Toddler Tribulations

I am continuously amazed at how quickly David learns new things. Not many days go by that I don't look at Daddy and ask, "Did you know he could do that?" A couple of weeks ago, David amazed Omi and Granddaddy Ricky by jumping (both feet off the ground more than an inch at the same time) all over Grandma Jo's house. Of course they were also impressed by his use of a fork and spoon at lunch. Also the enthusiastic use of said eating utensils - and when those proved too inefficient a food delivery method - using his hands to cram everything within arm's reach into his mouth. Some at the table were concerned we might be a bit too messy. At a barbecue restaurant. With a concrete floor. It was a sight to behold. Not a pretty one, mind you, but a sight none the less.

David loves pretending to talk on the phone. He puts it up to his ear, jabbers, nods, and walks around the house talking. This comes from watching us I suppose. Anything will do as a phone...our old cell phones, a TV remote, garage door opener...as long as it has buttons. He continues to love music, particularly drums and the guitar. He beats on anything thing he can find and "sings" while he's doing it. Likewise, just about anything functions as a guitar...hairbrush, spoon, the actual kiddie guitar he got for Christmas. The kid loves to rock out.



He's been spending more time playing in his room by himself. He comes out to check on us. And we check on him when it gets too quiet. This has turned into a learning experience for all of us. David has learned how to use toys as a stepping stool. I learned this when he came out of his room with his giant bottle of hand sanitizer, which was previously out of reach on his changing table, sanitizer running down the sides of the bottle, wet splotches of it all over his clothes, saying, "Soap! Soap!" I took him back to his room to clean him up and put away the sanitizer to find that he had pushed his rocking Tigger over to the changing table and used it to climb up and grab things.

Meal times are more of a challenge too now. That's because this weekend, the little monkey figured out how to take the tray off his high chair. Now he says, "All done. Get down." If he doesn't get an acknowledgement after saying it a couple of times, he pulls the tray off and shoves it as hard as he can. Lovely. But he's learned how by watching us and poking around on his own. It's hard to be mad at him when I realize that he's figured out something all on his own.

I am most impressed by his ability to recognize objects, animals, and some shapes. Everywhere we go, he's pointing an naming things. He's getting better at animal sounds. He knows: monkey, cow, horse, kitty, dog, chicken, bird, and lion. Any other animal gets a "Pfffft!" by default if you ask. But he can name so many more! He knows what stars and hearts look like - can tell the difference and pick them out of a group of shapes. He also remembers where certain objects are hidden under his wooden letter puzzle. He always finds the octopus and apple on the first try. Also we have these Little People Books that he absolutely loves. Every scene in the book has a frog somewhere in it. And my wonderfully gifted child can find it. Everytime. In every book.

All of these things are wonderful and just mind boggling to me. But the coolest thing he's learned so far is how to play Nintendo with me. Yeah, yeah, I know not really a skill but it cracks me up. I have a game for my DS, which I play sometimes while he's in my lap watching Backyardigans. This particular game has a part where you have to blow into the microphone to make wind. He saw me blow on it once and then he "helped" me blow into it for the rest of the game. Sure, my little character died. A lot. But watching David's face light up when he realized what he was doing was awesome. And Mommy is going to have a gaming buddy when he gets a little bit bigger.