20 Months

I wish I had something more remarkable to report about myself as a mom. Or, something interesting and helpful to share with other moms in my life, but I don't. Instead, I have a gazillion more pictures this month, to sift through and proudly post, of my now 20 month old son.

What I can report is that I am in awe of the learning that happens on a daily basis in our home, by all of us. Specifically this month, we are all focused on becoming better communicators. Peyton's language is starting to become recognizable. He will often repeat exactly what we say and at times will even initiate up to 3 word sentences. While, to passersby, he predominantly still grunts and points, I find that more and more often we are having real word dialog together. I find this fascinating and can't conceal my excitement when I realize that Peyton is communicating with me using real words! I about dropped Peyton the other morning when we were standing at the back door waving to Steve as he drove off to work. Peyton looked at me and said in a rather matter of fact manner, "Daddy go car." Then, just a day ago, we were counting (he doesn't completely understand this concept, but we do it often enough that it's familiar and often involves pointing at things) and he was repeating, "one, two, three" after me. Then, he added "go" which I realized is what we say at the park when we race or go down the slide. But, we hadn't been to the park for a few days. That's how it is. We can talk and do something one day. Several days go by. Then, what seems like out of the blue to me, Peyton makes a real life connection and brings it up again. One, two, three, go! Incredible!

Other new experiences and accomplishments are:

Learning to Exercise:

Chest press at the gym and

yoga at home.

Peyton is modeling down-dog yoga pose. Seriously.
He's seen me do it enough and now he practices it religiously!

Demonstrating clever and resourceful (aka tricky):

I call this the, "Hey, look! I can do it myself!" series.

Our little guy is clever and resourceful. There isn't much out of his reach any more. If he wants something, even if you say no, he goes and gets his stool for better access. I've caught him several times in the act of sneaking items that I thought were "out of reach" off the kitchen counter and then silently slinky around the corner to enjoy his prize...that is until I pounce upon him and re-posses the prized item.

Climbing and Organizing:

Peyton in the (now broken) kitchen drawer.
Hours. He can spend hours in this drawer playing, moving, touching, sorting, delighting and sitting upon the colorful plastic Tubberware and dishes.
He explores "his treasures" with such determination.

A box, a drawer, a wheel barrel. If he can, he will climb in!

Peyton, the Explorer:
Rain or shine, he wants to be outside playing.
Often with the neighbor cat.

Tae Boy modeling how he likes to "help" with the yard work by picking Mommy's flowers and watering everything from wood to weeds. Very helpful.

Caught in the act of delivering water to the appropriate recipient - the flowers.

He loves "wa-wa."

With fascination, he watches the hose fill his watering can and is delighted with the water that he can make trickle out of the spout.

A tooth report:

A new tooth popped through his gums just a few days ago, bringing the grand total to 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom), plus 4 molars.

Coloring:
Coloring one Sunday morning with Cousin T.T.

He asks for his "ga-ga" (which for some reason means crayons) several times a day. He's enjoyed crayons for months, but it wasn't until the past few weeks that this enjoyment intensified and became a real past time. Previously, he would sort and arrange, touch and taste, the crayons. Recently, he has actually started to scribble and I think he really enjoys seeing the different colors appear before his eyes.

Lastly, a memorable moment to remember: One morning Steve and Peyton woke me up. Peyton crawled up next to me on the bed and as his icy feet touched my skin, I told him his bare feet were cold. He climbed down off the bed and brought me my slippers. "What a good idea!" I exclaimed and asked him to go get his slippers, "out of the sock basket in his room." I truly used all those words. Much to our surprise, he did! Without any help! His bare feet pitter-pattered down the hall to his room. He found the slippers. Amazingly, he hurried all the way back to our room, with his slippers, and only his slippers (without getting distracted or side tracked on the way back)! He was so proud of himself. It was adorable.