16 months

Because I know that some people actually read this only for the purpose of getting updates on baby boy, I present the following.

As he turns 16 months old, I find myself thinking back just a month or two and feeling silly about worrying whether he'd ever walk or talk. Now I can't get him to shut up or sit still. We have constant movement and constant chattering...some of which is intelligible, some of which you know he's talking smack to and about you in his own language, and the rest of which causes you to wish you had an interpreter.

The funniest thing, perhaps, is that he will occasionally say "shit." Being the wholesome creature I am, I couldn't possibly imagine where he learned this word, but he says it and smiles. He doesn't say it in context, for which I am thankful...but I need to stop reacting with a laugh or smile and hope that he hasn't picked up any other words from...Sesame Street, I guess? After that episode last week, I wouldn't be surprised!

He loves to drink hot peppermint tea, and when he sees Regis and Kelly or The View gals with their coffee mugs on television, he'll run over to the screen and yell, "Tea! Tea!" Oh - and before someone comments and mentions that I don't allow him to watch much kid television yet I watch these shows with him present, let it be said that I only have these shows on for about the first 15 minutes of each, as the "host chat" and "hot topics segment" are all I care about, and I have it on more for the sound while I'm picking up from breakfast or folding laundry. So whatever. Of course, today he pointed at Barbara Walters on the screen and said "baba." My little comedian. Get it? The old Baba Wawa joke?

He loves to dance. We have music on most of the time here, and more often than not it's parent-friendly kid music. Trout Fishing in America, Laurie Berkner, and Elizabeth Mitchell are our favorites. He's partial to Elizabeth Mitchell and her folk renditions of some classic children's songs as well as her own material. He chimes in with the words at times, both in time with the cd and when I sing for him. This impresses me.

He has discovered Thomas the Tank Engine. LOVES Thomas. Our Barnes and Noble here has a huge TtTE train table out for kids to play with, and when I'm looking to get him out for some cheap fun, that's where I take him. It's his Disney World right now. I wish I could afford to buy him the set, but it's hundreds and hundreds of dollars - any takers out there want to hook my kid up?

His vocab is impressive. Still isn't calling me mama the way he calls for his daddy, but at least he can say it. That's all that matters. I'm pretty sure he called me "sexy" when I walked into his room this morning, though.

He loves to color - especially on the walls and the couch - and play with his cars. Picking the cat up by the tail has become a new hobby, as has running end-to-end on the sectional sofa, threatening to crack his skull open every time.

The child loves to eat. He's definitely my boy. He could probably survive on chicken, bagels, butter, ketchup, and apples dipped in peanut butter. I do feed him more than that, of course, and he is a pretty healthy eater. I'm surprised.

He loves babies. Pictures of babies, real babies, and his little baby doll. I'm really hoping that he will be equally thrilled when his baby sister comes home in a few months.

He's doing really well. I'm pleased with where he seems to be developmentally and socially, and despite the early-stage terrible 2's he can occasionally exhibit, I still love spending every day with him. I wish I knew what, if anything, I could do to soften the blow of the new baby and to let him know that he'll always have a special place in my heart.