18 month NB

While our big boy was turning four, our little guy marked his eighteenth month.  I had hoped to capture the details of his wild little personality before October hit, but alas, something had to give.  Too often I find myself composing posts about my boys in my head all day only to find I've forgotten them all when I get the chance to write.  Not to mention that chances to write seem harder and harder to find.

I really think that LO has become a much more active and boy-ish boy as NB has moved into toddlerhood.  I pray regularly that these boys will be best buddies.  That they will have a sweet and meaningful relationship, but golly day, their best bonding times are just plain loud and dangerous!  It's often a fine line between protecting them from each other and letting them enjoy their new-found physicality together.  More and more frequently I am hearing myself say "it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt!" or some similar mantra I recall hearing in my own childhood. (Which, for the record, I do not recall as being loud or dangerous).  I am so tickled to see them start to wrestle and laugh together though.  NB is just starting to talk, but they seem to have their own language of squeals and gestures.  Their rowdiest time of day seems to be right after dinner until bedtime.  I truly think LO gets NB riled up as a way to delay the bath and bedtime routine, and it works a lot of the time.  I'm just a sucker to see them enjoying each other. I wish I had video of their antics, but turning that thing on is the surest way to squelch their fun...which makes me think it may become my secret weapon if our routine gets too far off track.

Now that LO is in preschool three days a week and the boys' naps don't overlap anymore, NB and I have a little time most days when it's just the two of us.  I feel very guilty that I spend a lot of that time trying to accomplish necessary household duties like grocery shopping, cooking, and picking up the house, but I try to put those things aside long enough to get a little dedicated NB time.  He is much better at entertaining himself, so he doesn't demand my time as much as LO did at this age.  As much as I want to give him my undivided attention more of the time we're alone, I think the independent play is a real asset and I want him to keep that ability.  I think I may have done LO a disservice by not encouraging that enough.  Ahh, the hindsight is 20/20 even when it's only three years worth! Anyway, when NB and I are alone, he is quiet the character.  The pendulum of his personality swings much more widely than LO's.  He is so very animated both in his excitement and his frustration.  The former is really fun to watch, the latter, well, it's a little scary if I'm being honest.  I think he has fewer words than LO at this age, but he is more expressive in spite of that.  He is learning new words every day though, something I don't remember noticing LO doing until closer to 19 or 20 months.  Last week I started a list of his main words, and I kept having to add them.  Most of these he says all the time, but some he has said several times in a day, then not again for a long while.  He also has some words with Nanny K that I don't recall him having with me. (and are not on this list, because I can't remember what she said they were!)

night-night
ea(t)
mil(k)
(s)na(ck)
chee(se)
shoe
egg
ha(t)
dada
mama
dis(this)
dat
eye
aye-ts (ice)
(ba)nana
no
baby
bubble
yucky
(s)ticky
out
dow(n)
choo-choo
beep-beep
bye-bye
mailman
monkey
box
dog
woof
meow
doodle-doo
pee-pee (yes, I think he knows everyone else puts theirs in the potty)
bed (as in he wants to play on ours, not he wants in his)

In addition to these words, he also has a number of signs he uses to communicate most of his needs.  I think he would have words for these if he didn't use the signs, but as long as we're communicating, I'm happy.  He has signs for eat, milk, help, please, and thank you (he is starting to say this, but I can't recall what he says).  I think he has also tried to say "brother" (bubba) and LO's name, but it has been a long while since he's tried.  When he isn't using these words or signing he is often chattering in his own language and, sometimes, singing.  He brings one of his alphabet books to me and starts to sing "ay-bee-see" until I sing the ABCs.  We also have a book to which we have sung and danced in Kindermusik class for the last six weeks or so.  When he sees it, he starts to sing something that sounds like the book.  It's really sweet.  He is into music, dancing, and books a bit more than LO was at this age.  The dancing perhaps just because he is more effusive in his displays of joy.  He routinely will surprise is with a clap, bounce, or little wiggle to ambient music we don't even notice until he's dancing.    At bedtime he hangs his body on the arm of his big brown glider and either shakes his head "no" or grabs the book he wants as I shuffle through the options.  Current favorites are "The Very Busy Spider," "Blue Hat, Green Hat," "Where's Baby's Belly Button," and the trucks book that has sliding panels.

I recently read LO's 18 month post to review where his verbal skills were at this age.  In doing so I found I had written that he loved bugs, dirt, and was "all boy."  I had to laugh.  Those thing couldn't be further from the truth for LO today.  He does love to dig in the dirt with his diggers, but he doesn't like to have messy hands, he HATES bugs, and he's a pretty sensitive kid.  NB, on the other hand, really seems to be the stereotypical boy. I've never seen a kid delight in bugs so much.  Just a couple of weeks ago he literally stomped and squealed with excitement over a millipede in the road.  He took my hand and tried to get me to pick it up and, when I didn't, he was beside himself watching it coil and uncoil when he touched it with a stick.  I had to take the stick away and move him up the street after about 20 minutes so the poor millipede could recover. (or die in peace, it took a couple of hits in spite of my efforts)  He is the same way with virtually any bug or animal smaller than him.  I'm afraid the bigger he gets, the larger his bug friends will be.  I only hope he doesn't follow in his Papa's footsteps and bring in snakes coiled under his arms!  Fortunately NB is also a dog lover, so hopefully we can curb his interest in having anything else in the house when we're finally able to have a dog of our own.

In addition to bugs, NB really seems to love loud things.  He has learned from LO to get excited about the garbage truck and diggers.  He also rushes to the window for any other noise that sounds like it comes from  something loud.  Today that was an airplane at one point and a motorcycle another.  He also loves trains.  He will ask for "chop-choo" when lying on the changing table so we'll play the train sounds on his iPod.  He loves to watch them when they blow past the parks in our area.  The train love has been really exciting for me.  It was the first thing I recognized as being unique to NB.  I did nothing to bring it about as far as I know, so it's neat to know there's something inherently interesting about them to NB.  He hasn't started to play with them much yet as much as he's just loved to see and hear the real ones.  I wonder if he's yet to make the connection between the toys and the real thing.

As much as he is expressive he is also extremely cuddly.  Perhaps I'm biased, but I think he's the cuddliest toddler I've ever seen.  In fact, Nanny K pointed out that all she has to say is "do you want to snuggle?"  and he'll climb up in her lap and do just that.  It is the sweetest thing.  I am not exaggerating to say he has been known to snuggle for nearly and hour without budging.  Sometimes I ask DH to see if he's fallen asleep on my shoulder, but he's just lying there, usually sucking his right thumb.  Other times he climbs up for just a minute or two, then he's on his way. Most of the time he refuses to put his feet down when I'm getting him out of his high chair, he comes straight to my shoulder for some amount of time, then is content to toddle off and play.  I don't know how long all of this will last, but I sure am enjoying it while I can.

When he's not dancing, clapping, or cuddling, this guy is working his running.  So far he stomps in place more than he really covers ground, but in the last couple of weeks he's started to pick up his walking pace.  He and LO chase and squeal with each other between the living and dining rooms after dinner.  He's also quiet the climber.  He insists on going up and down the stairs like a big boy, no sliding down backwards on his belly, he wants to walk down and hold the rail like his brother!  He also climbs into his own high chair, and is working on climbing onto our bed and into the car.  No signs yet of trying to climb out of his crib, but something tells me he won't be in his as long as LO was.  This last week he was also starting to kick the soccer ball on the sidelines of LO's games.  I'm hoping this early exposure will help counteract any awkward lack of coordination he might have inherited from me.

So that's a pretty detailed update on our littlest guy.  I'll close with a few superlatives:
Favorite food: banana
Favorite book: Very Busy Spider (this week)
Favorite parent: Da, unless he's holding a grudge b/c DH is working, then lately it has been Nanny K, then me.  Really, I'm chopped liver, unless I'm all he has, then he loves me.
Favorite place to be: outside
Least favorite place to be: the changing table
Favorite toy: his brother if he's cooperative, then any ball probably, balloons when he can get them, and a rolling, laughing motion sensitive dog his Papa gave his brother.  (gee, thanks Dad!)

Happy half-birthday little man, we love you so much!