Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Half Baby, Half Man Child

Graham is 18 months today, the first day of Spring, which is so appropriate because he continues to blossom. His language is just gushing from his little mouth. He can call two friends by name (little Maya, and Baschy for Sebastian) and two of his favorite big friends, Malia and Farkas. He calls Gwen sister (more like teh-ter). All other children he calls baby, all women Mamas, and all men Daddys (or man). He is also working on what animals are what, and the sounds they make. His new favorite animal is pig, but he is yet to oink. Graham continues to be quite particular about what he eats, and is not a fan of sitting down for long leisurely meals. Though, he blessed Spencer and I with one this past weekend while he slept in his stroller while we ate at Dish Dash with friends (such a treat!). He understand the concept of clean up now (and even says it), and will put his dirty dish in the sink, and get a towel to clean up his mess, or a napkin to wipe his hands or face (he is a Virgo after all). We have started listening to Music Together cds in the car again, and Graham has started singing along a little and doing the tonal exercises, which is super cool, and makes me sad I can't do Music Together classes with him (just doesn't fit our busy schedule). He has also started riding the tricycle. His legs are a bit short to try and pedal but he is good about keeping his feet up and staying balanced. He has a bit of a daredevil in him and will try and stand up on the front wheel while being pushed, laughing and giggling. He also will stand up on his ride-on dinosaur; I see skateboarding in his future. He enjoys playing with Gwen and her friends, but a side effect of that is he has started hitting (luckily he is too small to hurt anyone physically, but it is still upsetting all around). Graham has also started saying No, which can be helpful, and also really annoying. It has been a bit exacerbating for me to have to switch gears between interacting with Gwen versus him. I feel like we are starting to see a bit of the boy in Graham. He is super into cars and says choo-choo now for his train. He is still in love with books and rather than always insisting that we read to him, he has taken to flipping through his books himself. He continues to sleep in the bottom bunk every night, and has his one nap in the car or our bedroom. He sleeps longer stretches at night (about 3 hours), and I am sure that would improve if we night weaned him, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. The boy is obsessed with the boob. He is indeed, half baby, half man child.