19 MONTHS

Growth & Appearance:

The last week, or so, has been hard on you. No new teeth for months on end, and then in the last few days you have gotten your four eye teeth, and two top molars. Poor little man, you have handled the pain well, but there have been many sleepless nights.

I did it, I trimmed your mullet, Justin talked me into doing it, and I felt sad. It somehow makes you appear older now you have had a hair cut.

Your skin, still is, the most gorgeous golden glow. Women pay a fortune to have skin like yours. So far you love looking after it, you love to moisturize after your bath, and every night before bed you moisturize your hands.

Eating:

There is nothing you won’t eat. Okay, well you are not keen on green vegetables (guess you get that from me), but you gobble down all foods. Especially if they are on my plate.

Breakfast you eat sitting on the kitchen bench; I cannot have mine until you eat your breakfast, or you will not eat what is in your bowl and want mine. Morning tea and lunch (when we are home) we either eat on the veranda or on a blanket in the back yard. Again, you prefer to eat my food, so most days now I just make one plate of food, and we share. Dinner you have first course on the kitchen bench, second course at the table with us, and desert (yogurt and fruit) you will eat on the rug in the lounge room. You are too ‘busy’ for the highchair, it seems to trap you.

You are getting better with your use of a fork, though if hungry you like to revert to your fingers. Justin and I joke you need a raincoat when you eat rice, it goes everywhere. But I do like how you enjoy food.

Talking: 

You talk all day. But as far as words the only ones that are really clear are ‘there’ and ‘Tira’, you have stopped saying Dad, and I think I was kidding myself last month when I though you were saying Mum.

You love to sing, I will often hear you playing and singing. I was taking the washing off the line and you were throwing the ball, and all I could hear was your sweet little singing voice. Let’s hope you get your Dad’s voice and not mine.

Sleeping: 

Nothing has changed from last month. Though, the last few night the only way you sleep is in the position I like to call the neck scarf. No, not at all comfortable for me.

As last month: You mostly have a nap in the morning from 8:30 until 10:30 and then again in the afternoon from 3 until 5pm. Bedtime is around 8:30 at night and you are Justin’s alarm clock waking every day at 6:30. You will sleep in your cot each night until some time between 12 and 1am, and then you come into bed with us. I am not sure if it is the cold, or as usually you just love to be cuddled. If I try not to have you in the bed with us once you wake during the night you will wake every hour, only going back to sleep by laying on my chest.

Development:

You just seem more grown up. You may not speak, but you understand everything that is said to you. You are even starting to understand your Dad when he speaks Cantonese to you. You have become my Six Million Dollar Man (only people my age will understand), but you are better, faster, stronger. Everything you do you are now doing with better co-ordination. Other than talking, you seem to do everything earlier than the average. (What ever that is).

You are so much like your Dad visually, but I think you are more than a little like me. Well, you have developed OCD like me. One of my pet hates is shoes left out. Hate them left at the door or laying around. If Justin leaves his shoes out (which he does all of the time) you will pick both of them up, no matter how heavy they are and take them to Justin as if to tell him to put them away. Today when I took off my gumboots I left them at the door, and you went over and neatly placed your boots beside mine.

Favourites: 

Books and music. I am not unhappy about either option. You rarely if ever watch TV, David Attenborough Life Series is your favourite show, you stop and stare at the animals, bonus points if there are cats of any type and monkeys.

Justin got some kids DVDs out for you from the library, you sat and watched them for all of a minute and got bored.

Spinning, you follow your Dad around the house with arms up wanting to be spun around. You then stand there all giddy laughing. You have always been a climber, but now you are getting more adventurous.

Chasy is another favourite with you. I am sure the neighbors think I/we are crazy.

Your afternoon walk is also a highlight of your day, when you wake from your nap we go for a walk. I normally only let us walk for half and hour or so. I am curious how long you would walk for if I let you. You stop and touch every stick, leaf, flower, and prefer to walk on the grass instead of the path.

Your little collection of Matchbox cars keeps you happy for hours on end, round and round the dining and lounge room, under the dinning table and around chairs. I am forever stepping on them and they hurt. 

How I am thinking/Feeling

This month, no the last nineteen months have gone by so quickly. I look at you and try to find the baby in you. The only time I see it, is when you are sleeping. Maybe this is why I love to cuddle you when you nap? I feel more than a little sad how grown up and independent you are becoming. But mostly I am proud of how loving you are.

I feel very, very lucky to be a stay at home Mum with you. I often give a little silent thank you to Justin for helping me achieve this. I also love how Tamika gets how much I love you, that she does not get jealous she understands that I still love her as much as I always have.

I am not sure how to separate me from you, or you from me, and I do not think I want to. Justin has stated I am too clingy with you, that I need to relax and let others step in. But I do not want to. The only time I want some space is when I go to the toilet. Why would I want to be apart from you? I would have ten more of you if I could.