19 Months

Another month in the life of Drew...
It is so fun to see him change & learn, starting to understand and communicate so much more - it's so fun, and such a great stage! He is certainly becoming more talkative, picking up new words every day it seems. Some favorites are "Alri" for Alright and "Ma-me!" for Amen! We've got wa-wa for water, bilk for milk, terios for Cheerios, toool for school, ash for yes, abbe for airplane, and de-de for blanket just to name a few more. With understanding more, we are certainly enjoying being able to ask Drew to do something and actually getting an appropriate response - we can ask him to smile for pictures, which he sometimes will then do, and maybe even throw in a "eeeze" for a cheese smile! Thanks to all the cold we had this month, Drew learned to say "brrr" when asked if it's cold. We have started to work on the concept of whispering - not a natural thing for a toddler to say the least. But sometimes it works, even when getting upset, it may even help calm him down. There are times now, and I know I must enjoy these now before it passes, where it simple to persuade Drew to do or try something, just with a simple suggestion...I hope it lasts longer than I think it will!

Drew is getting more expressive in other ways too - singing and dancing are starting to move up the ladder of daily activities. His original dance move consisted of moving his hips side to side, almost violently at times, but just the one direction. Well, we are past that and into moving our WHOLE body now - moving up and down, turning, in directions that can't even be described by words, and we are incorporating arms & hands - also in moves I've never seen before - but hilarious to watch! He has also started to make what I can only describe as ninja moves or poses - usually when throwing a ball, but also, sometimes just to cross the room. I don't know what or where this is coming from, so I blame it on him being a boy...we'll see where this takes us! He loves some little nursery rhyme books we've picked up, and it's been fun to see him start to act out and sing along with the books. From one he has learned to show us his giggles and cries - complete with hand motions! His Daddy is very good at teaching these to him and he asks for them all the time!

When it hasn't been too cold, we've started enjoying some serious outside playtime. Drew loves to ride his motorcycle, and we love for him to be so easily entertained! The park is of course a wonderful place to be, especially since we found a much more toddler friendly playground to go to - we could spend hours there I'm sure if it were up to Drew! We also love to get the soccer ball out and play with Daddy - only a small glimpse of the future I'm sure!

Speaking of books - we have Drew pick out 2 books every night for bedtime. This month, one of those books has consistently been his take-along Bible. We are happy with his choice of course, but it is kind of funny - there are nights where he hasn't picked it initially and then at the end of 2 books, he looks around & asks for 'B-ble' - how can you deny your child the Bible? We can't, so out to the bookshelf we go for our 3rd book - we'll see if this becomes a way to delay bedtime any! :) But we are excited about sharing these stories with him for sure!
With him growing, we've also started to see the number of bumps, bruises, and scrapes increase significantly. With his incredibly fair skin, there's no hiding it either - there are little and big red marks on his face, knees, arms & legs at any given time. I remember back when he was an infant, and if he got even the tiniest of marks, I counted the days til he was back to 'perfect'! Those days are LONG GONE! And yet, even with all the energy and desire to climb and conquer, our Drew, I believe, will always be a great little snuggler! We do love him so!