Monday, January 28, 2013

Ryan at 18 Months

Child development books should call 18 months The Epiphany. Suddenly he understands everything we say and wants to copy everything we do.
He is busy from the moment he wakes up and shouts a simple, demanding "MAMA!", until bedtime when he slams himself down onto his favorite blanket and shouts "BYE BYE!".   He starts the day with a series of demands and protests: "Waffle?! No diaper. No poo poo. No socks. No pants. No shirt. Waffle!".  He greets the family: "No Dada. No Te-Say. Hi Buddy (Moxie). Hi Ma-Day (Maggie)."  
 His teachers confirm that he is a little dictator at school, parroting their disciplinary comments to his classmates: "No Coe-ton! Not Nice!", and "Come on guys!".  He tries to tell me what to do, and I just reply "You're not the boss, applesauce".  At naptime they frequently catch him walking around, trying to wake up his friends to play, and when they scold him, he doesn't even look, he just RUNS back to his cot, slamming into sleep position with his bottom in the air. He repeats everything we say, too, and keeps us laughing:  Call Me Maybe.
 
He sometimes catches us off guard with his boy-ness, landing a painful football style tackle or throwing his head back trying  to break our noses.  He is still very affectionate, giving lots of spontaneous hugs and kisses.  He shouted "LUB YOU" out of the blue to Dad as he left for work this week.  He also has a soft spot for sweet girls.  His teachers said he punches all of his friends, but gently hugs "Li-peth" (Elizabeth).  We lub him.

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