His current favorite things include:
Snuggling and kissing. Seriously, I don't know how this happened, but he is hands down the most loving child I have ever known! He generously doles out kisses and hugs. His kissy face is also the most adorable thing you have ever seen in your life... little scrunched up nose, pursed lips, with a half smirk. Melt.my.heart. When he comes at you with this, he renders you completely defenseless. Even if he has chili sauce all over his face, you will not turn the kissy face down it's so darn cute! This loving streak of his is what gets me through his often defiant behavior. It even makes me wish he would stop growing up (something I am not prone to wishing) because I know that one day the kissy face will no longer be directed at me, so sad!
Bath time and pool time. Little dude loves the water! He loves to splash and dunk his face in and has recently (as in, just tonight) started blowing bubbles when he dunks his head! Growing up, competitive swimming was my life so these little signs of a budding Michael Phelps make this momma super happy! Watch out dad, don't get too excited about your little soccer player yet, momma's gonna turn this guy into a swimmer! (Okay, I admit, he is still just as obsessed with soccer as ever. I routinely have other parents that see him kicking balls around ask me if he plays in a league. Yea... a league of 1 year olds? But anyway, I guess he must be pretty good? Still, I'm pretty stoked about the bubble blowing...)
Music and dancing. We have been pretty amused at his "rhythm." If he hears a song that he likes he starts waving his hands around and throwing up gang signs. Well, he probably doesn't actually know any gang signs... but that is what it looks like! He is also a big mimic when it comes to dance. He watched a few minutes of the TV show So You Think You Can Dance? the other day and he was "dancing" around the living room waving his arms and kicking up his legs when he saw the contestants doing it. Sorry, we're usually laughing too hard to find the video camera to record these things!
Play Zone in our building. Fortunately and unfortunately, the "Play Zone" for our building is right across the hall from our apartment. Very convenient, and also causes many tantrums trying to leave our apartment for any other destination. Lately he has been particularly enjoying the rocking horse which he likes to stand on and ride with no hands all "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken" style. He also loves this little French toy that you push buttons and it sings in French. If he hears that thing start singing, he will freeze whatever he is doing and start dancing.
Foods he enjoys include french cheese, goldfish crackers, Kool Aid, salmon, tuna, black beans, bananas, potatoes in any form, chili sauce (not the sweet American kind, the spicy Asian kind), and ketchup. I had successfully avoided giving him sauces for a long time to avoid messes, but he got into some ketchup on a kiddie plate at our resort in Thailand and that was the end of that. If it is available (at least he doesn't know to request it yet!) he will dip his food in it, suck it off the food, dip again, repeat.
Developmentally:
He knows what things are used for around the house. He knows what to do with a toothbrush, hairbrush, Qtip, phone, diaper, etc. I was impressed when one day he actually went and got a diaper and brought it to me when he needed to be changed. (This may not be terribly impressive, except that he typically hates being changed, so I was quite shocked!)
He is also good at identifying things. Even though he can't say all the words yet, he can differentiate between most of his body parts (by pointing), lots of animals (cow, horse, chicken, duck, dog, fish, bear, pig, etc) and some colors. He points out every dog he sees as we are walking around town. In fact, in Thailand we were at the place to ride elephants and there were elephants walking around everywhere and what do you think got his attention? Yep, a dog! He loves to look at pictures/videos of his own dogs, especially his best bud, Bella (whose name he knows and says frequently).
He is saying a lot of new words lately such that I can't tell you how many words he can say and it would take me awhile to count them. He isn't necessarily clear such that someone who didn't know him would know what he is saying, but we do. He will often randomly repeat words that you say and will remember later the object you were talking about. He still doesn't use phrases yet.
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Q, I just can't believe you are already a year and a half and such a big (little) boy now! You like to give me a run for my money on some days but I cannot imagine life without your precious smile and sweet kissy face. I feel like I couldn't love you more, though I know from experience that isn't true, because I felt that same way about you the day you were born and here we are a year and half later and my love for you is fuller than ever! Thank you for all you have taught me over the past 18 months. I look forward to the many more lessons you have waiting for me in the years to come. Please bear with me as I learn to be the mommy you deserve. You are such a blessing and you are (and always will be) so very loved <3
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