Some bragging

Nicholas is in a really fun phase. When he was about 13 months old I remember thinking (and saying to a few people) that the glory period was behind us. 4-12 months had been fun and relatively easy and then things got rough and I was bracing for the beginning of toddler struggles. And, yes, we do have some struggles and he isn't perfect, but man is he good. I can't pinpoint how long that frustrating phase lasted, but for at least the past month he has been a delight. And so I will brag a bit about how wonderful he is right now and all the stuff he is doing.

• He is talking up a storm. His pronunciation isn't very good, but he has words for most of the things he interacts with or wants on a regular basis. And he is getting pretty good at mimicking words he has only heard a few times. Tonight he was helping get green beans ready for dinner and by the end was saying "green bean." I also swear he repeated "goofball" when Andrew said it.
• And he is starting to pick up on the idea of modifying words. Not sentences or anything, but things like "shoes. ommy." to mean my shoes. Or the other day we had a conversation where Nicholas said and signed "all done" and then took another bite of cracker. "Silly boy, you're not all done, you're still eating." Nicholas, more deliberately, "All done. Ommy." And he looked at my plate. And guess what--I had just taken my last bite of dinner. "Oh, Mommy is all done. Yes, good job." And this afternoon he picked up my flip-flops by the door and said "laundry shoe ommy," which confused us at first, but then we realized that he is right, those are the shoes I wear to go to the basement to do laundry.
• He has names for lots of people and he gets so excited about them all. He will flip through his little photo album and name his grandparents ("mama" and "pop-pop" is roughly how he has translated "Grandma" and "Grandpa" for now), Uncle Andrew (although "Andrew" sounds more like "yellow" because whenever there is a word he is having a lot of trouble with he uses a lot of tongue), Stacy, and us. We need to put pictures of the rest of the aunts and uncles into his album. The other day when I picked him up from daycare he called out "Allie?" "No, sweetie, we aren't seeing Alice today." "Allie?" "No, Nicholas, but I'll call Alice's mommy and maybe we can see her soon." "Tacy!!!!" The last was shouted with pure glee. I'm not sure if he thought that Stacy is Alice's mommy or if he had just moved on to try a different person he wanted to see.
• He loves to clean up and be helpful. If he is doing something you don't want him to do, the most effective way to get him to stop is to ask him to help with something. Especially if it is helping to move something or put something away. It isn't 100%, but in general he is really great at it. And he asks to do laundry almost every time we pass the basement stairs. He has a sixth sense about open cabinet doors and drawers, but unlike most toddlers he doesn't capitalize on them to wreak havoc but instead rushes over to close them.
• Nicholas loves books right now. The first thing he says when you get him in the morning is "book" and he is distraught if you won't sit down and read a book (or two or three) with him. This can be frustrating since our morning schedule is really tight, but I can't complain.
• He knows the sounds lots of animals make. Some animals he can name both the animal and the sound or just gives the animal's name, but most he identifies by their sounds. He does often use "moo" for horses as well as cows, so he isn't perfect, but his monkey sound is hilarious.
• He has gotten pretty good at naming body parts. He can do head, hair, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, belly, arms, fingers, legs, knees, feet, and toes. And he differentiates between his and other people's, so if you ask him where his knees are or where Daddy's ears are, he will correctly identify each.
• He knows the difference between football and baseball. He can look at the tv and correctly identify which one is on. This one baffles me.
• He has recently learned Ring Around the Rosie and wants to play it all the time. But we get pretty dizzy quickly. Luckily tonight he started doing it by himself. And he can spin for a long time before getting dizzy. I know I used to be able to do that too as a kid. I wonder when I outgrew it.
• He loves puzzles, but really hasn't figured them out. He does a pretty good job of figuring out which spot the piece goes in, but has real trouble lining the piece up properly and gets frustrated and gives up pretty quickly. He often just tries to push harder when it doesn't work. I think in a couple months, though, they will be one of his favorites.
• His comprehension astounds me. This doesn't mean he always listens or follows directions. Goodness knows he does things he has been told 300 times not to. But if you explain something complex slowly, he focuses really hard on what you're saying and then takes the appropriate action. I can't think of an example off the top of my head, but usually it is sequential things. So when he is whining about wanting to do something and we explain the three things we need to do before we can do the thing he wants and when we stop talking he'll go and do the first thing we mentioned. Then again, he sometimes asks to get his shoes on 4 times after we've pointed out that he is still in his pajamas.
• He is getting pretty good at saying please, thank you, and you're welcome. For a while he was mixing up (or combining) thank you and you're welcome, but he is starting to figure it out. The only problem is he doesn't usually modify "please," so he'll say "please" and you'll ask "please what?" because you have no idea what he wants and he'll just keep insisting "please" and getting frustrated because he is saying the right thing and not getting what he wants. He does the same with "more." And since "more" means either more of something or doing something again, it can be really confusing.

As much as I adore him, however, Nicholas is not perfect. And there are some things we need to work on.

• He doesn't know how to drink from a cup. Or use silverware, for the most part. It's our fault because we never feel like dealing with the mess, but he needs to learn at some point.
• His insistence on closing all doors immediately and with force can get annoying and painful. Today I yelled at him pretty harshly after the 4th time in a row he pushed the fridge door on my head or arm with all his might while I was trying to put groceries away.
• He shakes his head no when strangers wave at him or say hello. I don't necessarily mind this when it is at the store or other random places, but I think it hurts the people at church and the like.
• He does not sit still and quietly, especially when he is somewhere he wants to explore. This makes it difficult to take him to lots of public places. Church is really hard. He often isn't even well enough behaved for the cryroom. I am torn between trying the nursery again and thinking he needs to learn how to behave properly for the place.