Sunday, August 30, 2009

Leo’s been here 16 months
















Look at all that hair! It’s really thick and long in the back. I think he’s working on a mullet.


Okay, let’s get down to business:

Chatting:
This kid can TALK. I’m losing track of all the new words. He’s now starting to say some of the words he signs: For instance, milk is now “mimi” and he just started saying some form of “all done.” For "help," he pats both hands on his chest as the sign but also says “hep.” He uses it when he can’t open something or can’t turn on his guitar.

What’s more amazing than the words he says is what he understands. Like the other day I was on the computer and he wanted to come mess with everything on my desk. In an effort to distract him with something else I said, “Where is your dump truck?” And he went over to his play area and pointed at his dump truck. Then I said, “Why don’t you put your blocks in your dump truck?” And he did! Frank is certain that soon he will be able to understand, “Get daddy a beer.” He already pulls beers out of the fridge and says “dada.”

Mingling:
He still has "stranger preference" and people always comment that he is so friendly. Sometimes at play groups he goes up to the other moms so much that I fear they think I don’t pay enough attention to him.

Walking:
Totally has this down! So long scoot. Well, the scoot resurfaces every now and then.

Melting:
He’s prone to toddler meltdowns—especially in the morning. I don’t think he’s a morning person. Everything upsets him in the morning and if I dare try to clean a dish or do something that doesn’t involve him, he goes crazy. I mean screaming, thrashing, crying, foaming…until I pick him up and comfort him. I feel like I’m constantly talking him off the ledge. (And then I’ll take him somewhere later that morning and people will say, “He’s so calm.” If they only knew.)

Singing:
He’s not in music class right now but we still listen to the music class CD all the time. He loves to sing, “Bah bah bah” and his Leo CD is basically on a constant loop in the car. I’m totally numb to it now. I’ve heard it at least once a day since Christmas.

Playing:
He’s still obsessed with balls. And he calls everything a ball—fruit, acorns, anything round. You’d be surprised how many ball-shaped statues there are outside of retail establishments. Leo always finds them. He also loves his red and yellow Flinstone-ish car. So you would assume that when he saw the inflatable red and yellow car filled with balls at John’s house, he would be stoked. I said, “Leo, look! It’s a car full of balls!” But he was freaked out by it. He wouldn’t go in it. He said, “No, no, no, no” and clung to me. I think it was too closed-in for him. I’ve noticed a pattern of him being afraid of enclosed spaces. He doesn’t like the tunnel slides at the playground either. I think I’ve got a little claustrophobic on my hands.

Blowing:
Sometimes when Leo’s food is hot, I blow on it. He loves this and now he blows on his food no matter the temperature. He always says, “hot” and then exhales onto whatever he’s eating. It’s pretty cute.

Venturing
Next week he starts Mother’s Morning Out. It’s once a week for two and half hours. I’ve left him at the YMCA play center and the church nursery but this will be the first time I leave him somewhere where I won’t be on site. I don’t think he’ll have any problems…as long as they have balls.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

I love you, man

At six months of age, Leo and his best friend John loved nothing more than just sitting around, hanging out, shootin' the breeze.



Some things never change:




Monday, August 24, 2009

"BABY!"

Apparently, at some point in their young lives, toddlers go to a convention where they are told to point at all infants and yell, "BABY!" I first learned this when I would take Leo out in public. Every child between the ages of 16 months and 3 years would do this. Don't get me wrong; it's totally sweet and adorable. I just think it's so amazing that they all automatically do it and say it in the exact same way. Sometimes their moms can't get them to stop: "BABY! BABY! BABY!"

Mom: "Yes, that IS a baby. Now let's go."

Toddler: "BABY! BABY! BABY!"

Mom: "Who cares about the freakin' baby? We gotta go!"

Toddler: (screaming, stomping, thrashing...)

The other odd thing about it is how young kids will do this. Most of the ones that say it are babies themselves. Like this little girl Leo and I see all over town--at Michael's, at the park, at storytime. The first time we met her she said to Leo, "BABY!" He was 14 months old. She was 17 months old. She says it like this: "Bay-BEE," which makes her sound French. Oh, and one day at the park a baby who was born one day before Leo said, "BABY!" to him.

And now guess who's saying it. Yes, at 15 and 3/4s, Leo now says, "BABY!" And he says it the French way too--"Bay-BEE" with the accent on the "BEE." He always says it when I get out his Yo Baby yogurt because there's a baby on the container. Yesterday, at the zoo, he said it to a kid who had to be pushing two. He had a bowl haircut and there was Leo with his barely-there-hair saying, "Bay-BEE!" We pretended like we didn't notice.

I don't have any videos of him doing this but I do have some cute pictures from the zoo:






















Thursday, August 20, 2009

Kissing Bandit

Leo loves to give kisses; sometimes he doesn't stop! Here he is kissing mommy:

Going in for a kiss to Reagan:

Planting a wet one on Elise:





And doing a little hugging too:



Sunday, August 16, 2009

The Proof is in the Pictures

It's official. Leo is not a baby anymore. He's a kid. And it's not just because he can walk. And it's not just because he has hair. It's because of all the reasons you see here:




He enjoys frolicking at the spray ground with other kids:

He threatens to beat up kids who try to intrude on his water spray (even if that kid is bigger than him and wearing a wife-beater).

He shares clothes with daddy:





John and Dawson, the two other babies born within weeks of Leo? They're kids too!

He fights with John over who gets to sit shot gun.



He flirts with older women (like Dawson's big sis, Reagan).


He rocks out to Granny Jo's guitar playing.

He eats with a spoon...sometimes two!



But most of all, he already dances like an old white man.


































Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Growing up at the beach


Leo wore 70+ sunblock while on vacation in Virginia Beach last week so he didn't get burnt. But he did seem to age. He became a full-fledged walker and he grew hair!















































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