Otso's 20th Month

Summary
Otso is friendly and communicating more all the time. His vocabulary is increasing rapidly. The biggest change this month is his interest in books. Now not only will he sit and read with a parent, he requires his own little reading session in his own room before going to sleep.

Events
21.5 parent-teacher meeting at barnehage
22.5 barnehage planning day: hundvåg playgroup
23.5 bbq with neighbors 
24.5 oil museum
30.5 bbq & sleepover at gemma's house with the whole family 
5.6 new tooth! 
6.6 farm in randaberg 
7.6 vitenfabrikken
10.6 sommerfest at barnehage
14.6 traffic playground

20.6 goodbye to diego + gemma + amy + filippo

Development
He seems pretty agile. The most challenging thing for him physically seems to be going down stairs or a steep hill.

Language
Now says both äiti and isä, and speaking more Finnish. His vocabulary is blossoming.
26.5 his teacher said he said a whole sentence in norwegian while asking for water
29.5 "ilmapallo" - his most complex finnish word to date!

Social
He always looks for Lumi and tries to make sure she's in her "place" at meals and teethbrushing and other rituals.  And if she isn't, he will shout "Meeeeeeeeemi!" until she gets there.
The barnehage teacher said he likes to watch what other kids are doing before he does it himself (when painting, etc). 

Toys/Games
favorite toys: the letter O from the alphabet mat, which he throws like a discus, balloons, balls 
At Hundvåg playgroup, we played "popcorn" with the big parachute and all the kids *loved* it.
The barnehage teacher said that all the kids in Otso's group gravitate toward the cars and the dolls. He is definitely more interested in dolls and stuffed animals, and is starting to cuddle the little yellow bear when he goes to sleep. He calls stuffed animals "babies".
He is getting into books. He can pay attention for short board books, like Sandra Boynton. His first book that he sat through and listened to the whole thing was Sandra Boynton's Doggies. Barnyard Dance is another favorite.
He loves the scooter that we borrow from Gemma. He can't kick/push yet but he will stand with both feet on the board while an adult pushes him around.
He enjoys playing a kind of "marco polo" game when he shouts "äiti!" (which sounds more like "äini!" right now) and i yell back "otso!". this can go on for many rounds.
He has started to put a doll's tutti in his mouth while playing. He won't accept a regular tutti for humans but he does like the doll one.

Eating
favorite foods: corn, pancakes, puuro, cheese 
drinks: still doesn't like milk but loves water. still nursing 3 times a day.
11.6 - didn't nurse all day! he requested it in the morning he decided he'd rather have a banana, and in the evening he requested it again but he was playing and quickly forgot about it.
End of the month we are down to usually only nursing 2 times per day.

Sleeping
bedtime is 7:00, wake up at 6:30 (or 5:00 or 5:30, depending on how he's feeling). 
He has started some attachment to a stuffed animal. At night he holds the little yellow bear in one hand when he goes to sleep. He calls stuffed animals "babies", so I often cuddle him (he shows a strong preference for using my left shoulder to snuggle up to and close his eyes) as he gets sleepier and say "let me know when you're ready to lay down with your baby" and when he's ready he points at the crib and i lower him in and he grabs the bear. he prefers to sleep on his belly with his head turned to the left. 
Recently we have added books to the night routine. Current favorites are "Follow That Bee" and "Hippos Go Berserk" and "Topi Pitää Väreistä".

Health
23.5 fell from neighbors ' sofa and landed on his head.
24.5 fell with äiti in the living room and landed on his ear.
26.5 trying cloth diapers again at barnehage
He has been pooping first thing in the morning often. That means that the 5:30 wakeup call is even worse than it normally would be.
11.6 due to nonstop pee leakage, we are going back to disposable diapers at barnehage
13.6 sick with fever and coughing and runny nose
14.6 seems better but not 100%

20.6 toppled down the stairs outside but seemed to fall well.

Stats
Clothes: size 92 (2T) in most things, though with pants he can wear 86.

Teeth: 10 (left upper first molar on 5.6)
Weight: 12.1 kg on 8.5
Height: 83 cm on 27.5 (really imprecisely measured around the house!)

Random
When we talk about flying, he flaps his little arms. Very cute!

He has switched from insisting on the balaclava to insisting on the "toadal chaos" sun hat that Grandpa and Mama Dollie brought him from Bermuda. He loves the hat and wears it whenever he can. We set a rule that he has to take it off when he goes to bed. Otherwise, it pretty much stays on.