21 months and counting...

Our baby turned 21 months at the beginning of November and it is evident he is not such a baby anymore. Unless you ask him... new this week he started referring to himself as "baby" in the third person. You know, like Elmo: "Elmo went to the park today and Elmo had fun!" Harrison can't put more than two words together but this is the direction he is headed. He will point to a diaper or toy and say "baby" and it took us a few days to realizedthat he was saying that the diaper belongs to baby Harrison (not that the diaper is for any old baby).

Also in the past couple weeks his speech has exploded. Looking back for a moment, we taught him a fair amount of sign language (his teachers at school couldn't figure out he was telling them he was thirsty one day) which I think he clung onto slowing his speaking skills a little. As we taught him new words we asked him to say them and he often wouldn't try (or even tell us "no!") but recently he is making an effort to say all kinds of words and sounds, his most complicated being "octopus".

Harrison is now tall enough to take or place items onto the kitchen counter and he knows how to move his little step stool around the kitchen to increase access to prohibited items. The pantry has always been a favorite place to explore and now he likes to find the bag of dog treats and ask me if he can give some to Winston. He also likes to sit on Winston or use him as a stepping stone to get on the couch. Aside from the canine abuse, he also rubs Winston's belly or pets his back.

I think most kids put on their parent's shoes but I was surprised Harrison has started to do this already. He loves to shuffle around in my shoes although when he puts on daddy's dressier work shoes the bigger size, leather and heavier soles don't offer much movement.

The boy has also become quite the mimic. A few weeks ago I sat next to him as he was eating dinner and while we watched Sesame Street together, I rested my chin on my fist, elbow on the table. I looked over to see Harrison looking at me out of the corner of his eye with a smile forming on his lips and realized he was doing the exact same thing! He thinks he is pretty funny and laughs once he realizes I have caught him in the act. The best thing I taught him to mimic was to tap his pursed lips with his index finger and let out a "hmmmmm...." as if in thoughtful contemplation! He's a gas.

Speaking of Sesame Street, his favorite thing is to watch "Elmo" which definitely includes Elmo as well as most of the muppets on The Street. He also enjoys Curious George and animated movies. There is a part of me that feels like a bad parent for introducing tv at a young age and he watches probably 60-90 minutes a day (not all at once) which is more than what is recommended, but let me tell you that it has brought sanity to our lives. It is priceless to be able to just rest your eyes for 5 minutes or start dinner while he is entertained as he would otherwise demand our attention. So you out there, stop judging me!

Maybe this will buy us back into your good graces - our son LOVES books. He loves to have us read to him and likes to ask "what's that?" whilst pointing to a picture. He likes to flip through books on his own as if he was reading. Even though we have a good 50 or more books, we have read them all many times and now he is getting picky, not wanting to hear them again. Please take this as a hint that books would make a great Christmas gift!