21 months

How is it that my baby is 21 months old...almost to the age where we will speak of him in years as opposed to months? (which is probably okay, because sometimes it makes my brain hurt).  Here are some things I'd like to remember about P at this age:

He continues to have the sweetest little personality.  As much as he loves to run around, he still loves to snuggle, give you "pat-pats," and "smooches."  Admittedly, "pat-pats" and "smooches" are more of a "by-request" sort of thing (that was a lot of quotation marks...makes me think of the Friends episode where Joey uses air quotes, which you can appreciate if you were in high school and college in the 90s :)), but when that kid gives you an unsolicited smooch, it's just the best!

He makes us laugh!  He is spunky and funny and just exudes joy.  It's rather contagious...he loves to make you laugh and even more, loves it when you make HIM laugh (which you can easily do right now by pretending to sneeze...although, real sneezes are a hit, too). :)

He loves to listen to music and has several play-lists that are his favorites.  He has recently started doing some motions to songs (you know, the ones that I've been doing like an idiot in front of him since he was born?!), which is rather endearing.  His current repertoire includes: clapping anytime he hears that word in a song, although If You're Happy and You Know It is a preferred choice, pointing to his head, toes, and mouth at the appropriate times while singing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, putting his hand to his mouth when we say "the parents on the bus go - shhh, shhh, shhh" and sometimes putting his hands in front of his face when we say "the doors on the bus go open and shut" from The Wheels on the Bus, touching his head when we sing the second verse of Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill, and pretending to sleep (by putting one palm up to his ear) and yawn when singing the song You Gotta Shake Your Sillies Out.  I can't wait for more and more of these to come into rotation.

His current obsession is chasing or throwing balls around the house.  Up until now, he had really shown no interest in playing with balls, and then all of a sudden it was like a switch was flipped and now he can't get enough of them.  He likes to play a little version of basketball where he'll put the balls through the seat part of the Baby Jumperoo and Baby Exersaucer (which, yes, are still out at our house until we pass them along to a friend in the near future :)).  He loves to bounce them on our hardwoods or on the tile and put them on surfaces (like bedside tables) that he can then push them off of.  In fact, just yesterday, he played his first game of catch with Pops! (pictures to come)  Puzzles are still up there, although he now prefers puzzles that are harder and require mom and dad's help (like the jigsaw puzzle that Grandma Judy gave him that even J and I have to think about to put together - that thing isn't easy!).  He still enjoys reading, although he seems to be on the move more and more, which makes it harder to enjoy a good book.

We have been spending some good time at the park recently, where P enjoys following the sidewalk until it ends (which, just so you know, is WAY upsetting for him), swinging while being sung to, running up and back down the ramp of the playground equipment, and just yesterday, sliding down the big spiral slide.  He loves to be outside in general, but early morning or dinner-time is preferred because he gets to watch people driving to/ driving home from work.  He LOVES to watch cars and stops and stares as they drive by and points (which means he raises his arm straight up and grunts :)).

Our vocabulary is still VERY small (although he is a very good communicator), BUT he finally said "mama" for the FIRST TIME on Sept. 10.  We were in the kitchen, and he looked me square in the eyes and said "mama."  I thought it might have been a coincidence, so I didn't tell anyone, but thankfully, it has continued.  Hooray!  It's definitely more of a cry for help than a term of endearment: example - when he throws one of his balls into the bathtub and can't get it out or when he locks himself in the bathroom with the lights off, I will hear, "ah-mama-ah-mama," but it's still one of the sweetest sounds in the entire world! :)  He's a smart cookie and knew that people were starting to worry whether or not he'd ever say anything - so he threw in one good, solid, expected-by-society word to tide us over.

When he gets wound-up or excited, he'll say "Aaaa-Pull."  Is he pretending to sneeze?  Is it a violent version of "apple"? We're not sure...but it's pretty funny, and he thinks so, too.

When listening to the song The Green Grass Grew All Around,  he also seems to anticipate the verse about the bug and will make a "buh" sound.  Slowly but surely.

He has been babbling and babbling and babbling...trying to tell us something for sure - just in a language that we don't speak, but there's nothing more precious than the sound of that little voice. :)

 Here he is, cracking himself up. :)

As far as eating goes, his appetite is finally slowing down.  He's not as consistent of an eater as he used to be - sometimes devouring his breakfast and then eating a grape a two bites of roll for dinner and being "all done!"  He still is a good veggie eater - with broccoli and carrots being his favorites, followed by peas and corn (we should probably have stock in frozen veggies).  He also likes sweet potato, but doesn't seem interested in a regular baked potato.  He has turned his nose up at yogurt for quite some time now, although he's been a great milk drinker and cheese eater.  He doesn't seem to like ground meat of any kind, but loves chicken and pork and will eat fish.  He does not discriminate when it comes to fruit - put it in front of him, and he'll eat it.  He has preferences for snacks and will go to the pantry and get the box of what he wants from the bottom shelf.  He has also started bringing his empty water glass to the fridge and holding it up to ask for a refill. :)

Right now, we start our day with half a graham cracker - 1/4 of a cracker for each hand, and then snack on something like Cheerios or Shredded Wheat on the days that we run.  We eat our full breakfast around 8:45 or so, which recently has included either a Kashi blueberry waffle or oatmeal with diced dried plums, fruit, a veggie, black beans, cheese, and milk. :)  We tend to have a small snack mid-morning and then eat lunch around 12:30.  He has been loving turkey recently and has yet to be introduced to peanut butter.  He will have a small snack after his nap (which, praise the Lord, is consistently from 1:30-4:00).  He is a fan of the Plum Kids Yogurt Smoothie- which is nice and convenient for me...although I know I could totally make my own for cheaper (I think...).  We eat dinner about 6:15 or so, which means most nights we can eat as a family, so that's awesome!  A fun fact: Peanut will tell us that he's "all done" with dinner, but when we go to take his tray away, 98% of the time, he will reach for just one more bite of something...it's pretty funny to anticipate it.

Here he is making his new monkey sound...which I don't think he associates with the word "monkey," but never-the-less sounds like one. :)

 

95% of the time, P does bath time with his dad, which is nice for me. :)  Another fun fact: P does NOT like to walk to the bathtub...he wants to be carried.  Weird kid. :)  He loves to play in the bath and stick his head under the running faucet to drink the water.

Before bed we play, read a couple of books, sing a few songs (A Little Turned Up Nose and Jesus Loves Me), and then say prayers.  He goes to bed about 7:45.

 We did get a 2nd haircut that I thought eliminated all his curls (not because that's what I wanted but just because that's how it happened), but get that kid into some humidity and you can see that he has some curl left in there. :)

One final important note...Peanut is OBSESSED with Elmo and specifically this Elmo video that my mom got him called "Elmo - Singing with the Stars."   His favorite song is by Will.i.am called Stronger...I need to get a video of him watching it because it's stinkin' cute. :)  The problem is that he loves it SO much that when you turn it off, he tends to have a mental breakdown...we're working on that.

Well, if you've stuck with me up until this point, you're a more dedicated reader than I probably would be. :)  I just know that it's the mundane details that I will forget, and I appreciate that I'll be able to look back and remember some of the everyday things that made up our lives at this point in time.

We're definitely looking forward to the next few months and the fun that the holidays will bring for P this time around.

Stay tuned...upcoming blog topics include: Trader Joes coming to town, J's Olympic Triathlon, Pumpkin Recipe Madness, and best of all...a new air conditioner! ;)