On Assignment: My M.Y.

 I've been charged by the Mister to prepare something about our sweet little terror explorer, Ya.  Seems easy enough to accomplish - - I mean, he is my shadow.  But here I sit in front of the computer while he is asleep and I'm feeling the words escape me.  Momentarily, of course, because I'm really quite verbose.

According to the 'your baby' updates, we are at Week 81... this makes him 18 1/2 months old. 

Walking is only okay for toddlers.  And Ya no longer toddles.  Instead, he gallops, marches, and sprints from here to there with a stamina beyond human normalcy.  He bounds down hills as though they were flat terrain and he's mastered climbing several steps with perfect hands free balance. {freaks everyone out when he tries to go down the stairs the same way - - the down stair luge was much safer and more...stylish}

He's got a thing for things with wheels - cars, trucks, anything with wheels.  They all go "vrooom" and his lips purse at an angle as he makes the sound. 

Airplanes bring intrigue and wonder.  He points up at the sky and says something resembling "arrr plugh".  We'll work on that.

Recently, he discovered the slide.  It's fun to watch him scootch slowly toward the initial slope and then, drag himself slightly forward until gravity takes over and he ssllliiiiidddeeesss down. By the time he touches bottom (or flies uncontrollably off the edge), he's beaming and giggling.  And repeat.  In Ya's world, traffic cones become megaphones, which is odd because he was mighty young when Chi used hers during Cheerleading.

Like his Mama, one eyebrow raises in skepticism, concentration, or disgust.  Care to guess his feelings about the teeter-totter-bounce-thing?

He has this thing about poking his tongue out to one corner of his mouth when he's focused.

He scrunches his nose and squints to smile.  And the smile?  Just like Daddy's - crooked and infectious.  The sense of humor is a bit like Daddy's, too.  But unique to him are the games.  He likes to play "gotcha" - - grabbing your attention, drawing you away from your seat and then running top speed to claim it as soon as you move toward where he used to be seconds before.  Victorious, he grins wickedly and sometimes, he chuckles.  His favorite gotcha is the computer chair, and he grabs at the mouse, clicks and stares to see what changes he's made, then turns off the monitor.

He's begun potty training.  He's uncomfortable once anything has taken residence in the diaper (can't blame him for that). And now he knows when it's coming and fully aware of the availability of the toilet, so he wrestles free of the diaper. Occasionally, he'll head to the bathroom, but more often he seems to enjoy seeing floor puddles form.  They're always followed with an "uh oh" and a point.  And most times, he gets the towel to clean it up.  So helpful!  Alas, we still acknowledge the subtle diaper tugs and free him of the clothes while running toward the bathroom... and naked Ya goes the other direction to the abandoned chair.  Gotcha.  Oh, but he does like his singing toilet seat... except that once the song ends, he'll get up from the potty, fill it with an elephants quota of toilet paper and flush (and then he moves away and diaperless one goes..."uh oh").

He's artistic.

Resourceful:  If paper is unavailable, he uses other canvas.  The piece he drew for on the bathroom included a hidden message (it says "hi").

And he recycles.

Yep, leave a designed piece of paper with the artist, and he chews on it. It's eccentric, we'll work on that, too.

He's very helpful.  If he spills his drink, he'll wipe it up.  He enjoys treating the dog (and stops when the bag is empty).  He picks up trash abandoned on the ground outside and searches for a trashcan to throw it in.   When he drew on the shower stall glass, he insisted I spray  it with cleaner so he could wipe away the work (didn't work on the wall - that smeared).

Astute observer (reminds me of Chi), he monitors everything around him and mimics movements and expressions like a pro.  Dinner at IHOP with friends, and Ya spends much of it watching a baby cry, throw his cup and toss his plate.  He likes the attention it gathers, and begins to try his own whimper.  Luckily, he wasn't impressed with the response and returned to devouring his entire Rootie, Jr. kids meal.  Did I mention his appetite is like Daddy's, too?

He "fixes" computers.

 

He yells at the dogs.  He changes the channel on the TV.  He brushes teeth and hair.  I think he's adopted the motto "Anything you can do, I can do better."

And he discovers.

Favorite foods: banana, grapes, sausage links, whatever you're eating

Vocabulary:  {this is a tough one, as he knows far more than he's willing to say and some words he premieres and never says again} airplane, dog, bird (gung), banana (nana), outside, upstairs (sounds like upshut), all done, hot, uh-oh, no, bye, hi, up, down, bathroom (baruu), eat, some, night-night (meaning nurse), cheese, zip, car, water (think British accent 'wah-er'), thank you (tah ouh intonation), amen (ah-en), Daddy, Laura, PopPop, Arthur, Mom, Oma ...

Funniest behaviors: the double eye wink; the pose and 'cheese' (with one leg up, like big sis does);  the pretend to sleep snore; the fully clothed in the bath water play, the T.P. pull race; the guitar strumming blues serenade; the exaggerated clench-teeth body shake (fresh from the shower, of course).

Look what I found, ma!