Twenty-Three Months Old

This month's birthday was the first month since Hamilton's birth that I didn't think about his birthday when June 5 rolled around. I guess I'm busy with other things--like babies and diapers and more diapers. Hamilton's spoken vocabulary is exploding: He's trying new phrases every day, and he's repeating many words that I say. And, his variations are so cute, and some are surprisingly accurate.

Last weekend the incredible Paige Stumbo came to the farm for a photo shoot. We've seen a preview on her blog, and I'm so excited to see all the shots. I'll share them once I get the CD.

Hamilton loves to try new things especially tasks that I'm doing or that he's seen me do every day. He says, "I tryh," as he attempts to take over whatever I'm doing. If the task is too difficult for him, he'll say, "Mah tryh," as he looks back to me to complete the task.

He's such a friendly boy who says hello to everyone. This past week we had two men installing new windows in our house, and Hamilton said hello to each of them every time they walked into the house. Yes, it's been a bit chaotic here this week with curtains and blinds draped over chairs and furniture pushed away from the windows. But our new windows are in now, and they're fabulous!

Hamilton has been attempting to jump since we first tried it during Kindermusik several months ago. His "jumping" so far had been lifting one foot off the ground while bending his knees, which looked funny. But finally yesterday, he was successful at jumping with both feet off the ground at the same time! He also says, "Juh, juh," as he jumps, and he's so excited and proud of himself. I hope to get a video soon that I'll share.

Twenty-Two Months Old

Hamilton turned 22 months on May 5, and I've been remiss in posting his monthly update. He's saying so many words now, and he's continuing to put more new words together into phrases. Mr. Morgan gave Hamilton a geranium blossom, and I couldn't resist snapping some shots of him as he played with the flower. He started getting frustrated with his flower when the petals kept falling off due to his rough play.

When Pops was here, he taught Hamilton to look both ways before crossing the street. So now Hamilton likes to say, "No cahr, no cahr," as he turns his head from side to side before we cross the street. He also likes to say it when he's talking about Pops. He smiles from ear to ear as he says, "Pah...no cahr, no cahr."

Some afternoons Hamilton enjoys a snack. Usually his snack of choice is chips when Mr. Morgan eats them. Lately Hamilton's starting saying, "'nack, 'nack," when he wants a little something. He also puts his fingers up to his mouth, showing the sign for food, as he repeats "'nack" over and over again.

Hamilton has started letting us know through a verbal mini-tantrum when something doesn't suit him. Obviously, I'm trying to nip this behavior in the bud. As Hamilton becomes more aware and excited about Collier, he wants to hold Collier and touch him whenever he wants. Today Hamilton threw a fit because I took Collier out of his lap when the baby was squawking. Hamilton seemed unphased unfazed by Collier's cries to my surprise.

Twenty-One Months Old

Today Hamilton is 21 months old, and I've always thought about my boys' being 21 months apart in age. So planning this monthly update made the next one's appearance so much more real and definite. I've compiled a things-to-buy-before-the-baby-comes list for several weeks, but today Hamilton and I finally went to Babies "R" Us for the necessary items (e.g., newborn diapers).

Hamilton's vocabulary continues to expand, and he's much more eager to try to repeat words that I say. He's also putting more of his words together into phrases, even without prompting. Sunday Hamilton and I drove separately to church from Mr. Morgan, and as we pulled into our parking space beside Mr. Morgan's Explorer, Hamilton said, "Dada truh." I'm not sure that Hamilton actually recognized the vehicle because he's since said that phrase for some general trucks that don't look anything like our Explorer. But maybe he did recognize the Explorer and realize that he could describe it with two of his known words.

He's also begun putting together other known words like "nih, nih, Mama," and "bye-bye, Dada." He now calls the dogs by their names: "Faa-e" and "Fee." He's copied my hand gestures for when I fuss at the dogs, and he likes to say, "gii," as he seriously waves his hand. I guess the phrase he's heard me say to the dogs the most is "Get out of the kitchen!" Another gesture that I suppose Hamilton picked up from watching us is throwing his hands and arms out to his side as if to say, "Where is it?" He does this gesture whenever we're looking for something or if he doesn't know where something is.

I've started concentrating on getting Hamilton to help clean up his toys, which requires patience and energy on my part that I sometimes don't have. In the last few days he's shown me my labor has not been in vain. He's capable now of putting away his favorite puzzle after he plays with it--with little assistance or cajoling from me. Since he unpacks this puzzle half a dozen times a day, I'm thankful for this newly acquired skill.

Hamilton's latest sign is "hurt." Mr. Morgan taught him the word "boo-boo" to go with the sign, and Hamilton's good at pointing to scrapes and scratches while using his new word. If he cries like he's hurting, then I'll ask him what hurts (using the sign), and he's begun knowing what I mean.

He still loves trucks especially the little ones that Uncle Billy and Aunt Linda bought him at a yard sale back around the holidays. He can play with one truck for a long time running it over many different surfaces around the house.

Twenty Months Old

Saturday Hamilton turned 20 months old, so an update is due. His newest, sweetest thing is singing. Sometimes he sings to himself; and when I sing to him, he waits until I stop then he begins with his sweet, soft voice. He doesn't use any words yet that I recognize, but he seems to know what he's singing.

We've also started Kindermusik which involves lots of music, singing, and movement. Hamilton has several friends also participating in our Kindermusik class, and I've enjoyed participating with him each week (though all the up and down is a workout for this pregnant mama). During today's class, Hamilton heard a train going by. He immediately ran to the window to see the train. I coaxed him back to the activity the group was doing, but he continued trying to slip back to the window to see the train. When he made it back to the window again, the train was gone. He turned back to me, threw his hands out by his side with his palms up, and said, "Choo-choo?"

Hamilton's back to reading books in a big way. He brings books to me several times a day no matter what I'm doing and says, "Buh, buh." He loves to sit in Mr. Morgan's recliner and read books with me or by himself. He also enjoys sitting in the glider in his room with his books. His favorites right now are Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Go, Dog, Go.

We're still saying prayers before bed, and Hamilton still interrupts with prayers of his own; however, sometimes he "prays" using words we recognize, like "Mimi and Pah." At the dinner table, he knows the blessing is coming after we pull his highchair up to the table, so he reaches out his hands to Mr. Morgan and me for the blessing without our prompting him.

Hamilton loves watching "choo-choo" on the television, but he doesn't ask for it yet. Hopefully he's not watching that much. He just gets excited if I ask him if he wants to watch Thomas the train.

His favorite activity before dinner is to wash his hands--because he gets to use the step stool. He says, "tool, tool," and happily helps me get the stool out to use at the kitchen sink. He also helps push up his sleeves before reaching for the water. His newest sign is "thank you," which he's using sometimes without being prompted. His newest word is "poo" which he says when he holds his diaper. Occasionally, he's right about having "poo" in his diaper.

Hamilton's steadily outgrowing his clothes, and his pant legs are getting shorter. He's the tallest of all his little friends. I'll measure his height soon, especially since the nurse didn't do it at his 18-months checkup.

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!"

Eighteen Months Old

My sweet baby is 18 months old today.

He's using a spoon now, and he prefers to feed himself though he does like for me to fill up his spoon with food for him to shovel into his mouth. Then it's Daddy's turn to load up his spoon with food. And back and forth we go during meals.

Hamilton knows some sounds that things make, and he usually answers correctly when you ask him questions. He has a distinct sound for dinosaurs, cows, dogs, and trains. He'll always give an answer to the question "What does _____ say?"; however, if it's not one of the four mentioned above, there's no telling what noise he'll attribute.

He's still loving his Christmas presents, playing with them every day. He's not into my reading books to him right now, but I hope after a few weeks he'll go back to loving my reading to him. He received many books for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to enjoying those with him soon. He reads them to himself usually during "quiet time," but he won't sit still through my reading anything to him right now.

Hamilton continues to talk a lot and learn new words. He's added "a car" and "a robe" to his vocabulary, though neither word has much of an ending consonant sound when he says it. He quickly learned robe when he was given one. He wears it every night on his way to and from the bathroom; I plan to get a picture soon to share, for he's somehow even cuter than normal in his miniature robe.

I'm fighting hard right now against his tendency to point and "unh, unh, unh" for something he wants instead of his using signs or words that he knows. It's a daily battle, but my refusals to entertain his "unhs" are slowly making him use his communication skills. I probably utter, "What do we say to get mama's attention?" at least a dozen times a day. Eventually and sometimes quickly, he quits his "unhs" and obliges me with "mama, mama," which always garners my full attention.

He still laughs a lot, especially when he hears other people laughing. He's ticklish like Mr. Morgan, so I frequently give him "tickle attacks." (Mr. Morgan doesn't take kindly to such attacks, however.) I love to hear Hamilton's laugh because it's so contagious, making me smile and laugh just at hearing it.

Though Hamilton has many toys, he enjoys pushing my bowling-ball bag or dragging it around by the handle. Lately he's started lying on top of it, and sometimes he looks like he's stuck there because his hands and feet aren't touching the ground. But he's not stuck; he'll eventually squirm his way off and then laugh at his antics.

Seventeen Months Old

Hamilton was 17 months old on Sunday. His vocabulary has increased in the last month, saying some new words with much clarity for a one-year-old, including "outside," "shoe," "Sissy," "no," "Mimi," "a truck," "please," and "baby." He says other words too, but they don't sound as similar to their correct names. He says "a choo" for choo-choo train, "gunka" for pumpkin, "ots" for socks, and "dede" for belly.

He still only has six teeth, but they are growing and making him look like a big boy. I've also recently given him a short haircut that makes him look older too. I'm still dressing him in little-boy clothes, though, especially for the Christmas season. This short-pants outfit with knee socks has the three wise men and the shepherds worshiping baby Jesus smocked on the front. Hamilton pointed at the babe in the manger the first time I put it on him and said, "dada," meaning dog. I assured him that though the brown hay made the baby look like a dog, he was indeed not. Once I confirmed "baby" instead, Hamilton caught on too.

Hamilton still loves to play outside, though this cold streak has limited our outdoor time. He's still obsessed with trucks, music, and dancing. We're still attending the library's story time every other week and checking out half a dozen new books at each visit. He enjoys reading by himself in his room or in the car, and only sometimes does he sit still long enough for me to get through reading a book to him. Naturally, he LOVES books with trucks, trains, or tractors. He turns right to those pages and says over and over again, "a truh, a truh." Just in the last few days he's added the indefinite article to his favorite word.

Hamilton is still a good eater, though now he recognizes food by sight. He always wants sweet potatoes, cheese, or bread first. I have to "hide" those foods at first, so he'll eat other things before he's not hungry anymore.

He's been walking for four months now, and I was noticing today that he's much better at it. He has better balance and control, and he can go much faster (almost running) if he wants to. He crawls up and down the stairs so well now that we let him go up and down as he pleases (for the most part).

Sixteen Months Old

Last Friday Hamilton turned 16 months old. I didn't think it was possible for him to be more vocal than he was, but he's definitely trying to say words and talking all the time. Often his words do not in any way sound like the real words, but I know what he means usually. He's still saying truck, but he's also added pumpkin, train, bird, sock, shoe, and bread to his vocabulary.

He loves exploring the backyard, and he's finally started venturing out of the grass and into the flower beds. Last week he found the secret path nestled between the fence and the bamboo.

He still loves school, and he gives me a goodbye kiss each morning I drop him off. He brought home a necklace made from pasta last week; and when I found it in his bag, he promptly put it back on, wearing it all afternoon.

He's getting much pickier about what he wants to eat, and cheese remains the only specific food for which he uses a sign. He still has only six teeth (four on top, two on bottom), so some foods are not liked right now because of their texture and his lack of back teeth. At least I hope that's the reason.

He loves for me to chase him around downstairs using a scary voice, so we play that game a lot. He now enjoys his zebra toy on the back porch because he's able to get on and off all by himself.

He still loves books and reading. He likes reading to himself, but he also likes to pick out a book, hand it to an adult, and turn himself around backing into the adult's lap. He doesn't always make it through the reading of each book, and he definitely has favorite books from the ones we get at the library. Recently he's enjoyed an I Spy book, The Little Engine that Could, a Thomas the Train book, and a book called Cowboy Bunnies. We visit the library at least every other week, so we can replenish our books. We usually make it for the library's story time, and Hamilton is surprisingly well behaved if he's wearing Rover, his harness and tether. Story time involves not just three books of similar topics, but also stretching and music with dancing.

Mr. Morgan installed a low-hung handle on the screen door for Hamilton. Before the handle, Hamilton would bang on the door or try to pry it open with his little fingers. As Mr. Morgan predicted, as soon as Hamilton discovered the new handle, he excitedly tried it out--over and over again.

Two Months Old

Hamilton was two months old yesterday and nine weeks old today. We gave him a bath this afternoon, and we took some pictures with his friends. He's getting so big and outgrowing most of his newborn clothes.

Since the photo shoot was getting close to nap time, Mr. Morgan entertained the little one trying to get some smiles.
There's the smiling boy. After the smile came some spitting up and irritated crying. Photo shoot over.