23 months

Today is February 23rd, and my little B is 23 months old. This next month will be the last month I'll be able to answer the question, "How old is he?" in months. From now on he will be two, three, five, eight, thirteen, sixteen, and so on. My baby is seriously, growing up.


But as I've said before, I'm not sure how long he was really a baby. From the time he was able to walk, which was at seven and a half months, Baylen has thought he was just as big and just as old and just as capable as big brother. Yes, there are plenty of times when he needs cuddling, hugging, holding and just to be rocked, but he's always been a little guy with big ambitions.

1. B is around 23 pounds and 34 inches tall. Still long and very lean.


2. He's had his first few haircuts. Although his hair is a different texture than Cash's (and usually stuck together somewhere with honey), he's another blonde Doggett boy. (I really should upload a picture of Heath as a little guy and you'd see where they get it.)


3. As of right now, he has all of his main baby teeth and two of his two-year molars are cutting their way through, and we have all felt the wrath of this little guy because of them. He's been chewing on everything, including plastic hangers, books, my slippers and his thumbs. Hopefully they will all make it through soon!


4. He has a definite sweet tooth. We are truly trying to cut back on this. Our holistic practitioner highly encouraged cutting out sweets during our last visit. It's really hard to, though, as you probably can guess. I'm trying to wean desserts away a little at a time.


5. Baylen has decided he wants a "tractor tractor" birthday party. Heath and I know this is from his favorite song, Tractor, Tractor. So I'm thinking we'll do green tractors and maybe some farm animals on his cake.


6. As far as talking: yes and all the time. It's been amazing to hear his little voice say just about anything and repeat everything! Being able to have conversations with this little guy just blesses my heart!


7. Unless congested or coughing, Baylen sleeps from 9:00 until around 6:30. Sometimes he goes to bed earlier than 9:00, and sometimes he wakes earlier than 6:30 - just depends on the day. He still takes a two or three hour nap in the afternoon from 1:30 until around 3:30 or 4.


8. Loves, loves to be outside. He a wanderer though. Cash always had a purpose and a mission when he played outside. B is just the opposite. He'll wander around, play with something from the garage, leave it and find a stick, pet the cat, then go ride his big wheel. Sometimes he'll just stick his hands in his pockets and roam around the yard. :)


9. Still is absolutely in love with Grammy and Bubba!


10. He's in size three diapers and wears a size seven shoe. His pants are 18 months (for length, but are usually big around the waist) and his shirts are either 12-18 months or just 18 months. Thankfully, he's been able to wear a lot of Cash and Kennick's hand-me-downs.


11. We still think Baylen has some dairy sensitivities, and we try to restrict his wheat intake. He also eats almond butter instead of peanut butter. Our holistic practitioner has tested these three things (milk, wheat and peanuts) with his system and they definitely stressed it. So for now, we try to feed him other options.


12. B is a daddy's boy. He tells me he "miss daddy" during the day, rushes to get the first hug when Heath walks in the back door, and wants daddy to "sing Jesus" every night to him before putting him to bed. Most of the time, he's Heath shadow following him into the closet to keep him company as he changes, holding his hand as they go downstairs to "play" in the basement," or being a big boy and helping daddy gather sticks in the yard. He loves his daddy.


13. Although he's unsure sometimes about all the commotion, Baylen has truly been enjoying Musikgarten this semester. I had decided that I wanted to take B to music classes just like I did with Cash, so in January I enrolled him, and every Monday morning we head to town for music class and mommy-Baylen time. (Cash stays at home with Grammy, which, of course, he loves!) Baylen hits the sticks together, claps his hands, dances with his scarf, and sings the songs (in the car). He loves the bouncing songs best, but his favorite is hammering the sticks like a hammer and nail. 100% boy!


14. Baylen is still completely attached to his little blue blanket, called his woobie. Our friends, the Keltners, gave him his first woobie when he was born. We've added another one to the household for back-up purposes, but when he's sleepy, feeling bad, or just wanting some comfort, he carries his woobie around. Naps and bedtime without the woobie would be torture, so as for now, it's a keeper!


15. Baylen shows a lot of interest in going potty like a big boy, but we haven't started potty-training yet. I think his interest in it comes from wanting to be like Cash. We'll probably wait and start the task of training our little guy closer to summer. We used the bare-bottom method with Cash and it worked really well. This method, however, is better when it's warm outside. :)


16. He's definitely still my little meat-eater. He loves hamburger, chicken, pork chops, bacon and sausage. He has been eating and trying more foods lately, though. He consistently eats just about any fruit, except oranges, and he also eats carrots (cooked or raw), green beans, potatoes, baked beans, squash and sometimes broccoli. For the most part, supper time has become an easy going time, when it used to be filled with some pleading and the occasional tear or fit.


17. His big brother is still his absolute favorite person, in my opinion. I know from experience that having a sibling close in age can cause "situations." No, they don't always get along. Not even close. They push each other's buttons, have the trouble-maker spirit, and test my patience to the limits some days. But really, I don't blog enough about the times where they sit and play together, jump on the couch together, get books out and read together - all with smiles, sweet conversations, and brotherly love. B seriously looks up to Cash. He is the definite monkey-see-monkey-do type of kid. He learns everyday from Cash, and seriously, Cash is a pretty good role model, if you're asking. I know that B will make his own tracks in a lot of things, he already does, but a lot of the time around here, I see my little guy walking in big brother's footsteps. :)


18. Baylen loves to read books. I guess really, he loves to be read to. When my mom comes over to the house, Baylen brings her book after book after book. She goes through them one at a time, reading and pointing to the pictures. After baths especially, Baylen likes Heath to read the books to him that are up in his room, and during the day, while my little TV watcher, Cash, is engrossed in his Tom and Jerry cartoons, B curls up in my lap with every library book from the coffee table. His favorites are the Spot books, Where is Spot? and Goodnight, Spot. They are lift-the-flap books, which he really enjoys. 


20. I've been doing lots of school games with Cash, but at the same time, I'm making sure that Baylen is getting lots of learning opportunities, too. It's hard sometimes to give equal talk time to my boys. I'll ask a question, and Cash is usually the first to answer. Even if I ask Baylen a specific question, if he stops just for a second to answer it, the silence is filled in with an answer from Cash. I don't think Baylen recalls as much as Cash did at this age, but I know he still comprehends a whole lot and is learning just the same. Getting him to answer the questions is tough, I think, because he's so used to Cash helping him. For example, I know he knows his colors, but getting him to answer questions or point to the right color is sometimes hard because he seems unsure. He'll get them though. I'm in no rush to expect him to be right where Cash was at this age. Kids are different, and being the second child to a very intelligent first child is something I have some experience with myself. :)


And because I was struggling to find three more, Heath has contributed 21-23


21. Baylen is certainly more “Doggett” in the category of hot foods, I mean pepper hot.  His love started recently with eating pico that Heath made last summer with tortilla chips.  It has quickly progressed into salsa dipping from Puerto’s and some homemade batches that Aunt Ali made.  He can’t (or we won’t let him) get into Daddy’s “burn your mouth off” salsa yet, but it is prolly coming because most people won’t eat Ali’s salsa without a gallon of water and some cheese nearby.  Amazingly he will dip her salsa, wipe his nose, drink his sippie, wimper a little, stick his tongue out, and go right back at it.  It is just the same as the rest of the Doggetts, no matter how hot you get, you can’t get enough.

 22.  B has certainly made great strides physically.  He is eating more and after supper sometimes even looks like a snake that ate a goose.  But mainly he has went from the feeble kid who needed help keeping balance and going up stairs to the kid that can bounce, jump, hold himself up, and run quite well.  So much for “failing to thrive”.  Told ya so Dr. Mainstream.

23. His smile is simply the brightest and cutest around, as seen in the above picture.

And there you have it - 23 little facts about my 23 month old cutie, Britches.