My Little Handyman (20 months old)

It seems that with every new day Adam is more and more fun. He has been bursting with personality since birth, but something about being 20 months old has him exploding with opinions, personality and his own little jokes. This morning I decided it would be a good day for a McDonald's breakfast, and got Adam some hotcakes. I let Adam try my orange juice when he asked for a sip (and got a resounding, "YUCK!" afterwards), and halfway through the meal I had apparently earned myself a "Mama! Hi Buddy," and a kiss to express how pleased he was with the breakfast.

His preferences are developing and his individuality is addictive to be around. I simply like being with my kid, who is all boy and all energy, and is rough and fast but sweet and charming. This morning he went for a few laps in the front yard on his four wheeler with Dad, because he just couldn't fall asleep during nap time (he took one later).

While he still only has half of his two top teeth (both are in, but only halfway down), three bottom front teeth, and one or two random incisors halfway back, this guy doesn't believe in doing things on other people's timelines and is already getting his two year old molars. Ouch.

For a while he would voice his displeasure with a growl - which typically meant he needed his paci, and NOW. But in the last few days he's come to realize that the growl isn't quite as effective as the cute little head tilt, signing and saying "pwease??" Yesterday he asked for a sip of my mom's watered down Diet Coke, and managed after a few back and forths to say "pwease??" and get the cup away, then tell her it was "All gone," (It wasn't), and then wave "bye," where he took the cup with him and returned to the floor to continue to play Legos with Uncle Chris. Sneaky.

He has started to voluntarily point out who people are without any prompting, but the person who has gotten this special treatment the most lately (other than Shannon, who gets it just by being in the same room) is my dad, who gets a point and a "Grandpa!" when ever Adam sees him. Everyone also gets a "hi" and a "bye," when he leaves the room, especially Eli and now Caley (or Cay-ee.)

Baths are one of his favorite times of the day, and he could stay in the bath for hours. 80% of the time (whether because of bad timing or just bad luck), he (ah-hem) poos in the tub. When he does, he FREAKS and scrambles to get out as quickly as he can. This weekend I realized just how often Shannon does the cleaning as opposed to me, because after a long bath the unmentionable happened, and Adam scrambled out of the tub, and while I wrapped him in his towel and told him we'd get dressed and come back to clean the tub in a minute, Adam called, "DADDY!".... "DADDY!"

Well, Dad was at a work event all day and wasn't there to help, but apparently he's the optimal choice for those situations. I'm okay with that.

As a treat today, Adam got to take a bath in Mom and Dad's bathroom with the spa bubbles and everything.

Adam moved up to the next classroom at school this week, and it is a couple of months late (class size was limited, and now Ms. Tiffany is going to move up with him!). The adjustment is still difficult, but he seems to really like being with the older kids. I can already see that he is getting the right type of stimulation and has already moved from two word phrases to three words at a time or more. Top of the list this week were "I need a pa (paci)!" and "Where'd he go??" (which was not Gus is favorite game this morning as we chased him from bedroom to bedroom). Beyond stringing phrases together, yesterday he told me with words that he did not want to eat lunch, and then grabbed his blanket and told me it was time for "nap."

Speaking of pacis, we are on our way back to eliminating them. Two weeks ago we had another rough go-around with that nasty RSV and a couple of persistent ear infections, which meant a paci almost 24-7 and a LOT of Toy Story in Mom and Dad's bed. He's gotten so adjusted to breathing treatments that he hardly notices the machine is on (well, as long as Woody and Buzz are on TV), and whenever he sees a tissue, he takes matters into his own hands and wipes his own nose.When he sneezes, he'll point to his face and say "Nose!" which means, "help!" and in an episode that really made me laugh, he wiped his nose with his jacket sleeve accidentally, just after I had put it on him. He saw the mess on his jacket and immediately burst out an "OH NO!" He was truly concerned, and held out his arm until I could get a tissue to clean him up.

He's a little handy man and loves to help Dad fix things or put things together. Adam's new wagon that he got for Christmas needed some adjustments, and he couldn't let Dad just do it all on his own! Below are some videos and pictures of him helping out.