Happy 20 months!

I can't believe that Brooks was born 20 months ago. He is a complete delight and I am so glad that I get to be his momma. Several of you have asked what Brooks is up to these days, so here's a full report on the day to day goings on at our house the last few weeks.

Brooks is REALLY busy. He loves running up and down and up and down the hall and then stopping in front of the door and shouting "outside! outside!" so we will take him over to the garden. Garden fun includes going down and climbing up the slide, trying to kick his ball, playing on the wobbly beam and chasing the kids, dogs, and birds who visit the park. Back home, he still loves the washing machine - putting things in there for me to discover (before or after I start the next load) is one of his favorites. He still loves playing in his tupper ware drawer, pulling his crocs on and off, working his puzzle, and "reading" books. One morning before work, Eric overheard Brooks reading "Go, Dog, Go" to himself - "Hello, Hat? no! bye-bye!" Anyone who has read this story recently knows what pages he's reciting. He's started to enjoy stacking his blocks, scribbling on his etch-a-sketch, and driving his school bus or small cars over everything... his books, any tables and chairs he can reach, Momma's legs when she's sitting at the computer. He also loves playing "off and on" with the lights, "open and closed" with any door or drawer, and has figured out that keys have a purpose other than entertaining him! I found him one morning recently with my keys in his hand (where did you get those, little guy?) trying to stick them into the closet doorknob. It doesn't have a lock, but hey, that's the right idea! The closet is his favorite practice door, because there is room for him to hide just inside as he pulls the door closed behind him. He really enjoys jumping out and "scaring" momma with a big "BOO!" when he thinks I don't know he's there. Bath-time is still really fun. Sometimes when I'm in the bathroom, he'll run in and point to the tub and yell "bathtime!", maybe hoping that I will give him another bath before breakfast. At the end of the day, or just before nap-time we'll turn out all the lights in the house together and then have a few moments of quiet play or stories before he goes down. He loves to name all the part of our faces, and play silly games like chins and foreheads (I made this one up, he thinks it's hysterical), and read books like the Cat in the Hat, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Pigeon finds a Hot Dog, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. He usually turns towards his crib and says "night-night" when he's ready to hit the hay.




He's doing much better in the church nursery (Thank you, Lord!) and that makes for a much more enjoyable Sunday morning for all three of us as Eric and I can both enjoy the sermon together. Yesterday, he played with another child and his momma that we know from Tots and Toddlers, and wasn't upset at all when I came back to get him. I think he would have stayed for an hour! He still loves Tots and Toddlers. The group takes a six week summer holiday from now until September, and I think we're going to have to do our own sing-along time, just so he can practice his "Dingle Dangle Scarecrow"...

Meal-times are mostly a joy, with the occasional mess at the end. He still eats almost everything, and lots of it - fish, chicken, pork, lamb, beef, any kind of bread, rice, potatoes, tons of fruits and veggies, and drinks milk and water and a little bit of juice from a cup. Peanut butter is a favorite, both the taste and the sticky fingers. Spaghetti is another favorite - when we're eating that at home, we just strip him down to his diaper and let him have all the fun he wants. The big development lately is that I'll put a pot of yogurt down in front of him with a spoon and let him go to town. He loves yogurt so much that he's careful to assure that all of it ends up in his mouth. Now, pretty much the only thing we still feed him is soup, but he enjoys trying to spoon even that into his mouth.




By far, though, the thing that is the most fun for his parents is Brooks's expanding vocabulary. He will parrot back almost everything we say, and usually does a fairly good job with the new words. It's fun to see him try out longer combinations of sounds, and we're working on friends and family members' names before we see them. And he's retaining so much. Eric and I put together a list of his current words or short phrases, and came up with 73 things that he uses correctly without prompting. His pronunciation isn't perfect but he does get his point across. My favorite of his new words is "morning" as in "Good morning, Momma" when I come and get him out of bed before breakfast. He's such a happy little guy and I love seeing him greet the day in such a sweet way!

He still loves meeting new people, especially when we're on the Tube or bus. He regularly has complete strangers in stitches. The routine is usually lots of "hello" or "hey's", a wave, a smile, then he'll ask me for a snack (apparently he thinks that any time we're on the move, it's time to eat), say please, and then thank you when he gets it. There can often be rounds of "wheels on the bus" or another fun song (sung quietly!) as well as well-timed "bye-bye's" and waves as we left. On a bus last week, an elderly woman told me that meeting Brooks was reason enough for her to have left the house that day. It was a dear moment. More times than not, he's like a little ambassador of toddler friendliness. It cracks me up!

*** As an aside, this photo...


and the first one are from a fun night in our neighborhood several weeks ago. The Euro Cup finals were on, and we joined some friends at our pub for the game and the Sunday roast supper (our favorite - roasted lamb with mint sauce! yum yum!) Anyway, Brooks never watches TV, so we had fun watching him take in the game as a crowd of folks shouted at all the appropriate times and his momma tried to look like she knew what was going on! :) It was a really fun night.