feed himself finger food with the pincer grasp
• To drink from straw cup without assistance and place cup back in the tray.
• To drink independently from his bottle
• Began to help mom with taking his shirt and pants off
• To place objects into containers
• To put the shapes of a triangle, circle and square in the right opening.
• To actively play pat a cake, pick-a-booh, so big and uncovering hidden toys.
• To imitate adults or older kids.
• To push a toy
• To cruise while holding onto a furniture
• To stands alone without holding a furniture
• To pick objects from a standing position without putting his hands on the floor for support
• To transfer from furniture to a near furniture
• To walk short distance with one hand supported
• To understand simple instructions, such as: turn the light up or off while mom hold him, take your shirt or pants off.
• To babbling more speech sounds.
• To say booh for pick-a-booh, mama
• To show how his personality is going to be. He is very persistent, so it is hard to distract him for something he wants. He is also very independent, he doesn't like to be fed, he wants to eat by himself.

First time Francis push is push-toy

Francis' 9-month milestone:

• To walk first Independent steps. 
• Beginning to eat table food
• To dance to the rhythm a any type of music.
• Beginning say 'dada' to Daddy.
• To cut his teeths

Francis' 10 month milestone:

• To walk alone
• To eat mostly table food.
• To enjoy jumping in Tommy's trampoline. He climbs and hold the bar and jumps, at least it is what he thinks.
• To waves Bye, Bye and hi
• To said 'Hi'. He has said it a couple of times while waving.
• To copy the inflections of speech when babbling
• Working on eating with the spoon. He can bring the spoon with food to his mouth.
• To insert a disk on a horizontal opening. He just did it, he didn't practice. He has been successful putting the disk in a vertical position a couple of times.
• Beginning to learn body parts (hands and feet). This is happening through free play, nothing that we are pushing.

____________
I don't like to compare my kids because they are different and unique. Making Francis's developmental summary made me realized Tommy began to wave bye, bye when he was 7 month old, way earlier than his typical brother. He also drank from sraw cups before his 9 month and he didn't required training, it took Francis a day to get the idea. Tommy also was eating table food by 9 month. No doubt! I know how capable Tommy is. So I am fighting back to help him to overcome his sensory issues and be the child he was before. I am not alone, Francis is giving a new direction to our chromosmal war. He is Tommy's best cheerleader
and our cause of joy. The three of us enjoys so much being around Francis!

Beating Milestone charts

My kids don't follow milestone charts at all. Francis is reaching many milestone ahead in deferent areas of his development at the same time. We are monitoring his development with our local Parents as Teacher organization. The teacher who visit us is very impressed of things Francis is doing advanced for his age. She also commented in her last visit, the way Francis can progress in multiple developmental areas at the same time is not typical for his age, this is more expected for a two year old child who is more skilled and has more control or his or her body.

Because my first son's genetic disorder,  I had have learned many things about child development; therefore, this has helped me to realize Francis' development has been different since he was a newborn. 

We are lucky of having family members who are helping us babysitting Francis and they also witness things are a little bit different with Francis.

Things Francis is doing at his 7 1/2 months are:
- Cruising holding the coffee table.
- Letting my hands free and standing without support for a longer period of time.
- Opening droors
- Standing by putting his hands in flat surfaces
- Imitating people around him.
- Imitating the cow sound "mooooh."
- Babbling sounds such as Taaah, atah, baba, papa, mama, yah, ayah
- Believe it or not, sorting three shapes (circle, square and triangle)
- Finger feeding on his own.

- Drinking from a sippy cup. Needs more practice.

- Beginning to transfer from one furniture to a near furniture
- Beginning to step forward with hands supported (about 3 to 4 steps).
- Beginning to climb

This video shows Francis sorting by shape at his 7 1/2 month. 

We have never practiced with him sorting by shape. 

I realized he can sort by shape because in the 

milestone guide, provided by Parents as Teacher, from 8 to 14 months

says: "Look for your baby to put a round shape into a shape sorter." 

and in the ways we as parent can help says:

"Help him fit a round shape into a simple shape sorter."

He already knew the shapes and had the coordination to do it.

People think this is cool, I think  this will bring challenges if he

keeps being developmentally advanced.