Nineteen Months

Nineteen months…..wow. Riley-bean is getting way too close to two, in more ways than one.

He weighs 27lbs and stands 33 inches tall.

Here’s what I want to remember about this past month:

• He didn’t try too many new foods this month, just salmon and fishsticks as far as I can remember. He is still eating well, although not as much this past month as usual. Is it possible he’s not growing as much right now? He looks awfully big to me!
• He is talking mostly in phrases right now but the thing to note is that he is talking all the time: concrete mixer (“micka-maker”), later alligator, cauliflower (“cocky-lauer”), uh-oh spaghetti o’s (“lay-le-lows”), go get it, naked boy, chew it up, go see ‘em, eat it, yo!, looking at, who dat. He also knows what Uncle Jeff says: “Okay so.”
• But my favorite thing he says now? When I ask him, “Guess what?” He responds with, “I love you.” SO sweet.
• He is starting to string words together all on his own: red car, purple truck, green shirt, blue towel; more cereal, more juice, more cheese; Nopsi’s car, Mama’s book, Nola’s shoe. He’s also starting to understand concepts more: for instance, he’ll come into my room and say “mess” and then follow with “clean it up” if he’s made a mess in his room.
• Overall, his pronunciation is improving so much.
• He still loves reading books, and he actually knows the words in many of his favorite books. He also correctly identifies many books by one of the title words. He knows “Pookie” from Let’s Dance Little Pookie and the whole Sesame Street gang from the “Hop” book.
• He knows Chuck, Rowdy, Tucker, Boomer, and Handy from the “Chuck and Friends” line.
• He loves to be sung certain songs and requests them at night: Old MacDonald (“e-i”), Hush Little Baby (“baby”), Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (“star”). He also loves to “rock-rock” and will request this all throughout the day, especially if he falls down or bumps his head. It’s his comfort!
• I still love to describe him as busy: “Riley, what are you doing?” “Play-ying.” He plays so well by himself, and he still loves his cars and trucks. However, he is starting to rebel a bit against stopping playtime to eat a meal or take a nap.
• He likes to pretend random things are airplanes: asparagus, cereal, trucks, his hands, etc. Too funny.
• Nola started the tradition of having parades in the bathtub with him with his bath toys, and now we have parades all the time, with pinecones, blueberries, and popcorn.
• QP started teaching him French months ago, and he’s actually picked up on it quite well. He inserts a random French word every now and then when he talks (“bleu” and “pleu”), and he also can respond to a simple question asked in French with the correct English word. Amazing!