Dear Ash,
Holy shit, dude, you understand every single word I say. We’ve had a huge breakthrough with language this month, and it is absolutely ABSOLUTELY AMAZING to see. You are SO COOL! When I ask you to bring me a specific book from the vast pile of books, and you’ll search through until you find it and bring it right over, crawl up on the couch and sit with me. When we read through the books, I’ll ask you to point to the red car, blue truck, flower, dog, ball, bottle, baby, green frog, snail, monster, duck, fish, bird, turtle, you get it right every time! Your vocabulary is growing on a daily basis- I am looking forward to to when you can start to talk. Right now you’re very good at being able to say the first letter of a lot of words.
You have a few favorite things, things that make you squeal or make you beh-beh-beh and point to, and those are: flowers, dogs, cats, bikes, helicopters, dump trucks, diggers, garbage trucks, being upside down and being swung around (with your arms out like a roller coaster).
Your favorite food is still sushi. You don’t have any favorite toys (you do like of your collection of cars), and up until this month you didn’t seem to prefer anything in particular… until you fell in love with three books. They’re the only books you’d bring to your father and I, ones which we read so many times that UGH, are you serious? Again? What about THIS other book? No? Fine. One is a large book of nursery rhymes with a built-in handle, the other is an I Spy book, full of cars and trucks and trains. This is the book that has really broadened your vocabulary about cars and trucks (and colours, too). The third is a “Brainy Baby” book that I can’t stand, that was a present from your grandmother many months ago. I don’t know why you like this book- there isn’t even a storyline, but sure enough, you keep choosing it.
You have really mastered signing this month. You experimented with it a while ago, but your signs are clear as day, and you will do it on command. Right now, you do the standard “more,” “all done,” and “eat” (which you will do if you’re asked if you’re hungry), and you made up your own for “help” or “please” which looks like you’re praying. I’ve tried to teach you both the standard signs for both of the words, but you won’t do it. I think you’re awfully smart to think of your own sign for something (which you’ve done before, for “brush your teeth”).
This month we took a few trips. Your father and I took a great trip (WITHOUT YOU!) to see the tidal bore in a river raft. We were away from you for five whole hours, while you spent time with your grandmother and great grandmother. Even though being away from you is very normal for your father, it was the longest time I’ve ever spent away from you, and I was having so much fun that I am proud to say I hardly thought of you. Leaving you was difficult because I knew you were tired and I didn’t want you to cry, and the 30 minute drive back to you was difficult too because by that time the fun was over and I missed you and couldn’t wait to see you. That trip gave me hope for the future, knowing that I wouldn’t break down if I couldn’t be with you for an extended period of time.
The other trip we took was your first trip to the zoo! You love animals, and you really loved to see all the different kinds that the zoo had to offer. You loved feeding the goats and deer, even though you tried to keep the little corn nibblets away from them.
Your favorite was the farm cat. Of course. Forget all the exotic ones that we paid $6.50 each to see.
The other big development this month was that you started to walk full time. A couple of weeks ago I figured you were walking about 80% of the time, and each day you’d crawl less and less, and now it’s very rare to see you crawl. It was a rough month, you took a few tumbles and bruised your face in a couple of different places, but you’re so good now. You still hold your arms up, bent at the elbows, at chest level.
Two days ago you and I went for our first walk together. We usually go in the sling, or for longer walks/errands I’ll stick you in the stroller, but we had to go to your Auntie’s house so you walked the two blocks, hand in hand, beside me. It was such a big step- you felt like such a little boy. We ran into our friend Alexis, who has a daughter three months younger than you, and we just about blew his mind. He was just astounded that you were doing so well and that his daughter was going to be just like you in a couple of months. It was great to share my pride with someone else. Only parents understand what it’s like to be proud of every single thing someone else does. It’s one of the weirdest things about being a parent… I was telling people that I went shopping with you the other day and you walked around the store! All by yourself! And people were like, uh, yeah? What do you mean? Do you mean he just went around the store alone? Um, no. I mean, he was walking! Around the store! Don’t you see the significance of that? He’s never done that before. I’ve always carried him. Now he can walk unassisted. Nope, no one got it except me. Seriously, it was a huge milestone for us.
You like putting things on your head, as if they were a hat. I bought about 15 pounds of apples after our trip to the zoo, and for the next couple of days you kept trying to put apples on your head. There are still apples around the house from you dropping them and me not picking them up. Today you put your hacky sack and a dish towel on your head.
You coloured this month. You got… colourful.
The funniest thing I think you’ve done this month was when we were at the zoo and we were in a barn with HUGE pigs and one of them was… er.. gassy. Your father and I looked at each other, and although we don’t usually think that kind of thing is humorous at all, but we cracked up a little and you looked at us and said, “PFFFFFFFFFFTTTT!!!” You are HIL-FREAKING-LARIOUS.
I love you so much, little man.
Love,
Mama
