Nineteen Months Old

Hamilton has officially been 19 months old for almost a week now, so I'm tardy in my progress update. I have seen big changes in my little boy in just the last month.

He uses so many of his words now most all the time, and he sometimes seems just to practice saying the words he knows with no real reason to say them. He'll say, "Mama, Dada, Mimi, Pahh, Sissy;" or he'll shout, "A car, a truh, a choo, a car, a truh, a truh." He can also say most of his friends' names now. "ARther" is the most distinct-sounding, but Arthur moved away last month. "Grady" is a harder name to conquer, though Hamilton does say both syllables. The "G" doesn't get pronounced, so "Ay-yee" is usually what we hear. We try to get Hamilton to say "West," but I'm not sure Hamilton realizes that's his friend's actual name.

Hamilton continues to use a spoon and fork when eating. I like to think he's so mindful of manners that even if he can't use the spoon to pick up food, he uses his fingers to put the food on his spoon before putting the spoon in his mouth. He's now mastered the sign for "all done" when he's through eating, and he says, "Da-aa, da-aa" to accompany the hand waving. Now that his teeth are coming in, he's eating better and seems less picky about foods. We had a rough week or so, using Anbesol twice a day on his swollen gums because the poor thing wouldn't take his fingers out of his mouth due to the pain.

I've noticed Hamilton has more control over his movements, as he walks, runs, and plays. In just a few short months his balance has improved, and he's able to do just about anything he wants to do. He practices walking on his tip-toes, and he often get to things that I thought were out of his reach.

Nearly every afternoon Hamilton sits with Mr. Morgan in the recliner while they watch the news and eat chips. Unfortunately, Hamilton knows where in the cabinet the chips are kept, so after naptime he begins pointing to the cabinet saying "Chi, chi."

Hamilton can point out most of the parts of his face and my face, which is really cute. He often starts this game by saying, "Eye," and putting his finger on his closed eye. We follow eye by identifying nose, hair, ear, mouth, and cheek. He's back to enjoying books, and he lets me read to him again. He also uses the sign for book to accompany his sound, "Buhh."

We're now consistently saying prayers with him at night before bedtime, and he quickly picked up on the bowed head, folded hands, and quiet words. Sometimes while one of us is praying, Hamilton interrupts with "prayers" of his own.

Hamilton is obsessed with throwing things in the trash can. He loves to find trash or be given trash to throw in the can. If he finds something he thinks is trash, he says, "tra, tra" until I reassure him that he's indeed found some trash and may throw it in the trash can.

Since he's obsessed with buttons and lights, Hamilton loves to help me with laundry. He puts dirty clothes in the washer, wet clothes in the dryer, and dry clothes in the laundry basket. Then he insists on pushing the buttons to turn on the washer and dryer. It's fun to have a cute, enthusiastic helper for mundane, household tasks.

We're enjoying all the new things Hamilton can do and say, but this boy keeps us running from the time he wakes to the time he goes to sleep. I'm so thankful he sleeps 12 hours each night and usually 2-3 hours for his afternoon nap. He spent four days this week with Mimi who summed it up this way: "He sure is busy!"